Scotland’s First Greener Events Toolkit Launched in Dumfries and Galloway

Dumfries and Galloway Council has researched and launched Scotland’s first Greener Events Toolkit, to support the work of festivals and events organisers across the region. The Toolkit has been produced in collaboration with the Southern Uplands Partnership Services Ltd and Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere.

The Toolkit aims to encourage festivals and events to be planned and delivered in Dumfries and Galloway with a better understanding of how to reduce their carbon emissions and plan for their long-term sustainability.

The toolkit contains all the information, tips and advice organisers require to take forward their projects, putting our pristine, sensitive environment and the council’s commitment to reducing carbon outputs at the heart of their planning.

Councillor Ian Blake, the Chair of the Council’s Communities Committee said, “The Toolkit has been produced as a resource for the many dozens of community events organisers across the region, who do so much to get our region on the map across Scotland and the UK. We want to acknowledge and encourage their efforts whilst working in partnership to sustain and protect our natural resources. Dumfries and Galloway is clearly one of the most unspoilt areas of the UK, and we have to do our utmost to protect our environment for this and future generations.”

Councillor Jackie McCamon, the Vice-Chair of the Communities Committee said, “Our festivals and events are renowned across the UK, and they contribute so much to the quality of life of living in Dumfries and Galloway. The Toolkit in no way seeks to curb the work of events organisers, but to provide practical and concise guidance on how to integrate environmental management concerns into project planning. This will protect our economy in the longer term and make us a standout, renowned destination for the quality of our landscape and commitment to the environment.”

A spokesperson for the Southern Uplands Partnership Services Ltd said, “We have been delighted to help the Council’s Events Strategy team to find ways to help local events planners consider how to be ‘greener’.

“We look forward to seeing the roll-out of this toolkit to help events organisers develop and deliver excellent rural events while minimising any harms to place, people and wildlife, present and future. We would also like to see this approach extended right across South Scotland, where rural communities face similar challenges, strengths and potential!”

Ed Forrest, Director of the UNESCO Biosphere said, “UNESCO Biospheres are recognised internationally as regions piloting new approaches to Sustainable Development. It’s very fitting that Scotland’s first Greener Events Toolkit builds on the experiences piloted within Scotland’s first Biosphere and is now rolling them out to a wider audience across Dumfries and Galloway, under a shared objective of promoting sustainability that is good for people, business and the environment.”

A spokesperson for the Glentrool and Bargrennan Community Trust said, “The Greener Events Toolkit promises to be an invaluable resource for community organisations embarking on their first event venture or equally guiding already established and renowned festivals and events. As the first UNESCO recognised Biosphere Community within Galloway, our ethos partners well with Dumfries and Galloway Council’s greener initiative of delivering eco-friendly, sustainable projects which showcase our outstanding environmental beauty whilst also providing a focus for social and economic growth within our communities.”

The toolkit is available free of charge to download athttps://dumgal.gov.uk/article/15762/

If your events or community group is interested in organising a training session on greener events planning, email events@dumgal.gov.uk

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