Happy New Year, or perhaps its just 'New Year'?

This edition of the newsletter is packed with positivity, a small moment of optimism in the marathon of uncertainty we are facing in the live industry. So, may we invite you to take a moment, get into a can-do headspace, perhaps make a hot drink, and enjoy a blast of good ideas and opportunities for action.

This month: We're pleased to have Chris Rutherford, Boomtown founder to kick off the Green Leaders Q&A, a guest blog exploring the significance of festivals in societal behaviour change, an opportunity to join the hydrogen revolution, the latest research in reusable cups, and [fanfare] the launch of the Circular Festivals website and toolkit.

Vision: 2025 will host the session - 'Counting What Matters and Making it Count' - at the Association of Festival Organisers (AFO) online conference on Saturday 20th Feb, 11:35-12:35.

The session is focused on what environmental impacts to measure and how to do it; with Chiara Badiali (Julie's Bicycle), Tim Benson (Smart Power), Abi Moores (ecolibrium) and Mary Corfield (Greenbelt Festival) covering key areas and available to answer questions as part of the hour-long session. Book your place HERE.

We are very happy to kick off our Green Leaders Q&A for 2021 by speaking with Chris Rutherford, co-founder of Boomtown Festival.

Boomtown has a thriving Green Mission through which they are working towards transforming into a sustainable circular economy city – they have taken the Vision: 2025 pledge, are part of the Green Deal Circular Festivals Project and their HQ in Bristol is 100% run on renewable energy. Read Chris’s Q&A HERE.

In December Lara Defense, producer at Walthamstow Garden Party (Beyond Barbican) took the Q&A read her answers HERE.

Vision:202 team member, Natasha Martirosian, shares the gold from her MSc in Environmental Policy and Management on creating a policy framework for the future sustainability of UK festivals. Her research finds a hidden, largely unharnessed power in festivals to promote climate positive behaviour. Read the blog HERE.

Do you want to showcase the hydrogen revolution and test 'Jimi' and 'Janis,' two 25kW and 100kW Fuel Cell Power Systems, for your event production? Everywh2ere Hydrogen Project is open for expressions of interest in the UK. Register interest and provide data HERE.

A study by Plastic Promise, Netherlands, finds that reusable hard cups that are washed efficiently are less harmful to the environment than any recyclable soft cup, but only if hard cup losses stay below 25% and are reused a minimum of six times. 

Plastic Promise also found that the margins of comparative benefit of soft and hard reusable cups are slim with even slight changes in the variables and urge that systemic changes are needed to reliably guarantee the benefits of reusables.  Read the full report HERE. 

The Circular Festivals website and toolkit was launched this month, sharing knowledge and tools to help events achieve goals set by the Green Deal Circular Festivals project, a group of 20 leading festivals across the EU working together toward circularity.

Visit the website to access the ‘toolbox’, which shares practical solutions from the field, combined with knowledge from experts HERE. 

A Greener Festival have released agenda insights for the 13th edition of The Green Events and Innovations Conference (GEI13), which takes place online on Tuesday 2 March 2021.

Check the emerging agenda for guests and speakers taking part. GEI have also announced their Quick-Fire Innovation round will return this year, inviting a handful of GEI participants to present their sustainability-related innovations.

Contact hello@agreenerfestival.com before 29th January to get involved. Register for your tickets HERE.

Here's what the Vision: 2025 team have been watching, listening to, and reading this month:

Restarting live music in 2021: NME talks to music industry insiders, festival bosses and medical experts about when live music might be able to return in the UK HERE.

Join Greta Thunberg and Fridays for Future in the #FightFor1Point5. Watch the video HERE. 

The Bioneers podcast: 'Forest Wisdom, Mother Trees and the Science of Community' episode exploring what we can learn from the new science of forest ecology. Listen HERE.

Let's Make 2021 Count For Climate: Blog from Chris Johnson, Vision: 2025 and Shambala co-founder HERE. 

Bees come under threat from a comeback in pesticide use in the UK. Take action with Greenpeace HERE. 

How To Talk About Your Green Credentials, from the Earthly Collective HERE.

Leading figures in the UK festival industry inform MPs that the 2021 festival season is reliant on government-backed insurance scheme, article in Access All Areas HERE.

Songs of Love in Lockdown: A lovely collection of poetry from Futurenauts podcaster, Greenpeace and ecolibrium board member, Ed Gillespie HERE

photo: by Marcus Spiske @ Pexels

For January’s blog Tim Benson, Chair of Powerful Thinking explores the world of tower lights – with tips for selecting the right light for your job and features to look out for, Tim factors in budgets and location requirements to help pinpoint the most fuel efficient model for your event. Read the blog HERE.