Sustainability For National Heritage Week Events
The Heritage Council is asking everyone to think about sustainability when planning their events this year.
National Heritage Week events are fantastic opportunities to bring communities together, to share knowledge, and have a good time, but they can also have a significant impact on the environment. With this in mind, the Heritage Council is asking everyone to think about sustainability when planning their events this year - what you can do to help to reduce the impact of your event on the environment, to conserve natural resources, and to promote local businesses.
Sustainability is a worldwide concern and the United Nations has called on governments, businesses, and communities to work together to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity by 2030. To help us to do this, the UN had created a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These include conserving water and preventing pollution; encouraging sustainable transport and waste reduction; promoting the use of sustainable products and reducing plastic waste; promoting sustainable energy use, and incorporating biodiversity conservation. And these are the areas that the Heritage Council is asking event organisers to keep in mind.
The theme of this year’s National Heritage Week is living heritage – which – when you think about it - is all about sustainability – environmentally friendly traditional crafts, traditional building skills and the old ethos of repair and reuse.
Organising a sustainable event is easier than you might think – all of our choices make a difference and every little step counts. Here are our top tips:
Plan ahead: At the planning stage, talk to the people who are integral to your event to let them know that you would like to run a sustainable event and see how they can help you to do this. Even if they’re not in a position to do it this year, they’ll know for future years that you care about sustainability.
Consider the venue: Does it use energy efficient lighting, heating, and cooling systems? Does it use renewable energy? Does it have a recycling or composting programme in place or a policy around single-use plastic?
Food: Choose seasonal locally sourced food options. Think about how your event will cater for vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free diets. Consider if food / beverages will be served in composable or reusable containers.
Transport: Is the area easily accessible by public transport? Are there bike racks, can you organise carpooling options?
Tell everyone about it: Tell everyone about your efforts to run a sustainable event and encourage them to participate in reducing the environmental impact of the event. You can do this via your social media or website, on brochures, pamphlets, or posters (remember to use certified recycled paper for printed materials and only print what you will use) and by simply talking to people (they may have some tips for you).
Review: Review the event shortly afterwards to evaluate how you did and to identify lessons that will be valuable for future years.
National Heritage Week is all about giving event organisers the confidence and know-how to take small steps to make events more sustainable. We have loads of helpful practical tips in our Sustainable Events guide for event organisers and checklist, which can be found here.
Remember, every step counts – if this is your first time incorporating sustainability into your event, take small and achievable steps to get you started. If you’re a veteran of organizing sustainable events, be more ambitious about what you can achieve this year.
For further information, please contact: heritageweek@heritagecouncil.ie, putting ‘Sustainability’ in the subject line. Alternatively, we’d love to hear from you if you have any tips to share with us!
