Welcome to the second part of IQ Magazine’s 2023 Green Guardians – our annual recognition of those eco-warriors and innovators at the forefront of the battle to make the live entertainment industry more sustainable.

The Green Guardians is spearheaded by IQ and an international panel of sustainability experts to highlight and congratulate companies and organisations who are improving the live music business when it comes to being more environmentally friendly.

This year’s list includes 20 entries across a wide range of event suppliers, campaigners, and solutions providers, all of whom are working tirelessly to reduce the carbon footprint of the live entertainment business.

IQ will publish entries across all categories over the coming days. Catch up on the previous instalment profiling Big Green Coach, Biopak, Green Producers Tool, Greener Power Solutions and ZAP Concepts here.

Eviny

The renewables company Eviny is one of Norway’s largest energy and technology groups. It works with future solutions for the production and distribution of green and climate-friendly energy and to make it possible to use clean, renewable energy everywhere. Its goal is to work toward a future with zero emissions.

With 1,500 employees and nearly 500,000 customers, Eviny has been involved in establishing green jobs and infrastructure in local communities over several generations.

It uses the energy it generates via hydropower and other renewable sources to build out and operate tomorrow’s infrastructure in fibre, electricity, and district heating networks; digital communication; solar-and wind-power plants; lightning chargers for electric cars, trucks, and excavators; and one of the world’s first networks for the rapid-charging of electric boats.

Eviny also work for electrification through emission-free construction sites, aquaculture, and ports. It supplies concerts, festivals, and other events with batteries, and it provides clients with consultancy and contractor service.

GMC Events

With over 20 years’ experience, GMC Events is one of the UK’s leading live event production agencies, specialising in festivals, music, and extreme sporting events. GMC Events is dedicated to creating the most memorable, iconic, and efficiently delivered events across the globe for a long-lasting shared experience.

The company values its time more than ever and extends this philosophy to all staff who work with them on their shows. Work-life balance is extremely important, and energy and enthusiasm need to be given the respect they deserve. Looking after their staff is at the top of GMC’s agenda when planning any event.

Having worked internationally on hundreds of events, GMC’s music industry clients include the likes of Boomtown Fair, Shambala Festival, Bestival, Arcadia Spectacular, and BST Hyde Park.

LOTUS Producciones

Chile-based LOTUS Producciones has set a sustainability benchmark due to its green guidelines not only in Chile but also in the South American region. The company’s production workflow has its own sustainability strategy and action plan, which it applies to more than 30 events annually. LOTUS has an ambitious strategy and commitment to all these events, due to the urgency that is needed to deal with the climate crisis.

Their strategy is based on three pillars:

1 People: accessibility and universal inclusion.

2 Environment: aiming for carbon neutrality, compensation, and water and energy efficiency.

3 Community: building a legacy regarding the space to satisfy their needs.

The biggest event developed by LOTUS is Lollapalooza Chile, the country’s biggest music and cultural festival. One of Lollapalooza’s main priorities is to change the way the community understands our relationship with the environment and the importance of its preservation.

Accordingly, one of LOTUS’s sustainability objectives is to decarbonise Lollapalooza. The company is proud to announce that during the 2023 edition, the Aldea Verde Stage was 100% powered by 155 solar panels for three days.

For the 2024 edition, they also plan to run the Kidzapalooza and two other stages using solar panels, powering more than 20,000 m2 with clean energy! This will be a national and international milestone.

Morgenwelt

Morgenwelt GmbH has been pioneering sustainable events for more than ten years. Managing director Björn Hansen has been active since 1999 as an organiser of a wide variety of live formats, all of which have one thing in common: a special sustainability claim.

Since the founding of Morgenwelt, the company has implemented countless events as a service provider for various municipalities, public utilities, and companies, but also on its own initiative, thus gaining many years of expertise and building up a large network of service providers and partners.

All Morgenwelt’s formats and the work it does for clients take special account of the efficient and economical use of the necessary resources. Its aim is to prove that sustainability and fun are by no means mutually exclusive.

The agency produces attention-grabbing highlights across a portfolio that ranges from specialist conferences, seminars, and incentives to company celebrations, festivals, and major events.

The company’s services include approval procedures, catering offers, barriers, stages, and internal and external communication with all trades, exhibitors, and artists.

Morgenwelt staff package even unwieldy topics such as renewable energies, resource efficiency, and sustainability into exciting and entertaining live experiences – for every age, every target group, and every budget.

Climate protection is close to the organisation’s heart. That is why sustainability is not a a trend or box-ticking exercise for Morgenwelt – it is part of their DNA and a matter of course in everything they do: the question of whether there is a sustainable solution always comes first in any task.

Music Declares Emergency

Music Declares Emergency is a group of artists, music industry professionals, and organisations that stand together to declare a climate and ecological emergency and call for an immediate governmental response to protect all life on Earth. It believes in the power of music to promote the cultural change needed to create a better future.

Music Declares Emergency launched in the UK in 2019 and now has groups in 14 countries including France, Germany, Canada, the US, Brazil, and Indonesia. The declaration has 3,500+ artists, 1,560+ organisations, and 1,700+ individuals as signatories. It works with culturally influential artists to normalise the call for urgent climate action. Artists supporting the campaign include Billie Eilish, Radiohead, The 1975, Willow Smith, Bonobo, Jarvis Cocker, and The London Symphony Orchestra.

Music Declares Emergency’s campaigns include the globally recognised #NOMUSICONADEADPLANET campaign bringing the call for urgent climate action into music and cultural spaces; and Fan Club for Climate – a growing community of music lovers taking action together on climate.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Karsten Jahnke Konzertdirektion and Morgenwelt owner Björn Hansen have taken a stake in Hamburg-based festival promoter Kopf & Steine via their joint venture KJ Projects.

Kopf & Steine has been promoting festivals in the Hamburg district of Wilhelmsburg since 2007, such as MS Dockville, Vogelball, Spektrum, MS Artville, Habitat festival and Lüttville.

“We are very much looking forward to working with Claudio and Frank, who, together with their former partner Enno Arndt, have created great formats over the last 15 years!” says Ben Mitha and Björn Hansen, managing directors of KJ Projects.

“MS Dockville, Vogelball and Spektrum have been excellently positioned in the festival landscape and also are continuously developed with a lot of love and and eye for detail, so that they are now considered renowned institutions in the international festival calendar. The current times are characterised by many challenges for creative industries, which is why the new constellation enables us to bundle our interests vis-à-vis politics, administration and service providers, so we can represent them even more strongly in the future.

“The new constellation enables us to bundle our interests vis-à-vis politics, administration and service providers”

“At the same time, this participation underpins our strategy of extending the value chain within the framework of our own network. Through our affiliated companies such as Stereolicious GmbH (event catering) and ADDWISE Engineering GmbH (production and festival planning office), a high level of added value is created not only for all those involved but also for Hamburg as a city of culture. It is important to all of us that Hamburg continues to be an important music location in the future, known internationally for its cultural offerings and strong cultural and festival formats. Especially in the current situation, strong and independent partners and a joint strategy for action are indispensable, so the cooperation between KJ Projects and Kopf & Steine was a logical step.”

Claudio Urban and Frank Diekmann, managing directors of Kopf & Steine, add: “Kopf & Steine has welcomed KJP into its team of shareholders: This share is a great benefit for our formats and the future of music, art and festivals in Hamburg and Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg. We count on KJP as a strong partner with whom we can continue to maintain Kopf & Steine’s independence in the festival industry – and at the same time look forward to a close collaboration in which we can learn and benefit from each other in many areas.

“With almost 100,000 visitors, the festival summer on the Elbe island is a beacon of Hamburg’s music and cultural landscape. Together, we strengthen these formats – such as MS Dockville, Vogelball and Spektrum – while also preserving the jobs related to them and additionally create numerous synergies while doing this. This partnership will ensure that independent, diverse and well-attended festivals will continue to take place in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg in the future. Hamburg will remain to be a headliner for music, culture and festivals – this is the aim we will be working on together with Ben Mitha, Björn Hansen, KJ Projects and the Kopf & Steine team. We are very much looking forward to taking this next step together.”

Founded in 2021, KJ Projects is responsible for festival and open-air formats such as Baltic Soul Weekender, Cruise Inn Hamburg and also Zeltphilharmonie.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.