Community Events and the Climate - Workshop for Organizers

Serious Topics

Organising an event is not just about the big day. From its conception to the post-event period, many activities are required: purchasing, travel, logistics, communication, welcoming the public, catering, waste management, dismantling… All these activities have impacts on the climate and the environment, but they also take place in a context where associations are facing new realities: changes in volunteering, rising costs, funding under pressure, more complex regulations or new expectations from the public. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲: Starting from a concrete event, you will collectively reconstruct the different stages of its life cycle and the activities required to organise it. You will then identify what has changed in the voluntary-sector context and the difficulties that may influence the organisation of your events. Based on the activities identified, you will explore their impacts: travel, purchasing and food, energy, waste and reuse, communication, inclusion, the local area, nature and the living environment… The group will then look for alternative ways of doing things and relate the solutions devised to the difficulties encountered by associations. The aim is to show that a more sustainable solution can sometimes produce several benefits: • reducing environmental impacts, while also controlling certain costs and simplifying certain practices, • encouraging resource sharing, strengthening cooperation or contributing to the association’s appeal. 𝗢𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀: • Understanding the different phases of an event’s life cycle; • Highlighting the activities required to organise it • Identifying their main environmental, social, economic and local impacts; • Becoming aware of the changes that currently influence the organisation of events held by associations; • Exploring ways to reduce negative impacts and strengthen positive ones; • Discovering that the same solution can address several challenges. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆: • A comprehensive view of an event’s life cycle; • A better understanding of the impacts associated with its organisation; • A broader perspective on the difficulties associations are facing today; • Ideas for organising certain aspects of your events differently; • A better understanding of the links between transition, costs, cooperation, the local area and volunteer engagement; • A different perspective on the transition: it can be not only an issue to take into account, but also part of the response to the transformations taking place in the voluntary sector.