Live DMA, European network supporting live music associations, and PULSE, cultural network for ecological transition in Flanders, created a series of Digital Safaris on Sustainability in live music venues, festivals and clubs.
LIVE MUSIC SCENES: ACTORS OF A FAIR AND ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY
The global climate crisis has led many organisations from the live music sector in Europe to act towards a more eco-conscious and socially fair future. Culture is a strong driver for positive changes in society. Cultural events and places can raise awareness and enact ecological and fair alternatives.
BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF LIVE MUSIC ORGANISERS
To highlight the organisations and people who act for a better (cultural) world, PULSE and Live DMA have decided to work together on the Digital Safaris on Sustainability.
The Digital Safaris on Sustainability give live music professionals from all around Europe the opportunity to virtually visit live music scenes that work in an ecological way. From catering to sustainable building, up to the mobility of the audience and artists, the inclusive actions put in place or the way they manage waste, the Digital Safaris are a place for exchange of concrete tips on how to think and act in a sustainable manner in your live music venue, club or festival. They are also a place of free expression regarding the challenges linked to the ecological and social transition of the live music sector. Our goal is to create a community of live music organisers.
WATCH THE EPISODES OF THE PREVIOUS DIGITAL SAFARIS ON SUSTAINABILITY
EP.1 • A CO2-NEUTRAL MUSIC VENUE IN BELGIUM, MUZIEKCLUB 4AD
For this first Digital Safari, on 26 November 2020, we have visited Muziekclub 4AD, which became in 2015 the first CO2-neutral music venue in Belgium.
In the video recording of the Digital Safari, the 4AD team will bring you behind the scenes to present their ecological ideology and show that it is possible to operate a live music venue in a sustainable, budget and audience friendly manner.
EP.2 • LE GRAND MIX, A SUSTAINABLE VENUE IN TOURCOING (FR)
On the 2nd of March 2021, this Digital Safari presented Le Grand Mix, a venue based in the north of France, which includes 2 concert halls, a restaurant and a music studio.
Beside live gigs, the organisation is also involved in community work and European cooperation. We invite you to discover le Grand Mix’s project and its sustainable approach regarding waste management, energy, local economy and social inclusion.
EP.3 • CLUBTOPIA & SCHWUZ (DE): OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUSTAINABLE CLUBBING
Clubtopia is an initiative which devotes itself to sustainability and climate issues within the Berlin club scene. They support clubs in becoming more sustainable.
They offer free energy consultations, online trainings, workshops and much more. One of the clubs that Clubtopia is cooperating with is SchwuZ, Germany´s oldest queer club. In this Digital Safari, we want to give you an example of how this cooperation between Clubtopia and clubs in Berlin works. We will focus on Clubtopia’s energy consultation and SchwuZ as a location, to see what measurements clubs can take to become more climate friendly as well as what challenges there might be.
EP.4 • SHARE YOUR GREEN PRACTICES WITH Ha Concerts (BE)
In early February 2022, Handelsbeurs Concert Hall(BE) took us for a look behind the scenes, to explore their actions and plans for more sustainability.
Their objective is also to dive into their ecological and social practices. They brought three topics to the table: mobility, inclusiveness and network.
EP.5 • EUROSONIC NOORDERSLAG (NL) SHARES THEIR SUSTAINABLE ROADMAP
ESNS is one of the major music conference and showcase festival in Europe, welcoming each year in Groningen tens of thousands of visitors and hundreds of European artists.
They have built overtime a strong sustainability policy with ingenious actions, such as a support to green touring for artists.
Rob Van Wegen, ESNS Sustainability coordinator, presents the festival’s practical approach in ecological transition, and shares the sustainability roadmap tool that they used to clear out their long-term sustainability plan. The sustainability roadmap can be used by diverse types of live music organisations: festivals and venues alike.
Project Manager Anu Ahola will introduced the KEMUT network and its projects. Provinssi Festival’s production manager Peppi Arrimo spoke about sustainable values, mission, initiatives and acts of the festival. Finally, CEO Annamaija Saarela talked about sustainability projects of the G Livelab Tampere venue.
EP.7 • RAVNEDALEN LIVE, A LABORATORY FOR SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS (NO)
In this Digital Safari, Dirty Old Town and Ravnedalen Live from Norway showed us their sustainability actions. Ravnedalen Live is their festival and laboratory for sustainable solutions.
Their purpose is to create awesome experiences, facilitate great art and build profitable solutions to difficult problems. By bringing together actors and suppliers from the entire value chain for dialogue and cooperation, they have seen much success – and some fuckups. The digital Safari presented some of both.
EP.8 • SUSTAINING MUSIC FOR SMALL JAZZ VENUES IN UKRAINE AND BEYOND (UA)
This episode of Digital Safaris focused on the theme of sustainability for jazz clubs amid challenging times. While addressing the impact of the current ongoig Russian invasion of Ukraine…
the discussion extended to cover post-COVID recovery challenges faced by the international music industry as well as other common socio-economic challenges. Key areas of exploration included event promotion, audience engagement, and logistical considerations, with a particular focus on the practices of 32 Jazz Club in Kyiv, the Ukrainian Institute, and KNUTPUNKT.
EP.9 • OPTIMIZING VENUES WITH SMART TECHNOLOGY, WITH ROCKNROLLA PRODUCCIONES (ES)
Rocknrolla Producciones, based in southern Spain, is redefining the music venue experience with its innovative management of two popular locations: Sala X and Sala La2.
Their latest venture, the MUSA Platform (Music Understanding by Smart Analysis), introduces an advanced IoT (Internet of Things) system that leverages real-time data from multiple sources to assess an event’s environmental impact, profitability, and audience experience.
EP.10 • Making a volunteer-run concert hall more sustainable: it’s possible, with LE BELVEDERE (BE)
Since participating in the Litmus seminar, which led to a collaboration with Event Change last year, the Belvédère in Namur, nestled on the heights of the citadel, has embarked on a transition towards sustainable and responsible practices.
