Green Guardians 2023 by IQ Magazine

FESTIVAL SEASON ’23 WRAP

UP BILLIE @ SZIGET

THREE DECADES ON THE ISLAND OF FREEDOM

FROM PUNK ROCK TO PROMOTER

FKP’S STEPHAN THANSCHEIDT PROFILED

EUROPE’S FESTIVAL SUMMER A ROSTR X IQ SPECIAL REPORT GOING IT ALONE

TEN OF EUROPE’S TOP INDEPENDENT FESTIVALS DUTCH COURAGE

THE NETHERLANDS LIVE MARKET BOUNCES BACK

SUPPLIERS & DEMAND PRODUCTION MANAGERS & LEADING SUPPLIERS DEBATE

LIVE MUSIC’S MOST SUSTAINABLE SUPPLIERS

Welcome to IQ Magazine’s 2023 Green

Guardians – our annual recognition of those eco-warriors and innovators at the forefront of the battle to make the live entertainment industry more sustainable.

he Green Guardians is spearheaded by IQ and an international panel of sustainability experts to highlight and congratulate companies and or-

ganisations who are improving the live music business when it comes to being more environmentally friendly.

This year’s list of Green Guardians includes 20 entries across a wide range of event suppliers, campaigners, and solutions

providers, all of whom are working tirelessly to reduce the carbon footprint of the live entertainment business. One of the goals of the Green Guardians initiative is to point decision makers toward suppliers who can help them to improve their environmental credentials. We hope the products, services and initiatives profiled on the coming pages will make a meaningful contribution to cleaner concerts and festivals around the world in the years ahead.

Big Green Coach is the UK's largest carbon-neutral event travel provider. The company prides itself on doing its part to tackle the environmental impact that travel has on the live events industry, and in 2022 alone, it balanced 824 tonnes of carbon through verified carbon standard ecosystem restoration and protection projects.

With audience travel accounting for almost 80% of carbon emissions for live events, it’s never been more important to think about travel choices. Coach travel is already the greenest option for eventgoers, taking cars off the road and using less land for parking. Going further in their green efforts, Big Green Coach’s work with Cool Earth means they have now sponsored close to 2m sq.ft. of Amazon rainforest for ten years.

In 2022, all of their coach services were carbon neutral. Emissions for every return trip were worked out and then offset by investing in sustainability projects with Ecolibrium.

Biggreencoach.co.uk

Green Producers Club provides a research-based climate tool, Green Producers Tool, tailored to multiple industries within the creative and culture sectors, that both measures emissions and facilitates reduction.

Since the launch last September, Green Producers Club now counts more than 130 organisations using the tool to ensure reductions in their events, festivals, and productions. Members are spread across Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Germany. The Green Producers Club has offices in Oslo and Copenhagen and is planning to expand with offices in Stockholm, Helsinki, and Reykjavik by the end of 2024.

The Club facilitates local support and hosts club meetings for members to ensure sharing of knowledge. These meetings are widely popular and are always packed with people and organisations eager to learn and exchange experiences.

The emission factors in the tool, now counting more than 1,500, are calculated by the acclaimed Cicero – Center for International Climate Research. Green Producers Club will continuously develop the tool according to member feedback, new technology and research, and aims to be the most cutting-edge, user-friendly tool in the market. Greenproducers.club

BioPak creates sustainable packaging that puts the planet first. They champion the transition to a circular economy with industry-leading products made from plants. BioPak’s product range is predominantly made from renewable materials and is certified compostable. Switching to BioPak packaging, in conjunction with a waste-collection service solution, enables businesses to divert their food and packaging waste from landfill and convert it into nutrient-rich compost. BioPak is dedicated to reducing consumption of fossil fuel-based plastic so future generations can grow and thrive in a better world.

BioPak is currently working on plans to provide a number of high-profile music festivals with plastic-free packaging and compostable packaging solutions. As experts in food & drink packaging, BioPak is working with festivals’ sustainability teams to provide them with on-site composters, to help them dispose of packaging in the most environmentally friendly way. With the help of BioPak’s packaging impact calculations, they can then quantify the positive impact that these changes have made, identifying how much plastic has been avoided, and how much compost has been created in its place.

Biopak.co.uk

Greener Power Solutions has already powered multiple events across the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, and Switzerland, and is expanding further. It can provide battery power to practically any location, from a single cabin up to the main stage of a music festival.

Greener’s batteries reduce an event’s carbon footprint, prevent local air pollution, eliminate noise, and save money compared to diesel generators – providing clean energy for all events, anywhere.

In April this year, the Dutch company expanded its operations into the United Kingdom with a new office in Bristol, where it is collaborating with rental partners to replace their diesel generators with batteries.

“No other supplier in the United Kingdom has a rental fleet of batteries with a power of more than 100 kVA,” explains Greener CEO Dieter Castelein. “Greener will be the first to offer these services on a large scale. In the market, the demand for smaller hybrid units has already been proven, and it seems the time has come to work with larger battery systems.”

To achieve its ambitious growth targets and scale up from a capacity of 20MWh in 2023 to 60MWh by the end of 2025, Greener is focusing on emerging markets such as the EV charging market and the energy grid.

By replacing polluting diesel generators with its batteries, Greener has saved nearly 4m litres of diesel and 12m kg of CO2 emissions since its inception.

Greener.nl

ZAP Concepts offers consultancy in energy and sustainability; specialising in energy assessment, measurement and logging, together with the design of optimal power supplies for live events through the use of its unique and internationally awarded Smart Power Plan.

As well as working for many internationally renowned festivals and events like Glastonbury, King Charles III Coronation Concert, Ultra Miami, The Ocean Race, Mysteryland, etc, the ZAP Concepts team also works for Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres Tour.

Having assessed the energy consumption of the show, together with Hope Solutions, Coldplay’s creatives and production, ZAP Concepts developed, together with Konik (UK) and Beck (DE), a unique mobile touring battery system. With the important ongoing support of Coldplay’s touring production management, a ZAP team operates the mobile touring battery system on many of the European shows, contributing to a 47% reduction in direct CO2e emissions compared to Coldplay’s previous world tour.

ZapConcepts.com

YOUR EXPERTS IN EVENT POWER SUSTAINABILITY

SMART POWER PLANS

Our team develops tailored Smart Power Plans to ensure a sustainable and efficient power supply for your event

POWER MANAGEMENT

Through strategic consulting, we align events and suppliers for maximum power efficiency and cost savings.

SMART BATTERIES

Our unique smart & mobile battery system delivers reliable, scalable, and emission-free power.

The renewables company Eviny is one of Norway's largest energy and technology groups. It works with future solutions for the production and distribution of green and climate-friendly energy and to make it possible to use clean, renewable energy everywhere. Its goal is to work toward a future with zero emissions.

With 1,500 employees and nearly 500,000 customers, Eviny has been involved in establishing green jobs and infrastructure in local communities over several generations.

It uses the energy it generates via hydropower and other renewable sources to build out and operate tomorrow's infrastructure in fibre, electricity, and district heating networks; digital communication; solar- and wind-power plants; lightning chargers for electric cars, trucks, and excavators; and one of the world's first networks for the rapid-charging of electric boats.

Eviny also work for electrification through emission-free construction sites, aquaculture, and ports. It supplies concerts, festivals, and other events with batteries, and it provides clients with consultancy and contractor service.

Eviny.no/en

Chile-based LOTUS Producciones has set a sustainability benchmark due to its green guidelines not only in Chile but also in the South American region. The company’s production workflow has its own sustainability strategy and action plan, which it applies to more than 30 events annually. LOTUS has an ambitious strategy and commitment to all these events, due to the urgency that is needed to deal with the climate crisis.

Their strategy is based on three pillars:

1 People: accessibility and universal inclusion.

2 Environment: aiming for carbon neutrality, compensation, and water and energy efficiency.

3 Community: building a legacy regarding the space to satisfy their needs.

The biggest event developed by LOTUS is Lollapalooza Chile, the country’s biggest music and cultural festival. One of Lollapalooza’s main priorities is to change the way the community understands our relationship with the environment and the importance of its preservation.

Accordingly, one of LOTUS’s sustainability objectives is to decarbonise Lollapalooza. The company is proud to announce that during the 2023 edition, the Aldea Verde Stage was 100% powered by 155 solar panels for three days.

For the 2024 edition, they also plan to run the Kidzapalooza and two other stages using solar panels, powering more than 20,000 m2 with clean energy! This will be a national and international milestone. Lotuspro.cl/en

With over 20 years' experience, GMC Events is one of the UK’s leading live event production agencies, specialising in festivals, music, and extreme sporting events. GMC Events is dedicated to creating the most memorable, iconic, and efficiently delivered events across the globe for a long-lasting shared experience.

The company values its time more than ever and extends this philosophy to all staff who work with them on their shows. Work-life balance is extremely important, and energy and enthusiasm need to be given the respect they deserve. Looking after their staff is at the top of GMC’s agenda when planning any event.

Having worked internationally on hundreds of events, GMC’s music industry clients include the likes of Boomtown Fair, Shambala Festival, Bestival, Arcadia Spectacular, and BST Hyde Park. Gmcevents.net

Morgenwelt GmbH has been pioneering sustainable events for more than ten years. Managing director Björn Hansen has been active since 1999 as an organiser of a wide variety of live formats, all of which have one thing in common: a special sustainability claim.

Since the founding of Morgenwelt, the company has implemented countless events as a service provider for various municipalities, public utilities, and companies, but also on its own initiative, thus gaining many years of expertise and building up a large network of service providers and partners.

All Morgenwelt’s formats and the work it does for clients take special account of the efficient and economical use of the necessary resources. Its aim is to prove that sustainability and fun are by no means mutually exclusive.

The agency produces attention-grabbing highlights across a portfolio that ranges from specialist conferences, seminars, and incentives to company celebrations, festivals, and major events.

The company’s services include approval procedures, catering offers, barriers, stages, and internal and external communication with all trades, exhibitors, and artists.

Morgenwelt staff package even unwieldy topics such as renewable energies, resource efficiency, and sustainability into exciting and entertaining live experiences – for every age, every target group, and every budget.

Climate protection is close to the organisation’s heart. That is why sustainability is not a a trend or box-ticking exercise for Morgenwelt – it is part of their DNA and a matter of course in everything they do: the question of whether there is a sustainable solution always comes first in any task.

Morgenwelt.de

Music Declares Emergency is a group of artists, music industry professionals, and organisations that stand together to declare a climate and ecological emergency and call for an immediate governmental response to protect all life on Earth. It believes in the power of music to promote the cultural change needed to create a better future.

Music Declares Emergency launched in the UK in 2019 and now has groups in 14 countries including France, Germany, Canada, the US, Brazil, and Indonesia. The declaration has 3,500+ artists, 1,560+ organisations, and 1,700+ individuals as signatories. It works with culturally influential artists to normalise the call for urgent climate action. Artists supporting the campaign include Billie Eilish, Radiohead, The 1975, Willow Smith, Bonobo, Jarvis Cocker, and The London Symphony Orchestra.

Music Declares Emergency’s campaigns include the globally recognised #NOMUSICONADEADPLANET campaign bringing the call for urgent climate action into music and cultural spaces; and Fan Club for Climate – a growing community of music lovers taking action together on climate.

Musicdeclares.net

Fanclubforclimate.org

Octopus is an online marketplace for trading second-hand professional equipment in categories like audio, lighting, staging, video etc. The company believes that there is way too much good and functional equipment simply just stored away, gathering dust, in warehouses – or even worse: at the landfill. Equipment that might be old and out-dated for a certain application could turn out to be just the right fit for another: this is where Octopus comes in. Trading second-hand gear is good for the wallet – and the environment!

Octopus, launched in April 2022, is run by a Norwegian production company called Spectre, who continuously adds features and updates functionality.

Spectre exec Frode Eggum Have, tells IQ that most deals are straight B2B, “but we also have quite a few freelance technicians on both sides of the trade.” He continues, “The size of the businesses that use Octopus vary from freelancer all the way up to larger rental houses with 100+ employees. We also have special features made for brokers, and we see that some of the bigger deals are often done with a broker sitting between the buyer and the seller.”

Octopus.shop

Overdrive Energy Solutions is committed to reducing and eventually eliminating diesel generators in live events. Founded by veteran production staff with sustainability engineering backgrounds, the company’s systems serve the demands of touring and festivals while reducing their carbon footprint. These solutions allow for much more flexible power layouts, reducing the cost and complexity of power distribution, making sites safer and healthier for artists, staff, and audiences alike.

For 2023, Overdrive has been focused on demonstrating sustainable energy’s practical benefits, deploying the largest temporary solar farm ever used in North America for Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion, which saw a 95% reduction in diesel use compared to previous years. Afterwards, Overdrive went to Coachella/Stagecoach, where it replaced generators at 14 remote locations with solar/battery systems, saving hundreds of gallons of fuel and reducing production workload.

Overdrive next went to Shoreline Amphitheatre for the Google I/O conference, where the attendee registration area used onsite battery/solar systems for sound, lighting, computers, communication gear, and restroom trailers. Overdrive also completed its first touring project by providing sustainable energy for the VIP activation on Dead & Company’s Final Tour.

In August 2023, Overdrive once again deployed the largest solar field yet for a North American concert, with over 60 kW feeding 1.4 mW of energy storage. This ran the floor package for Billie Eilish’s headliner set at Lollapalooza completely with energy captured onsite. Overdrive.rocks

GREEN GUARDIANS 2023

Leading the green music movement since 2004, REVERB partners with artists, festivals, and venues to reduce their environmental footprint while empowering millions of fans to take action on today’s most pressing environmental issues.

Working with artist partners like Billie Eilish, The 1975, Odesza, Harry Styles, Dave Matthews Band, Boygenius, Jack Johnson, The Lumineers, Dead & Company, Tame Impala, and many more, REVERB has created and executed comprehensive sustainability and fan engagement programmes on over 350 tours, 60 festivals, and 7,000 concerts. Positive impacts to date include neutralising 375,000+ tons of CO2e, raising over $12m for environmental causes, hosting over 5,000 NGOs in fan-facing Action Villages, and preventing the use of over 4m single-use plastic bottles at concerts.

REVERB recently launched the Music Decarbonization Project to fund and advance innovative climate solutions that directly eliminate carbon emissions created by the music industry. In 2023, this music industry-supported campaign focused on replacing highly polluting

Satis & Fy have been active in the live music industry for more than 25 years. With ten offices across Germany, the Netherlands, and the USA, the company looks after numerous touring acts, some of whom they have been involved with since their beginnings in the business. They also count the likes of Rock am Ring and Rock im Park among their clients.

The company employs teams of experienced and highly specialised sound engineers, lighting, media and stage designers, as well as stocking touring road- and rider-suitable equipment from various brand-name manufacturers. Additionally, Satis & Fy boast extensive rehearsal studios and offer access to a complete equipment pool.

The company’s philosophy is that sustainability should not be an abstract concept but rather one filled with life. It therefore reviews all facets of its actions in an effort to try to have a more sustainable effect. All of its departments join forces to contribute to this effort, putting the environment, society, economy, and culture at the heart of every project it undertakes. Satis-fy.com

diesel generators with solar-charged battery systems – creating the largest 100% solar-powered festival main stage in North America at Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion; next-generation solar-powered festival light towers at Coachella; and integrating solar-charged battery systems for Billie Eilish’s headline set at Lollapalooza. Reverb.org

Founded by Maggie Baird, mother of Billie Eilish and Finneas, Support + Feed combats the climate crisis and food insecurity by working toward a global shift to an equitable plant-based food system. Driving culture change through multiple strategies, the programme has reached global audience awareness of 95m, and delivered more than 300,000 urgently needed meals and pantry items through a consistent presence in 11 major US cities and through partnerships in the EU, UK, and Australia, with a growing footprint in London.

Artist collabs have included working with Janelle Monáe’s Wondalunch team to deliver more than 4,000 meals and pantry items in Los Angeles; going on world tour with artists such as Billie Eilish and Paramore to share the organisation’s calls to action and featured food drives; and supporting Pharrell’s Something in the Water Festival and presence in Virginia Beach with a meal programme and plant-based educational programming.

Alongside Billie Eilish and Reverb, Support + Feed co-presented the first Overheated climate summit in 2022, a two-day event held at The O2 Arena. In August, Overheated returned to London at Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace to bring together climate activists, musicians, and designers to discuss the climate crisis and the work that is making a meaningful difference. Sessions discussed the impact of our food systems, sustainable fashion, eco anxiety, technological innovations, and actions we can all take to mitigate climate change. Supportandfeed.org

Powersoft has ingrained energy conservation into its core values since its inception. The company’s mission revolves around crafting energy-efficient products and lessening environmental impact while offering substantial economic benefits to users.

At the forefront is Powersoft’s ground-breaking (Pulse Width Modulation) technology introduced in 1995. This innovation, now an industry standard, excels at converting mains energy to usable power and recycling reactive energy from speakers. Powersoft products showcase this through ultra-high efficiency (0.95-0.99%), reducing energy needs for the same power output.

The benefits produced by the adoption of this technology include:

n Energy savings and lower carbon footprint (equivalent CO2 emissions) with a reduction of approximately 40% compared to amplifiers without power factor correction for the same output power.

n Reduced heating generation due to lower RMS currents from the mains.

n Reduced logistic costs due to the decreased weight and volumes.

n More flexibility in mounting options, thanks to the lower thermal dissipation values that also help to keep cooling costs down.

This unwavering pursuit of efficiency finds its pinnacle in the present with Unica, the next-generation amplifier platform. As the embodiment of the company’s “green audio power” ethos, Unica exemplifies how innovation and efficiency can harmoniously coalesce to shape a greener, more resonant future. Powersoft.com

While this year’s Green Guardians gives a rundown of some of the industry’s most sustainable suppliers, the annual Green Events & Innovations (GEI) conference is where the broader industry unites to discuss sustainability at live events. GEI takes place on Tuesday 27 February 2024, at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. Presented by AGreenerFuture and ILMC, the focus of the one-day event is the green transition of the live music business. And you're welcome to join. agreenerfuture.com/geihome

We’ve been at it for a while now. Since our inception, we have made it our mission to shape new frontiers while crafting genuinely energy-efficient products, encapsulating the essence of Green Audio Power: high power density, lighter weight, and low energy consumption. But you might wonder, how do we do it? The secret goes beyond technology; it’s a story of relentless dedication.

Sustainable Better Merch has merged the rhythms of the music industry with the values of sustainability, and the result is a journey that's as purposeful as it is innovative.

Straight out of the heart of Stockholm, Sustainable Better Merch crafts solutions that sync clients’ artistic visions with ethical choices. Its offerings go beyond just products; they're an expression of artistic identity. Whether you're looking for a handful of items or a full-blown merchandise extravaganza, sustainability remains at the core of everything the company does.

Its organic range, meticulously woven from 100% organic cotton, carries certifications like the Global Organic Textile Standard and the Soil Association (UK). The company insists on responsible production and has managed to reduce the carbon footprint of its organic shirts by a staggering 89% through renewable energy and smart farming practices. And that's not all. Its recycled products blend 80% combed organic cotton with 20% recycled post-consumer polyester.

All its recycled and organic products are made in factories that are audited by the Fair Wear Foundation, an independent, non-profit organisation whose main focus is improving the textile industry's working conditions.

Ready to take a risk-free leap? Launch a pre-order campaign and watch the magic happen. Sustainable Better Merch will set up a web shop where fans can order your merchandise within a set period. After the campaign closes, the company will print and send out exactly what's ordered.

It’s a win-win – less waste, more sustainability. Sustainablebettermerch.com

Curated by international artist relations expert Stefan Lohmann, Sustainable Event Solutions (SES) provides anyone working in the live events sector with a readymade online checklist to improve their green credentials.

In addition to the SES Checklist, Lohmann has compiled a database of hundreds of suppliers, contractors, venues, and even accommodation providers who are working toward improving the environment.

The SES website also champions a 16 Step Initiative to help the event industry to become more climate-neutral and sustainable and achieve a minimum standard for climate-neutral, sustainable events by 2025.

The SES platform also includes a Sustainability Rider, which is designed to help event organisers consider the “three pillars of sustainability” – environmental protection, social justice, and economic efficiency.

“It is crucial to ask the right questions and make the right demands of suppliers, partners, and service providers,” states Lohmann. “For this purpose, I have developed the Sustainability Rider and Checklist in cooperation with experts, which also includes publicly available information and existing environmental laws. Ideally, the Checklist becomes a logical part of contracts, requirements, and offers for suppliers and trades.”

Sustainable-event-solutions.de/en

With a vision to become the global leader in sustainable energy solutions, everything Vestas does revolves around the development and deployment of sustainable energy solutions.

Every day, its 29,000 employees help to create a better world by designing, manufacturing, installing, developing, and servicing wind energy and hybrid projects all over the world. With +169 GW of wind turbines installed in 88 countries, its sustainable energy solutions have already prevented 1.5bn tonnes³ of CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere and contributed to a more sustainable energy system.

The Denmark-headquartered Vestas has more than 40 years of experience in wind energy and was the first company to reach the 100 GW landmarks for both the installation and service of wind turbines. As such, it believes it has already played a crucial role in laying the foundations for the sustainable era and that it is uniquely positioned to show the pathway to a sustainable planet.

Wind energy is Vestas’ heritage and core competence. It believes wind will form the backbone of the sustainable energy systems of the future, and it remains focused on developing solutions that accelerate the energy transition and strengthen the company’s continued leadership in wind. Vestas.com

You. Smart. Thing. is a leading travel-demand management platform for destinations, venues, and events. It is used to enhance visitor experience and engagement whilst reducing the disproportionate carbon footprint created by visitor travel.

The platform comprises an easily embedded web-based travel assistant interface for visitors, an intuitive travel assistant configuration dashboard, and a comprehensive data analytics and insights suite. The travel assistant interface utilises state-of-the-art web-based technology making it easy to implement. There’s nothing for visitors to download or install; it’s intuitive, mobile-optimised, and integrated with client systems such as websites, mobile apps, ticket booking systems, and marketing communications.

The service was used by Anjunabeats to generate personalised

low-carbon travel plans for Above & Beyond fans attending this year’s On The Beach festival in Brighton, UK, reducing the event’s carbon footprint by an estimated 36% compared to industry averages for similar-sized festivals.

You. Smart. Thing. reduces travel emissions, which typically make up most of an event’s carbon footprint, by integrating venue, local authority, national highways, and transport operator datasets to generate recommended low-carbon routes. Curated ‘last-mile’ routes are also configured to improve venue accessibility and wayfinding, whilst automated travel-plan updates mitigate the risk of delays or disruptions and can even recommend discounted travel and accommodation.

Yousmartthing.com

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