You have an opportunity to highlight what you stand for, through your event's production elements.

Alongside your 'usual' sustainable event production techniques, you can wind your chosen purpose/s into the way you put your event together.

In fact, some event organisers may choose rather than vocalise their point of view, they simply enact their position, politics and what they stand for, through the choices made in the way they physically produce their event.

CFMF_Eco_Initiatives_bike transportation

Travel & Transport

If health, climate change or urban mobility are part of your purpose, then there are so many ideas!

Site bikes for crew to get around the event site without resorting to petrol golf carts.
Cargo bikes to move small loads around the site.
Teaming up with community cycling programmes to have them operate a safe bike park and bike surgery.

Gothenburg stopover. Race Village. 15 June, 2018.

Coordinating with public transport programmes in the destination to fully integrate into the travel to your event. Promotion of the climate benefits of doing so.

Arranging cycling tours to the event 'a bike bus'. Team up with organisations like this. Offer quick entry, VIP services for those that cycle. Make the bike parking stations prominent.

Meet delegates for a guided walking tour from the hotel to the conference venue.

Have cleaning and resource recovery staff service the site on bikes.

Offer a pedal taxi service!

Renewable Energy & Climate Change

If your purpose is all about the rapid transition to renewable energy and the race to net zero emissions, then the way that you provide power to the event as well as the interaction opportunities in entertainment and facilities for attendees, give you a lot of things to work with!

Create an energy playground, allowing people to experienced energy generation such as the example pictured above from the fantastic Global Inheritance.

Power stages, performances and other elements on very visible renewable energy.

Offer event patrons the chance to charge their devices on renewable energy. Above is a 'low fi' set up, but there are plenty of amazingly polished options too.

Bring renewable power into the performance. Here is a Sunny Bin, which powers a small music set up.

Or have pedal powered cinema or stage set-ups.

5.9 BOC Hymera H2 fuel cell - PV hybrid power supply - Olympic Park

Hydrogen fuel cells (and a hybrid with solar as above) are credible options for power generators and lighting towers. This one is by Arcola Energy. Being purpose-driven around renewable energy, hydrogen fuel cell energy is an easy win and practical solution for events auxiliary power. There are many providers now available.

Coupling an attendee activity with a renewable energy message whilst also powering from renewable energy (them) is a cute purpose in practice. Here is Pavegen (dance floors and walkways.)

Make an impact around solar power through having a solar powered icecream cart!

Combine your commitment to renewable energy through both the powering of your event and the promotion of electric vehicles. Here the show is powered by electric cars using Airqon!

Compost

This one offers a world of opportunities. Your purpose could be organic food, community building, climate change, waste avoidance.

Connect your local community or hospitality industry cycling compost collection service onsite, visible and servicing your outlets. For example the excellent Compost Pedallers.

Allow the compost programme to sign people up right there at your event.

Environmental Stewardship

If biodiversity and habitat restoration is your key purpose, bring this into your event experience.

Partner with a regen project to do some hands-on work at the event site, leaving a positive legacy, engaging event goers, and offering the chance for exposure for their programme.
Run a beach clean, river bank sweep or other relevant clean-up in the lead up to your event, onsite or adjacent to the site. Bring the results and stories of this to the event. Partner with a local relevant organisation or clean-up campaign to do this.

Make a statement

Regardless of your purpose, and possibly more so if it is a little edgy or confrontational, build this in to your decor and event styling. Glastonbury Festival's Greenfields entry way does this all too well. Each year something spectacular appears.

Support Community Projects

Combining advocacy and support of local campaigns alongside essential event services that need a volunteer workforce is an excellent purposeful production practice. Staffed by volunteers, a donation from the event to the campaign, and the chance for them to spruik their message, get more members or donations. Ideas include:

Food

Food is such an obvious way to bring your values and purpose to life. You purpose could be diversity, inclusion and tolerance, organic and chemical free living, local enterprise, climate change (short travelled chemical free food), and supporting social enterprises. Here are just a few ideas:

Have only social enterprise food stalls and vans at your event.
Have only farm to fork supply chain through your catering outlets, menu or food stalls.
Engage a social enterprise catering company for crew catering.
Engage a social enterprise for meeting and conference catering. This example would be connect to a purpose based around supporting asylum seekers.

Take a conscious approach to food consumption. Watch the video above on Boom's approach to food.

Grow your own food onsite in gardens made from compost created through the festival and grey water harvested and treated onsite, just like Boom and IeperFest.
Building-bound events can get in on this too, roof top gardens, and bee keeping being examples.

Keep the messaging going with food sourcing. Disclose the provenance of all food to illuminate your commitment to reduced food miles and farm to fork.

Water

If water scarcity is your thing, then it too is a very easy one to build into your event production and really bring it to life through the event experience.

Water harvesting and water provision through onsite water capture. The above photo is from Meredith Music Festival.

Grey water capture and treatment onsite. Look at this amazing set up at Boom Festival.
Use of soak-aways to for chemical free water disposal and have these visible and messaging the benefits of reducing waste water transport and avoidance of chemicals.

Use of reverse osmosis systems to provide drinking water, sourced from non-potable water, such as provided by Bluewater. (see video above)

Use of non-potable water for bollards, barriers and all non-drinking purposes.

Following through on your grey water capture and use it to grow your own food onsite at the event just like DGTL above. Watch a video on their efforts with the DGTL Greenhouse.

Provide all shampoo and body wash for showers to message your commitment to ecologically sound and waterways-safe cleaning.

Circularity & Zero Waste

Circular resource flow is an admiral purpose to put all your efforts behind. This can be enacted authentically and effectively, with practical production elements. We dive into this much more in the Towards Zero Waste module, but here are some ideas.

Collect your single-stream materials in full view of event attendees. Use artistic installations or interactivity to bring this to life (such as the wire/can sculpture above.

Of course a reusable cup system will be at your event, but don't hide the logistics. Bring this to prominence and let event attendees see it in action.

figure9.12 Timber Bar PHOTO Meegan Jones_final

Bring your message of circularity to life through a significant commitment to the way you build out your site, such as this fully reclaimed timber purpose-built bar.

Make a point of your commitment to preventing marine plastic pollution through your water refill and no plastic bottle provision. Remember to message it!

Bring circularity in to the event experience while also harvesting and salvaging materials from the event site.

Make your zero waste commitment visible!

Don't hide the dirty detail, make some theatre out of it. Celebrate your circularity, zero waste and resource recovery mission.

Purposeful production