By Dr. Milena Stefanovic, Assistant professor, Faculty of Dramatic Arts (University of Arts, Belgrade, Serbia)
/TEACHING EXPERIENCES
Environmental sustainability and concert industry
Introduction or why we need to teach environment sustainability issues to students
During one of the Strategic Management and Marketing lectures I teach to the Faculty of Drama Master’s students, we discussed trends and pressing issues that today’s managers may face. At one point, a student commented that the issue of environmental sustainability is overrated and not particularly relevant to culture, the arts, and the creative industries in general. Although other students disagreed, the debate shifted towards economic and social aspects of sustainability, which were deemed more pressing in developing societies like ours in the Western Balkans. The “challenger” student concluded that “eco-friendly policies” are implemented mainly for “marketing” purposes and that the creative sector can’t contribute significantly anyway. Others also mentioned that the “green turn” is also somewhat fashionable and serves as a tool for corporate social responsibility, and although most of them heard about 17 UN SDG’s, the understanding of whole framework, was low.
Motivated by contrasting and diverse opinions from future managers and professionals in the cultural sector, I developed teaching experience dedicated to environmental sustainability in creative sector, that address the ecological impact of creative practices.
The theoretical foundation for the topic is based on three pathways through which the arts promote environmental behaviour (Curtis at al 2014): communicating information; connecting people to the environment; embedding the arts in ecologically sustainable development. Furthermore, the overall framework (Curtis at al 2014) describing ways that the arts might help shape environmental behaviour is fundamental, claiming that the work of individual artists can influence the behaviour of citizens through the three pathways described above, which impact on a person’s values, beliefs, knowledge, attitudes, self-identity and habits, and through these, on social norms (according to Curtis 2017). While accepting that creativity is renewable, sustainable and unlimited resource (Saucedo, 2022), we need to discuss character of “outputs” of this creativity, which leads to learning students not only about environmental perspective of sustainability but also for environmental sustainability.
Learning potential of the approach can be assessed based on how addresses the six components of Fink’s taxonomy of significant learning: (a) foundational knowledge, (b) application, (c) integration, (d) human dimensions, (e) caring, and (f) learning how to learn, and this session is designed to address mostly application and human dimensions.
The overall objective is to facilitate a participative and collaborative identification of issues relevant to the creative and cultural industries, while exploring both “universal” and “tailor-made” strategies for addressing these challenges across different sectors. Below, I will outline the scenario I use for teaching the class.
Methodology, format and steps
The session follows the “World Café” workshop methodology, which is flexible and allows ample space for discussion, knowledge sharing, and idea generation. It allows participants to work in smaller groups, to discuss the issue, and to have joint points and conclusions. Additionally, as illustration and inspiration, I include practical example of best practices in the music industry specifically focusing on Coldplay’s tour 2024, which is recognized for setting high sustainability standards.
About “World Café”: The group is ideally composed of 10-20 participants. At start, they are divided into 3 or 4 groups and seated in separate tables. The group choose note taker and facilitator for each step or phase, who will be presenting the discussion points and conclusions. It is important not to have the same person presenting all the time, in order to include all participants. The groups can stay the same for all steps, or if there is enough time, they could be divided for each step of discussions.
Step 1: Mapping the level of “awareness” and positioning “environment sustainability” among other sustainability dimensions.
Goal: identifying perspectives and stands in the group – introducing the topic. It starts with some introductory remarks about main concepts, in order to secure the whole group has some understanding of key terms and relations among them.
- Environmental impact is the result of the accumulated behaviour of individuals (the amount consumed per person), the energy and material resources used in producing the items consumed, and the number of people consuming (Ehrlich and Holdren, 1971).
- Sustainability requires individual involvement and collective participation when questioning and changing unsustainable routines.
- Harmony between creativity, economic activity, and sustainability is not evident. In fact, these different aspects of human intentions are contradictory and some authors consider that “it is very difficult to provide sustainable development in cultural industries because of their dynamicity” (Dursun, 2018).
Each group have 15 min to discuss the “tensions” between economic and environmental sustainability and the (im)possibility of sustainable development in cultural industries because of its dynamicity. Consequently, facilitator presents main conclusions and arguments raised in the group.
Duration: 30 minutes (15 for group discussion, 3×5 min for presenting and commenting).
Step 2: Identifying most relevant and common sustainability challenges for different cultural sectors. This phase is divided into two parts. First one is dedicated to present practical cases, that are relevant for the topic and to underline questions and data that are available on the issue of environment sustainability of music industry.
The first part starts with brief presentation about specific case, that usually most participants heard of, and points out some available data and statistics regarding the sustainability policies in the music industry. Basically I present the story of large scale performances by artists like Taylor Swift, Adele, Coldplay that have sparked significant discussion about the carbon footprint and environment sustainability practices. As a prime example of elaborate and systematic approach to environment sustainability, I elaborate the main points of the Coldplay strategy that in order to make “Music of the Spheres” Tour sustainable, established three principles as guiding: reduce (“our consumption, recycle extensively and cut CO2 emissions by 50%”), reinvent (“support new green technologies and develop new sustainable super low-carbon touring methods”), restore (“making tour as environmentally beneficial as possible by funding a portfolio of nature and technology projects and by drawing down significantly more CO2 than the tour produces”).
Furthermore, I display main concerns presented in the public. One is related to the use of private jets and the overall environmental impact of “concert hopping” especially between USA and Europe. To demonstrate the state of play in regards to environment policies in the sector, I quote data from sustainable-impact agency Betternotstop, latest edition of its ‘More Than Music’ report into music festivals and sustainability. Of the 100 festivals featured in the 2024 report: 46% have a publicly available sustainability policy; 31% have publicly available carbon measures; 22% have measures to offset the carbon costs of audience travel; 26% are reducing or changing their fuel usage; and 25% are working with renewable energy; 14% of festivals showed no sustainability actions or data on their websites at all. Concert experts estimate that 50% to 80% of the carbon emissions from touring come from fan travel, which would be significant for residency-type shows, and a single-use stage stadium sounds like a misuse of resources (Adele Munich shows 2024, 130million € temporary stadium). Thus, by presenting different approaches and arguments that float around music concerts but also festivals, students can grasp wider context and better understand the level of complexity of the issue, but also possibilities.
Why the Coldplay case? Mainly because it can help participants to recognize main carbon foot print sources, to discuss how they are relevant for different industries or sectors and identify elements that add value and benefits, such as transparency, effective communication, and credibility above all.
Duration 10-15 minutes.
Second part of this phase includes group work. Each group is asked to focus on one industry or cultural sector (sector or industry is selected by whole group: museums-heritage, festivals, performing arts like theatres, etc. according to the preferences). The group jointly list the key sustainability words or problems and discuss and suggest one strategy or approach for only one problem in selected sector. For example, energy efficiency in the museums; recycling during the festivals; etc. The goal is to brainstorm about different modalities and strategies that could be applied within specific management or production frameworks.
Duration: 30 minutes.
Step 3: The session include a joint discussion and presentation of potential solutions or strategies for addressing specific issues within a chosen sector or industry. After 30 minutes of group work, a representative from each group—typically the facilitator or note-taker—will be invited to share their group’s strategy for addressing the specific problem. These strategies should be written or graphically presented on A4 paper or a flip chart so the entire group can easily follow along.
It is crucial that each group focuses on only one issue and develops a single strategy to ensure clarity and prioritization. Groups are also encouraged to be as specific as possible and to provide detailed explanations of their proposals.
Duration: 45-60 minutes.
Step 4: Wrap-up and conclusions: The session is concluded with a summary of the proposed strategies, followed by a brief discussion of the sectors and industries chosen by the groups. This will include an exploration of how applicable some of the proposed solutions are in practice. If the group is international or composed of participants from different cities, the session will end by posing additional questions for future consideration or as food for thought:
- How are the creative sectors in your country of origin (or current city, region) addressing green practices and policies?
- For example, are music festivals in your area meeting sustainability criteria?
- Are museums or other cultural institutions adopting green practices?
- Is there a specific cultural policy in place that supports sustainable practices in the creative sector?
Duration: 10 minutes
Final remarks
The framework used in the session contributes to educating about environmental sustainability as well as educating for environmental sustainability. There are three main learning outcomes: the distinction between individual and collective/public environmental actions; raising awareness about most notable practices in music industries and conflicting perspectives in this regard, and final, helping participants to become more alerted and attentive in public environmental action options from professional positions.
Statement that harmony between creativity, economic activity and environmental sustainability is not evident sparks the discussion, while majority believes that environmental impact especially in terms of energy consumption is a relevant factor. This was obvious when discussing different cases of “concert hooping” between continents, but also when the issue of growing demand for processing power driven by AI applications was mentioned. Organizations across all industries including creative once are incorporating AI into their operations, aiming to enhance efficiency and foster innovation, and from environmental sustainability, this threat is perceived as biggest and still bit neglected. If we accept that the environmental impact is result of accumulated behaviour of individuals, the energy and material resources used in producing the items consumed, and the number of people consuming (Ehrlich and Holdren, 1971), the impact of creative industries is huge (no matter the classification, from concentric circles model by Throsby, to the categorisation used in the development of the UK’s creative industries policy strategy (Department of Culture, Media and Sport, 2001); the copyright-based model adopted by the World Intellectual Property Organisation, 2003; or a model developed within UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics, 2007).
On the other hand, it is obvious that many students believe that we expect too much from the sector with less commercial features (like core creative arts) that need to focus on economic outputs in order to survive. Furthermore, many agreed that ecological footprint matters when we talk about big festivals, concert industries, IT sector in general, while noting that those sectors already implementing different policies in this regard. The most notable artists and organizations are more visible, and expectations are naturally higher, since the influence and potential impact on a person’s values, beliefs, knowledge, attitudes, self-identity and habits, and through these, on social norms, represents resource that needs to be managed with responsibility. The case of Coldplay tour showed how transparent and verified process (by MIT) may provoke and attract debate and discussions, and set standards for the music industry in concerts and festivals. Vy contrasting such approach with the approach of other popular artists like Adele, with two-digit residency concert costing more than 100 million $, including construction with first portable stadium – venue that will be transported all over the world,
In the public sphere, there are many conflicting narratives about sustainability, as well as conspiracy theories that academics often dismiss as non-threatening for certain groups, like educated young professionals. However, this assumption should not be taken for granted. A participative and deliberative approach to learning about these issues would be beneficial. Understanding the “green value” of projects, being aware that economic outputs often go together with environmental impact and being able to replicate successful practices across various sectors and settings is crucial for students and managers in the creative sector.
References:
CURTIS, D. (2007). Creating inspiration: the role of the arts in creating empathy for ecological restoration. Ecological Management and Restoration 10(3), 174-184.
CURTIS, D., REID, N. and REEVE, I. (2014). “Towards ecological sustainability: observations on the role of the arts.” S.A.P.I.EN.S. Surveys and Perspectives Integrating Environment and Society 7(1), 15p.
CURTIS, D. (2017). Building Sustainability with the Arts: Proceedings of the 2nd National EcoArts Australis Conference, Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
DALLAIRE, G. COLBERT F. (2012) Sustainable Development and Cultural Policy: Do They Make a Happy Marriage?, ENCATC Journal of Cultural Management and Policy, 2 (1), pp. 6-11.
EHRLICH, P. HOLDREN J, (1971), New Population Growth, Science, New Series, Vol. 171, No. 3977.pp. 1212-1217.
KACERAUSKAS T.; STREIMIKIENE D.; BARTKUTE R. (2021) Environmental Sustainability of Creative Economy: Evidence from a Lithuanian Case Study. Sustainability 13, 9730.
SAUCEDO, H. (2022) Main theoretical approaches of the creative industries: from a meta analytical orientation. Revista de Investigaciones, 3(2).
THROSBY, D (2008), ‘The Concentric circles model of the cultural industries’, Cultural Trends, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 147-164. https://doi.org/10.1080/09548960802361951
https://sustainability.coldplay.com/
https://owlesg.com/2023/10/16/esg-in-the-music-industry/
https://www.rollingstone.com/interactive/artists-going-green/#dave-matthews
Biography:
Dr. Milena Stefanovic, is an Assistant Professor at Faculty of Dramatic Arts, University of Arts, Belgrade, Serbia. Main research fields: strategic management and leadership, organizational culture and behavior, entrepreneurship in the cultural industry. Before joining academia, Stefanovic worked as a manager in a private corporation and international foundation.
