Four industry-leading companies from the live events, outdoor arts and music industries have become Julie’s Bicycle Associates, committing to greening their businesses and events – AEG Live, Kilimanjaro Live, NEC Group and Artichoke.
Week by week, more companies are recognising that our creative capital is vested in environmental sustainability,’ says Julie’s Bicycle Director, Alison Tickell, ‘Julie’s Bicycle is pleased to be working with four new, very different and exciting companies committed to making environmental sustainability core to their business operations.’
Julie’s Bicycle Associates are companies from across the commercial and subsidised creative industries raising their understanding and reducing their environmental impacts. Julie’s Bicycle delivers an annual programme of support for Associates based on specific company needs and environmental aspirations.
AEG Live, one of the UK’s leading live music promoters and sister company Kilimanjaro Live are working with Julie’s Bicycle across events, festivals and tours. AEG Live will pilot BS 8901 for their events – a British Standard developed to help the events industry to operate more sustainably – and will also prepare for ISO 20121, the new international standard for sustainable event management. AEG Live will develop an ‘Environmental Sustainability Pack for Touring’ and join Julie’s Bicycle’s artist-led campaign, 100 Green Riders, which helps artists and venues put on environmentally responsible shows through the exchange of a green rider alongside technical and hospitality riders. ‘Dublin Winter Wonderland’ will be undertaking Industry Green, as well as AEG Live and Kilimanjaro Live festivals such as RockNess and Sonisphere.
The NEC Group manages some of Birmingham’s largest and most iconic venues, including the NEC, ICC and LG Arena. The company has an impressive track record in environmental management, investing in capital and local infrastructure and sustainable management, and was a runner-up in the 2011 Julie’s Bicycle Green Business Award at the Music Week Awards, the only arena to get shortlisted. The LG Arena will be the first of the Group’s venues to undergo Industry Green certification in 2011.
‘Teaming up with Julie’s Bicycle is an important move for us as a business,’ says Guy Dunstan, General Manager for the NEC Group Arenas. ‘Each year, the LG Arena and NIA welcome millions of visitors, which gives us the opportunity to communicate the importance of ‘being green’ to them. It’s our responsibility as two of the UK’s biggest live entertainment venues to lead by example and ensure that we’re bringing in initiatives that demonstrate to our staff and that general public that we’re as environmentally conscious as possible. Our work with Julie’s Bicycle is in the early stages but we already have some great plans afoot and I can’t wait to see the positive effects we can have together.”
Artichoke produces spectacular outdoor art events across the UK, aiming to reach the widest audience possible. Artichoke’s Lumiere light festival in Durham is working with Julie’s bicycle to quantify the event’s carbon impacts, and Julie’s Bicycle will support the development of year-round processes that incorporate addressing environmental impacts into all of Artichoke’s events and everyday operations.
‘Artichoke’s events are always big in scale and ambition,’ says Artichoke Director, Nicky Webb. ‘We are mindful that events of this scale, like Lumiere, have an environmental impact and are delighted to be working with Julie’s Bicycle to look at creative ways of reducing our carbon footprint as far as possible without compromising the quality of the events.”
More: www.juliesbicycle.com
More: www.juliesbicycle.com/associates
More: www.juliesbicycle.com/industry-green
