Sustainability in action

Spotlight

Sustainability in action at two Destination NSW-owned events.

Vivid Sydney 2024

Vivid Sydney 2024 was the Southern Hemisphere’s largest multi-artform festival. Owned, managed, and produced by Destination NSW, the event followed a Sustainability Strategy to minimise its environmental impact.

Destination NSW worked collaboratively across the supply chain to embed sustainable practices and encourage sustainable growth performance among Vivid Sydney’s stakeholders, precincts, contractors, artists, and event owners.

The agency used Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, as the focus of the Vivid Sydney Sustainability Strategy due to the close alignment with the agency’s values and goals.

The goals were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

Partnering with Huddle Agency, the festival offset its electricity consumption, utilising LED lighting for 86 per cent of installations and offsetting flights for artists.

It implemented water-efficient toilets, installed water taps to reduce plastic bottle usage, and minimised waste by reusing materials and employing eco-friendly practices, such as paperless ticketing.

Vivid Light artists were encouraged to reuse and recycle materials, extending the life of installations, while the festival also promoted using public transport.

Visitor Economy Forum

Destination NSW committed to delivering a sustainable 2023 NSW Visitor Economy Forum. The agency partnered with EarthCheck and the ICC Sydney to obtain event certification.

EarthCheck offers a sustainability framework for businesses and events to ensure they meet the expectations of customers and act thoughtfully and responsibly with regard to the environment. This is particularly important for events and business events, with the framework assisting event owners to address cost savings, compliance, data and insights, building a positive corporate profile, and improving risk and safety management.

Sustainable initiatives at the forum included:

All program details were available on the Destination NSW Events app. As a result, there was no need for printed collateral.
ICC Sydney offered water refill stations throughout the venue.
Waste collection was clearly separated and identified.
Destination NSW reduced single-use items wherever possible.
Low-impact products were selected wherever possible, from signage to food items on the refreshment menu.

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