New research from environmental advice and campaign group A Greener Festival shows that music festivals have kept up their environmental efforts, despite slower tickets sales at some events and the economic recession.

The research, compiled by Rob Faull at Buckinghamshire New University, analysed the environmental assessments made at 37 festivals in 2009 compared with 32 festivals in 2008 as part of the ‘Greener Festival’ awards scheme,

The results shows that an additional 7% of festivals now have environmental policies meaning that 97% of festivals implement green good practice. The research also showed that 94% of festivals now promote lift sharing and 97% promote public transport in a move to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  In addition 7% more festivals (71% in total) now used at least some sustainable power (usually wind, solar or sustainable bio-fuels). But there was mixed news on recycling, and whilst 94% of festivals have plans to place to prioritise recycling, there was a marked drop (24%) in recycling plastics and glass, something the Award organisers put down to a drop on the global demand for recycled metal and plastic caused by the recession which meant some festivals struggled to offload waste metal and plastic.

There was also a big jump in the number of festivals who now promote environmental awareness on site or on their websites, jumping 17% to 94% in total. Ben Challis, one of A Greener Festival co-founders said “overall we are delighted with our Awards scheme in 2009: we had 5 more festivals applying (37, up from 32 in 2008) and we judged 13 festivals to be ‘outstanding (up from 6 in 2008). We were really encouraged by the number of festivals who are engaging with music fans and promoting sustainable lifestyles and implementing environmental good practice. The biggest area of concern remains audience travel and we are delighted that almost all of the participating festivals now promote lift share and public transport as a matter of course, with many working with new partners to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from audience travel. The other good news is that we are extending the Awards. The scheme currently covers The UK, Europe, Australia and the USA and we now plan to roll out the Awards scheme into India and South East Asia”.

Photo by Nick Cordes at the Glastonbury Festival

A Greener Festival Ltd is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Social enterprises are faced with a fantastic opportunity – a severe recession and several banking scandals mean the public is looking for change, for a different way of doing business.

And they are not alone. The current government has been increasing its efforts to get social enterprises more involved in the delivery of public services through schemes like the NHS’s Social Enterprise Investment Fund, while the Tories, should they get into power, have already indicated how important they believe social enterprises will be in this area.

The end result should be significant growth in the whole sector, plus many social enterprises getting bigger very quickly. However that rapid growth brings its own dangers – losing touch with the values, people and approach that you originally set out with, becoming just another service provider, alienating your customers and stakeholders as the gap between you and them grows. When a social enterprise starts up, all the customers, staff and suppliers are known by name. As it grows, that personal relationship can’t be maintained, so something else – better communication – needs to fill the gap.

Now’s the time to invest in your communications, to make sure you really know your customers and what they want from you, and that your brand and the image you project stays true to your organisation’s mission and values. Here are five simple steps to take, to ensure your communication matches your promise, to help you achieve growth without losing your roots:

1. Commit to paper the values and approach that you used to set up the enterprise in the first place. Nothing complex, just the reasoning behind its creation and the impact you wanted it to make. These words should form the backbone not just of your communications, but all aspects of the business. You might be loathe to do it, but it will pay dividends if you do.
2. Make sure everyone who works with you knows these words, and understands what they really mean and how they should be applied to their everyday work.Use these words as the basis for any marketing that you do, however seemingly small and insignificant. All that you do should flow from your values, and all that you communicate should do so as well.
3. Ask people what they think of you on a regular basis – staff, suppliers, customers, neighbours, competitors – so you know how the business is being perceived, and whether the cracks are beginning to show between your values and the reality
4. Invest in your staff as your communicators. Once you reach a certain size, it can be tempting to start outsourcing various elements of your business, from payroll to marketing. This makes sense financially, but can lead to your team feeling it is someone else’s job to communicate your values. Communication should be part of everyone’s job description, whether you have a dedicated marketing resource or not.
5. Remember you are a social enterprise and make sure everyone else knows that too. This will be inherent in your values anyway, but it is imperative that all your stakeholders are reminded of what makes you different on a regular basis.

None of this needs to cost money, and it certainly isn’t rocket science, but it is exactly the type of thing that can get forgotten when you’re distracted by the pace and priorities of an organisation growing beyond its roots.

Forster is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more