ISO 20121 at Scale: Governance for Sustainability in Large-Scale Festivals

Embracing Sustainable Governance as Festivals Grow

Large-scale festivals can scale up sustainably when they have robust governance frameworks in place. A casual eco-friendly gesture might work for a small event, but a massive festival with tens of thousands of attendees needs a structured approach to sustainability. This is where ISO 20121 – the international standard for sustainable event management – becomes invaluable. Originally pioneered by the organizers of the 2012 London Olympics, ISO 20121 provides a blueprint for integrating sustainability into every facet of event planning and operations. By adopting such frameworks, festival producers ensure that green practices aren’t just one-off initiatives, but part of the event’s DNA, year after year.

Why focus on governance? As a festival grows from a boutique gathering to a major destination, the complexity of its environmental and social impact grows, too. Without clear objectives and assigned responsibilities, even well-intended sustainability efforts can falter amid the chaos of producing a large event. Successful festival organisers around the world have learned that sustainable practices must be planned, monitored, and institutionalized – not left to ad-hoc goodwill. In practice, this means setting clear sustainability goals, defining team roles to champion those goals, and measuring progress with real data. It’s not the most glamorous part of festival production, but it’s the backbone that keeps big events accountable to their communities and the planet.

Setting Objectives, Roles, and Metrics That Survive Growth

Every festival should start with a sustainability vision, but that vision needs concrete objectives to drive action. Setting SMART objectives (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) helps translate broad ideals (like “go green” or “be inclusive”) into trackable targets. For example, a festival might aim to reduce diesel generator use by 50% in three years or achieve a 90% recycling rate or reach a 50/50 gender-balanced lineup by the next edition. By defining such targets early, festivals create a roadmap that guides decision-making as the event expands. Glastonbury Festival in the UK, for instance, committed to eliminating fossil fuel power sources; by 2023 they had switched entirely to sustainable, palm oil-free HVO biofuel and on-site renewable energy, eliminating the use of diesel across the whole event (cdn.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk). That kind of long-term objective, set years ago, survived and steered the festival’s growth toward a cleaner energy model.

Setting objectives is only half the battle – assigning clear roles and responsibilities is equally crucial. In a small festival, one passionate organizer can wear the “sustainability hat,” but large-scale festivals require a whole team. Many major events establish a sustainability manager or team to oversee green initiatives. These specialists are involved in everything from vendor agreements to stage production plans, ensuring that sustainability goals aren’t sidelined by other pressures. For example, Shambala Festival in the UK (around 15,000 capacity) appointed dedicated sustainability coordinators as it grew, which enabled ambitious moves like becoming powered 100% by renewable energy and even going meat-free on food stalls. By contrast, festivals that neglected to delegate sustainability tasks often struggled – for instance, failing to arrange enough recycling bins or forgetting to follow through on a promised carbon offset program – simply because no one was clearly in charge of it. The lesson is simple: as your festival grows, bake sustainability into the org chart. Make it someone’s job – in fact, make it everyone’s job, with a defined chain of command for decision-making and reporting on sustainability issues.

A key part of governance is ensuring that all departments and stakeholders understand the sustainability objectives. Training and communication are important here. Leading festivals hold pre-event workshops with staff and contractors about eco-friendly practices, and they involve volunteers as “green ambassadors” during the event. This kind of team-wide engagement creates a culture where sustainability survives turnover and growth. One notable example is Boom Festival in Portugal – they integrate sustainability into staff training and volunteer orientation, so that everyone from stage crews to cleaning staff know the festival’s eco-policies and how to uphold them. This approach paid off as Boom scaled up to 40,000+ attendees; sustainability didn’t remain an isolated project, but became a shared responsibility visible in every crew’s work.

Tracking the Right Sustainability KPIs (Energy, Water, Waste, Travel, Equity)

To manage something effectively, you have to measure it. Festival producers must identify and track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that capture the event’s environmental and social impact. The exact metrics can vary by event type and location, but most sustainable event strategies include monitoring the following areas:

• Energy & Fuel Usage: Festivals consume vast amounts of energy – from stage lighting and sound to food vendors and campgrounds. Monitoring how many kilowatt-hours of electricity are used, and how much of it comes from renewable sources, is fundamental. If generators are used, track fuel consumption (diesel, biodiesel, etc.) by volume. Set targets to improve energy efficiency each year or to transition to greener power sources. Many large festivals have begun to source renewable energy or use cleaner fuels in place of diesel. For example, in addition to Glastonbury’s move to biofuels, France’s We Love Green festival runs entirely on renewable energy (solar, wind, and biofuel generators) to prove that big concerts can be powered sustainably (www.wokewaves.com). Tracking energy KPIs not only helps the planet – it can reveal economic savings too. Efficient power management (like right-sizing generators and turning off lights during daylight) cuts fuel costs. The data might show, for instance, that Stage Two’s lighting rig is drawing far more power than expected – a cue to invest in LED lights or smarter lighting design next year.

• Water Consumption: Large events can use countless gallons or litres of water for drinking, food prep, sanitation, and cleaning. It’s important to measure water use (many sites have water meters or you can monitor how many tanker refills are needed) and set goals to conserve. Strategies might include fixing leaky taps, using low-flow shower heads in camping areas, or providing water refill stations for attendees. Free water stations are a win-win: they keep people hydrated safely and drastically cut the need for single-use plastic bottles. The Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee began providing free filtered water and incentivizing attendees to bring reusable bottles – a move that has replaced hundreds of thousands of disposable bottles at each edition (www.knoxviews.com). Bonnaroo even teamed up with a reusable bottle brand (Stanley) to sell co-branded reusable bottles to attendees, aligning a sponsor with a sustainable solution (www.knoxviews.com). By tracking how much water is dispensed at refill stations versus bottled water sold, you can quantify the reduction in plastic waste and also ensure you have enough capacity to meet demand. And don’t forget wastewater: monitoring sewage and greywater volumes can inform a better sewage plan or even on-site treatment solutions in the future.

• Waste Generation & Recycling: Waste is the most visible footprint of a festival. Tracking waste means not just measuring total tonnes of trash generated, but breaking it down by category: how much is recycled, composted, or sent to landfill. Set a goal for waste diversion (the percentage of waste kept out of landfills) and work toward improving it every year. Achieving a high diversion rate requires planning: provide clearly marked bins (and plenty of them), and work with waste management partners who can actually recycle or compost the collected material. Some festivals deploy teams of volunteers to help attendees sort waste correctly – especially on the final cleanup when campsites are abandoned. Lightning in a Bottle (LIB) in the USA exemplifies best practice: they promote a strong “Leave No Trace” ethos, providing free water refill stations and comprehensive recycling points. LIB even sets up staffed Waste Collection Stations so attendees can sort recyclables and compost easily (festforums.com). They even enlist attendees in the process by offering incentives for returning recycling or by having “resource recovery” stations where people are educated about sorting their trash. Measuring the waste streams daily helps identify any problem areas (for example, if compost bins are contaminated with plastic, more signage or volunteers might be needed around food courts). Also, tracking waste over time can justify initiatives like banning certain items. If data shows that single-use cups were a major source of garbage, the festival can switch to a reusable cup deposit scheme next year and quantify the improvement. Remember to include backstage and vendor waste in your metrics – sustainability isn’t just for front-of-house.

• Audience Travel & Transport: For most large festivals, attendee and artist travel is the single biggest contributor to the overall carbon footprint (www.thestar.com.my). Think about it: tens of thousands of people driving or flying to one location racks up huge emissions. Tracking travel-related data is challenging but feasible. Start by estimating modes of transport: surveys at ticket purchase or entry can capture what percentage came by car, coach, train, bicycle, or plane. Some events use zip code data from ticket sales to gauge how far people travel. According to a recent industry report, audience travel accounts for roughly 50% of greenhouse gas emissions at British festivals on average (www.thestar.com.my). (It can range much higher or lower depending on location and audience – urban festivals with good transit see lower travel emissions, destination festivals see higher.) With this data in hand, festival organisers can set targets like “reduce car traffic by 20% next year” or “increase public transport share to 40% of attendees.” Achieving this often involves working closely with transportation partners and even sponsors. In the UK, for example, many festivals partner with Big Green Coach or similar services to run dedicated coach buses from major cities directly to the festival gates, sometimes booking hundreds of buses. At Goodwood’s major events (like the Festival of Speed in England), introducing a robust sustainable transport plan as part of their ISO 20121 system led to a 40% increase in attendees using public transportation (www.bsigroup.com) – taking pressure off local roads and cutting emissions. Incentives like discounted transit tickets, carpool parking perks, or even offering an official festival train package (Tomorrowland in Belgium is famous for this) can shift behavior. The key is to track it: know how people are arriving and set up measures to influence those choices in a greener direction.

• Equity, Inclusion & Community Impact: Sustainability isn’t only about the environment. A truly sustainable festival also cares for its social impact – how it treats people and the local community. Equity metrics can include tracking the diversity of festival staff and leadership, the representation of different genders or backgrounds in the lineup, accessibility for people with disabilities, and opportunities for local businesses or artists. Festival organisers have started to measure and report these aspects too. For instance, several high-profile festivals signed onto the Keychange initiative, pledging to achieve 50:50 gender-balanced lineups by 2022, including events like England’s The Great Escape and Canada’s North by Northeast (www.keychange.eu). Many reached or approached that goal, demonstrating progress in a traditionally male-heavy industry. You might track what percentage of artists or speakers belong to underrepresented groups, or ensure your crew hiring includes interns/apprentices from the local community. Community engagement is another important metric: how many local vendors are on site? How much money did the festival contribute to local charities or causes? Roskilde Festival in Denmark, for example, operates as a non-profit and donates all its profits (millions of Euros each year) to charitable initiatives, and it involves over 30,000 volunteers (largely locals) in running the event – creating a huge social benefit in skills and community spirit. Even if your festival isn’t on that scale, you can set targets like “X% of our food vendors will be local businesses” or “raise $Y for a community project”. If you achieve it, tout it – and if you fall short, analyze why and let that inform your planning next time. The point is to weave social sustainability into your objectives and monitor it with the same rigor as you do for electricity or waste.

Transparent Reporting: Nightly Updates and Post-Event Results

One hallmark of a serious sustainability program is transparent reporting. It’s not enough to internally track KPIs – the best festival organisers share their progress with stakeholders, staff, and often the public. In fact, doing so can create positive pressure to keep improving (nobody wants to report they failed a goal without a plan to fix it) and it builds trust with the audience and community.

For large-scale festivals, a great practice is to issue daily sustainability updates during the event. These might be short reports or internal briefs each night that compile data like how much waste was collected and recycled that day, how much water was used, or any incidents (e.g. a fuel spill that was swiftly cleaned). By tracking and discussing these results daily, the team can react in real-time. If one day of the festival saw an unusual spike in water consumption or a higher trash volume than expected, adjustments can be made for the remaining days (like deploying more water refill stations or scheduling extra waste collection before it overflows). Some festivals even display live info on screens or via social media – for example, a tweet each day about “X tons of recycling sorted today – let’s beat it tomorrow!” can engage attendees in the effort. This nightly tracking culture reinforces that sustainability is as much a part of the event’s success as ticket sales or artist performances.

After the music fades and the attendees go home, the sustainability work isn’t done. Now it’s time for a thorough post-event sustainability report. This is where you consolidate all those KPIs and analyse how you did against your objectives. The report should be honest and data-driven – celebrate the successes (e.g. “62% of waste diverted from landfill, up from 50% last year”) and acknowledge the shortcomings (“power use increased on the main stage, identifying an efficiency issue to address”). Publishing these results publicly, even if it’s just on the festival website or a press release, significantly boosts credibility. In an age where every festival claims to be “green”, backing it up with hard numbers sets you apart. For example, DGTL Festival in Amsterdam annually publishes detailed info on their resource use, to support their claim of being the world’s first circular (waste-free) festival (dgtl.nl). They share exactly how much materials were recycled, composted, or eliminated, which lends weight to their sustainability accolades.

Crucially, transparent reporting isn’t about patting yourself on the back – it’s about accountability. When festivals like Shambala or Boom release sustainability reports, they often include lessons learned and what they aim to improve next year. This transparency shows sponsors, regulators, and attendees that the festival is serious about continuous improvement, not just one-time bragging rights. It can also inspire others; when one festival publicly proves that composting toilets or solar stages are feasible at scale, other events are more likely to try similar initiatives.

Aligning Sponsors and Partners to Reduce Impact

Sponsors are a lifeblood of large-scale festivals, bringing in revenue and often extra services or perks for the event. But in the sustainability realm, sponsors can be part of the solution rather than just plastering logos everywhere. The key is to align sponsors with sustainability goals so that their involvement actively helps reduce the festival’s environmental footprint or enhances its social impact.

Think about the major resource areas of your event – energy, water, waste, transport, infrastructure – and consider finding partners in those sectors committed to green innovation. If energy usage is a big concern, why not partner with a renewable energy provider? A great example comes from Spain: Endesa, a large electric utility, served as a sustainable sponsor for the Espacio Zity festival, helping to provide greener power solutions and pledging to cut the event’s carbon footprint (www.endesa.com). By having an energy company directly support the festival’s power needs, it aligns financial interest with environmental performance – the sponsor has a mandate to showcase their sustainable tech (like portable solar generators or battery systems) at the event, which in turn helps the festival hit its energy KPIs.

Similarly, look at water sponsors or partners. Some festivals collaborate with water filtration companies or beverage brands to supply free water refill stations, as we saw with Bonnaroo and Stanley. Others have partnered with local water utilities to promote tap water over bottled water. This not only reduces plastic waste but can also improve attendee experience (nobody likes paying $5 for bottled water when it’s hot outside). Waste management partners are another big one – involve companies that specialize in recycling or composting as sponsors. They might provide extra bins, compostable bags, or on-site staff to manage waste in exchange for being named an official “sustainability partner” of the festival. At large UK festivals like Reading and Leeds, for instance, waste companies sponsor the recycling tents and get credit for the massive clean-up operations that happen.

Transportation alignment can yield huge benefits. We touched on festival coach services: a transit company can sponsor your travel program, offering discounted fares for festival-goers. Or an automobile sponsor might provide a fleet of electric shuttle vehicles on-site to move people around without emissions. When Honda sponsored Coachella a few years back, they showcased electric cars and provided phone charging stations powered by solar panels – tying their brand to a greener festival experience (and subtly marketing EVs to attendees). For rural festivals, coordinating with the local government or transit authority to run extra trains or shuttles could be framed as a sponsorship or grant (some cities are willing to subsidize transport for events to reduce traffic congestion).

One creative approach is to have sponsors “adopt” specific sustainability initiatives. For example, a festival could have an “Eco Stage” powered entirely by renewable energy, and that stage might be presented by a sponsor whose business is green tech. Or the festival’s carbon offset program (planting trees, etc.) could be funded and branded in partnership with an environmental NGO and a corporate sponsor together. The result: the sponsor gets positive association, the NGO gets exposure and funding, and the festival meets its carbon reduction goals more efficiently.

What’s vital is to vet potential sponsors for compatibility with your values. It rings hollow to have a big oil company sponsor your “Green Initiative” (audiences will notice the hypocrisy). Instead, seek companies with genuine sustainability cred. There are plenty to choose from in today’s market, as many brands are keen to improve their image by supporting climate-friendly projects. Just ensure any claims they bring (and you promote) are credible – if a sponsor provides “biodegradable” products, make sure they truly break down, for instance. The partnership should be substance over spin.

Beyond environmental impact, sponsors can help with social sustainability too. Some festivals partner with non-profits or social enterprises as “community sponsors”. For instance, a festival might work with a local youth organization to sponsor a stage that gives performance slots to emerging local artists, or a global charity might sponsor an area of the festival in exchange for fundraising opportunities and awareness campaigns on-site. Glastonbury famously partners with Oxfam, Greenpeace, and WaterAid – these aren’t sponsors in the traditional sense (no huge banners selling products), but rather charitable partners that bring volunteers and engagement, aligning with the festival’s ethos of social responsibility.

Sustainability Must Be Audited, Not Just Advertised

In the era of greenwashing, where every event and brand loves to tout eco-friendliness, festival producers must hold themselves to a higher standard: prove it, don’t just promote it. This is why adopting standards like ISO 20121 is so powerful – it requires you to document and audit your sustainability management systematically. Even if you don’t pursue formal ISO certification, taking an audit-style approach (plan-do-check-act cycles, independent reviews, etc.) will keep your sustainability program honest.

An audit mindset means you periodically evaluate how well the festival met its sustainability objectives and whether the processes in place are effective. Many festivals enlist third-party experts or organizations to assess their event. For example, the non-profit A Greener Festival (AGF) conducts detailed sustainability audits for festivals and gives out awards (Outstanding, Highly Commended, etc.) based on performance. Events like Boom (Portugal) and Shambala (UK) have consistently earned top ratings from such audits, which validates that their green claims hold water. Getting an external audit or certification can be invaluable when talking to sponsors, local authorities, and press – it’s not just you saying you’re eco-friendly, it’s an independent report.

However, even internal audits can work if done rigorously. This involves checking: did each department do what they said they would? Were all the sustainability-related legal requirements met (for instance, proper waste disposal documentation, noise ordinances respected, local hiring commitments fulfilled)? Were there any incidents or complaints related to sustainability? Gather input from stakeholders: maybe the waste contractor observed contamination issues, or neighbors noted traffic problems. Use this feedback to adjust your plans. Document everything – not for a bureaucratic binder that sits on a shelf, but as living knowledge to improve next time.

Crucially, avoid the temptation to exaggerate or spin your environmental achievements. Modern audiences, especially younger attendees, are very eco-aware and sceptical of bold claims without evidence. If you market your festival as “carbon neutral” or “zero waste,” be prepared to explain exactly what that means and how you achieved it. Vague claims can backfire. It’s far better to be transparent (“we reduced our carbon footprint by 30% this year, and offset the rest by funding a wind farm project through XYZ certified program”) than to declare “we’re green!” with no details. In other words, treat sustainability communications like an engineer would – stick to the measured facts and avoid hyperbole.

One area of caution is the use of offsets and donations as a cover-up. While supporting reforestation or community projects is great, it shouldn’t be an excuse to not reduce the event’s direct impacts first. Regulators and fans can see through a scenario where a festival sells itself as eco-conscious but then posts huge piles of garbage on social media or has sponsors that contradict the message. Authenticity matters. That’s why nightly data tracking and post-event reporting (as discussed) are so useful – they force you to confront the real picture. If the numbers aren’t as good as hoped, own that fact and explain how you’ll improve. Paradoxically, admitting a shortfall can increase your credibility, because it shows you’re not just cherry-picking feel-good stats.

Finally, leadership must buy into auditing over advertising. Festival directors and owners should encourage their teams to bring up problems frankly. If the compostable cups delivered to the site turned out to be lined with plastic (thus not actually compostable), an audit mentality says: report it, learn from it (maybe switch suppliers or cup types next time), and communicate the issue if needed. A pure marketing mentality might try to hide that fact – but then you haven’t really solved the problem for the future. Governance for sustainability means building resilience and trust: by facing the facts, fixing issues systematically, and sharing both successes and challenges openly. This is how a festival’s sustainability efforts can survive growth, turnover, and the test of public scrutiny.

Key Takeaways for Large-Scale Festival Sustainability

• Integrate Sustainability into Governance: Treat sustainability as a core part of festival management – just like safety or finance. Adopt frameworks (like ISO 20121) that help formalise objectives, processes, and accountability as your event scales up.

• Set Clear Objectives & Roles: Define specific sustainability targets (energy, waste, inclusion, etc.) that align with your festival’s vision. Assign dedicated roles or teams responsible for these goals so nothing falls through the cracks as the festival grows.

• Measure What Matters: Track key metrics such as energy usage, fuel consumption, water use, waste and recycling rates, audience travel modes, and diversity/inclusion stats. Use these KPIs to make data-driven decisions and to monitor year-on-year progress.

• Be Transparent and Honest: Share sustainability results with your team and the public. Provide daily updates during the event (to catch issues early) and a thorough post-event report. Transparency builds trust and keeps your festival accountable – no greenwashing, just facts and improvement.

• Leverage Aligned Partnerships: Bring on sponsors and partners who actively help reduce your impact – renewable energy providers, water solution companies, eco-friendly product brands, and transit companies. Aligning sponsorships with sustainability initiatives turns funding into tangible green improvements.

• Continuous Improvement (Audit Your Efforts): Don’t just boast about being “green” – verify it. Conduct audits or reviews of your sustainability performance internally or via third parties (like A Greener Festival). Use findings to continually refine and improve your practices, ensuring your sustainability strategy is resilient through growth and change.