The 12th edition of A Greener Festivalβs (AGF) Green Events & Innovations Conference (GEI) took place yesterday (3rd March) at the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, to huge approval, having sold out over a week in advance.
From 9:45 to 18:00, the schedule was jam-packed with sessions, presentations and panel discussion, as well as ample networking breaks for the 200+ delegates.
Director of AGF and co-founder of GEI, Teresa Moore, said of the conference: βIt started off very small β about 20 people from festivals and it only lasted half a day. In the last two years, the conference has doubled in size and I think that is reflective of the state of the planet and the climate.
βWeβre getting people from sectors weβve never had here before. That communication is important as different industries can learn from each other.β
Just a selection of the highly-regarded speakers included Jane Healy, the sanitation manager at Glastonbury Festival; Coralie Bereal, the venue manager at the Forest National Arena; Tanner Watt, the director of partnerships from Reverb; Laima Leyton from Women In Music; and Kerry OβBrien, the founder of Young Urban Arts Foundation.
Teresa stated that a key philosophy of the conference is for delegates to leave having learnt something new and not just to re-peddle the same advice and solutions from previous years.
The sanitation manager for Glastonbury Festival, Jane Healy, spoke at a session on the butterfly effect of sustainability policies. On the swelling number of delegates, she said: βPeople are interested, they want ideas, they want to make the changes. Thatβs the good thing about this conference β itβs a feeding ground for new ideas.β
The International AGF Awards followed the conference. Winners included Cambridge Folk Festival for the Greener Transport Award, Γya Festival for the International Greener Festival Award and We Love Green for the Pied Piper Award.
See a full list of the winners here.
A Greener Festival is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to supporting events, festivals and venues anywhere in the world to reduce their environmental impacts. This support includes certifications, training and expertise.
It founded the International AGF Awards to celebrate those who are leading the way with their sustainability practices.
Catch the highlights here: