Adelaide festivals are lifting the bar on sustainability with their Climate Action Roadmap
Green Music Australia was proud to partner with Festival City Adelaide, to consult and develop Australia’s first Climate Action Roadmap aimed at increasing environmental sustainability in South Australia's festival and events sector.
The Climate Action Roadmap outlines the SA festival sector’s sustainability strategy and includes actionable goals to address the pressing challenges posed by the climate crisis, and further demonstrates the commitment to transparency and collective action.
Image: speaker at the Festival City Adelaide Climate Action Roadmap launch event. Photography by Thomas McCammon.
Green Music Australia supported the project through in-depth consultation, interviews, surveys, and site observations of participating festival members to identify work already underway, collate guidance material and reveal challenges and opportunities.
The two year long project included engagement from 13 of South Australia’s major festivals including Adelaide Fringe, Adelaide Festival, Feast Festival, WOMADelaide, Tarnanthi, SA Living Arts Festival, Illuminate, Adelaide Cabaret, Adelaide Film Festival, Oz Asia Festival, SA History Festival, Adelaide Guitar Festival and Dream Big Children’s Festival.
Berish Bilander, CEO of Green Music Australia, says of the project, "We’re incredibly excited to be working on this landmark project with Festival City Adelaide. South Australia is home to some of the best festivals in Australia, many of which are already leaders in environmental sustainability.
Now for the first time, through this partnership, Festival City Adelaide was supported to create a framework for change and collectively set climate goals and track improvements, modelling a template for action that other states can look to for inspiration."
Crucial support, guidance, and funding for the roadmap's development were provided by Green Industries SA, through their Lead-Educate-Assist-Promote (LEAP) grants initiative, further supporting South Australia's sustainability efforts.
Image: attendees of the Festival City Adelaide Climate Action Roadmap launch event. Photography by Thomas McCammon.
“South Australia is renowned for its exceptional festivals and its commitment to climate action, and here we see these leadership areas converge into action. Green Industries SA is a proud funding partner of this Roadmap which can be implemented by festivals of all sizes to reduce their carbon footprint and help our state transition to a sustainable and circular economy”, said Professor Ian Overton, Chief Executive of Green Industries SA.
Justyna Jochym, Chief Executive of Festival City Adelaide said, “The climate emergency is no longer looming on the horizon or happening in some distant place. It is here now. And it is impossible to separate the sustainability of the festivals and events sector from the health of the physical environments we operate in.
The Climate Action Roadmap has been an opportunity for our membership to tell us how it wishes to collaborate to address the climate crisis. Together we can generate industry initiatives and standards that pave the way for a regenerative and climate positive future.”
We eagerly anticipate the positive impact of this partnership as we work towards a greener, more sustainable future for South Australia's festival and events sector.
