Xander Kotvis, Revolution Manager of DGTL Amsterdam, has outlined his aims for the event.
DGTL Festival currently stands as the most sustainable festival in the world, having recently won the International Greener Festival Award at the Green Events & Innovations Conference in London. The festival will be continuing its green ethos this year, with improvements made to its sustainability programme to reach the goal of becoming the world’s first circular and climate neutral festival by 2020.
Talking to Crack Magazine, Kotvis outlines the key points of how the festival will be building on its current practices, and implementing innovative methods to reach its targets. It’s important, Kotvis highlights, for the festival and events industry to join forces to bring about real change, with ambitious goals to be set in place. Initiatives focusing on sustainability have been on the rise, with some examples being the International Green Deal Circular Festivals and the Plastic Promise.
“We’ve developed a tailor-made sustainability program, helping the festival to systematically transition and find leverage points,” Kotvis says on reaching the festival’s climate neutral goal. “All year round, we search for the latest socio-technical innovations and breakthroughs to fundamentally redesign our events worldwide.”
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© Tom Doms
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© Tom Doms
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© Tom Doms
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© Tom Doms
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© Jordy Brada
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© Jordy Brada
“In 2019, we will keep a steady course, aiming to achieve our ambitions. This year, we will refine some of our circular systems of 2018, while also kicking off new sustainability projects,” he adds.
One of the first changes to DGTL will address waste and food on the festival grounds. DGTL will be teaming up with Food Line Up and Revolution Foundation to create a brand new food court that will serve meat-free meals created from the 30% of imperfect produce that doesn’t get sold at supermarkets.
Furthermore, DGTL’s next edition won’t have any bins but contain three central resource collection points to ensure there’s a high rate of recycling taking place on the grounds. All resources are to be collected from the three key areas, and they’ll have been made ready for separation and processing. Staff will sort, clean and process all materials at a recycle hub on site.
DGTL is a worldwide festival with editions in Amsterdam, Santiago, São Paulo, Barcelona, Madrid and Tel Aviv. For its upcoming Amsterdam chapter on 19-21 April, DGTL will host its programme at the NDSM Docklands. Those announced for the line-up include Moodymann, The Black Madonna, Bicep and more. Party-goers can be brought to the festival via buses from Lyon, Paris, Brussels and Antwerp as part of DGTL’s sustainability initiative.
Read more about DGTL’s sustainability programme here, and head here to purchase tickets.