At Festivals From India, we are informed and enriched by the two contexts of our operations, festivals and India. The former, which is a part of the creative economy, employs practices and resources that have a deep impact on the local environment. The latter is a nation—one of the world’s largest economies with a thriving population of young people—that has to focus on the rapid impacts of climate change on the survival and sustenance of its people.
In November 2021 at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (also known as COP26), India pledged to reduce its emissions to net-zero by 2070. The target of becoming carbon-neutral was one of the five pledges put forward by the country at the summit. Being a part of this ecosystem, Festivals From India is deeply committed to operating and doing business in a way that is socially and environmentally responsible.
As a platform designed to showcase arts and culture festivals, we can, in our capacity, talk and influence about the environment we inhabit and, along with it, sustainability. The global threat of climate change has become an omnipresent challenge that is growing faster than ever envisioned. Along with helping you find all things festivals, it is our duty to ensure that our impact on planet Earth is mitigated.
We take it as a responsibility to commit ourselves to be a climate champion, and encourage the festivals and festival audiences we are associated with to do the same. We are in a position to inspire both festivals and audiences. However, one needs to be mindful that sustainable practices already exist in the ecosystem of India. Through our work at Festivals From India and our sister concern, the Art X Company, we pledge to deliver the message of climate change through our:
- Editorial and content policies
- Training and development of festival professionals
- Advocacy through campaigns
Editorial and content policies
Our editorial and content guidelines will be informed by robust data and statistics on climate change and the impact of human behaviours on the environment. We are committed to and will contribute to India’s pledges at the COP26. We refer to the Assessment of Climate Change over the Indian Region, a report of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, for information regarding climate change in India and the related statistics.
In addition, our editorial strategy will mindfully foreground stories within the festival sector that employ and celebrate sustainable practices. Such initiatives will further be documented and hosted as case studies on our portal and be used as learning resources in our training programmes for the festival sector. At the same time, we will generate content aimed at influencing audiences’ behaviour at festivals and exhort them to employ sustainable practices while attending festivals.
Training and development of festival professionals
We commit to ensuring sustainable practices and strategies are devised as learning resources, and are tuned into workshops on designing, producing and executing arts and culture festivals. These will be conducted on a periodic basis with experts and trainers across India and the globe.
Advocacy through campaigns
Art X Company is a signatory of International Festivals Declare Emergency, an initiative by The Festival Academy Europe, incubated in collaboration with Culture Declares Emergency. The Festival Academy is a global community of 836 festival managers from 96 countries, along with 100 experts from various fields across the world. It offers training programmes and peer-to-peer learning around arts festivals. For the Academy, festivals are a platform that connect people with civil society structures.
Through Art X Company, Festivals From India will be a conduit between festivals in India and South Asia and Europe and exhort festivals from the region to be part of the global International Festivals Declare Emergency campaign. The initiative raises awareness among festivals, encourages them to commit to climate action through behavioural change and concrete actions, and provides visibility for those with innovative initiatives.
We believe and follow that systematic change is possible through awareness, accountability and meaningful actions, and must be done in real time.
