As we settle into 2022 we publish our first newsletter of the year, with voices from across the industry sharing their journeys on event sustainability, industry news and dates for your diary. In this edition: 

• Green Leader Q&A with Helen Harland, Events Manager at Manchester City Council
• Guest blog on energy efficient audio with Danley soundsystems from Iain Mackie from A Live sound Ltd 
• Powerful Thinking blog on energy efficient outdoor lighting
• Update on the Green Code of Conduct consultation for UK outdoor events
• How event sustainability will feature at The Event Production Show, The Association of Independent Festivals Congress and The Association of Festival Organisers
• Green supplier focus: Event Wine Solutions
• Creative Climate Justice webinar with Julie's Bicycle.

This year we start a new 'Ask the Expert' spot in the newsletter: If you have a question on sustainability at events, let us know. We'll put it out to to the Vision: 2025 network of experts and include an answer and resources to help in next month's edition. Ask away at info@vision2025.org.uk.

Helen Harland, Event Manager at Manchester City Council, gives us insight into her motivation for championing and implementing environmental initiatives at the events she works on across the city and beyond.

Helen shares how she draws inspiration from other cities; from Amsterdam to Edinburgh, her plans for a scoping project to review event energy usage across Manchester, and how events fit into the city’s ambitious 'Zero Carbon by 2038' target.  Helen highlights the power of bringing others on the journey with her; from event partners and sustainability networks to her children, who now nag her to go litter-picking! Read the full Q&A HERE.

In December, Ben Robinson, Festival Director at From the Fields took the Q&A HERE.

This month we spoke to Iain Mackie, Director and Founder of A Live sound LTD and UK distributer of Danley Sound Labs speaker systems, to deep-dive into the audio technology that made We Out Here festival Director, Gilles Peterson, describe the event sound as, “crisp and powerful,” and made him ask, "How can so much sound come from so little?

In this guest blog, Iain shares how Danley’s technology cuts environmental impacts and costs at events; with less kit to transport, less power consumption, less install and labour requirements and fewer people travelling to a venue for setup – all while delivering outstanding audio. Read the blog HERE. 

Last month Chris Mastricci spoke about his festival clear up and waste distribution projects Ecowarriorz and FWRD. Read the blog HERE.

In December 2021, Vision: 2025 launched a consultation for a ground-breaking Industry Green Code of Conduct, to provide clear minimum environmental standards for all UK outdoor events.

Industry comment was invited through an online survey, closed on the 14 Jan, with feedback showing 100% support for implementing an industry-wide green code. Read full feedback and catch up on the proposed code HERE.

Vision: 2025 will present a series of roundtable workshops on key topics at the Association of Independent Festival's Congress, 15th February in Bristol.

Topics, delivered in association with partners ecolibrium, Powerful Thinking, A Greener Festival and Julie's Bicycle, include understanding Net Zero strategy for events, reducing fuel consumption in light of the end of fuel duty relief in April, travel tips and more to be confirmed. View the line up and book your ticket HERE.

Vision: 2025 and Powerful Thinking have partnered with Access All Areas to deliver two sustainability-focused panels at the Event Production Show, 8th March, at ExCeL, London.

Powerful Thinking presents ‘Sustainability – progress with event power' to discuss best practice for energy management, consider the impact of increasing fuel costs, new technologies that could power the journey to Net Zero and the practical reality of introducing energy plan changes at an event. With host, Graham Brown (Vision: 2025) and guests Chiara Badiali (Julie’s Bicycle), Tim Benson, (Powerful Thinking), Mark Casey, (PGA) and Vikki Chapman (Live Nation Entertainment).

Vision: 2025 presents ‘After the LIVE Green declaration - what's next?’ Hosted by Access All Areas editor Chris Barrett, a panel of experts give updates on LIVE Green, the sustainability arm of UK live events industry umbrella organisation LIVE.  Guests include; John Langford (AEG Europe/LIVE), Chris Johnson (Shambala Festival), Claire O'Neill (A Greener Festival) and Lewis Jamieson, (Music Declares Emergency). Read the full update and register your free place HERE.

The Association of Festival Organisers annual conference is online on Saturday 5th of Feb, 10:00-18:00, with speakers, panels, networking and up-to-date information on this recovery festival year.

Event sustainability is discussed in “The Earth: a common treasury for festivals’ where panel guests Jo Blick (Waste Management Specialist), Naomi Lawson (Project Manager at ecolibrium) and Pauline Bourdon (sustainability coordinator at Team Love) share how events can measure and reduce their impacts.  Find updates for the full line up and tickets HERE.

Join the team at Julie's Bicycle for the second webinar in their Creative Climate Justice series, Tue February 1, 2022, 11:00 - 12:15, to understand how cultural organisations can tackle climate justice, and embed responses in their work and creative practice. This next discussion will cover Loss and Damage, a subject rising up the political agenda and a particularly hot topic at COP26. Register HERE.

More news from across the Live Events Industry, including jobs, blogs, reports and what the Vision: 2025 team have been watching, listening to, and reading this month:

Meegan Jones, Director at the Institute for Sustainable Events, shares her views on 'The Climate Change impact of Food & Bev at events' HERE

5x15 at COP26 - Arts and the Imagination Hosted by Brian Eno HERE 

Voting is open for the ILMC Arthur Awards where Vision: 2025's Chiara Badiali, Knowledge Lead at Julie's Bicycle, is nominated in the Professional's Professional category - take your vote: HERE

Job alert: Public Programming Producer at The Barbican to programme events for the upcoming exhibition on the climate emergency HERE

Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) announce Congress, Tue 15 Feb, 2022 in Bristol, Tickets HERE

Association of Festival Organisers (AFO) annual conference, 4-5th Feb, 2022 HERE

Grab earlybirds for the Green Events & Innovations conference, GEI14, live in London, 29 April 2022 HERE.

Send jobs, events, resources articles to feature here to: info@vision2025.org.uk