For almost 50 years, the United Nations has been calling for active participation against the climate crisis worldwide on 5 June. On this year's World Environment Day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres also launched the »Decade for Ecosystem Restoration«. For already today, 40 percent of the world's population is affected by environmental degradation. To the seriousness of the situation, one can at most conciliatory add that there is still time to repair the damage done – if only the time is used constructively. 

So what to do (differently)?

From our programme to the use of natural resources and purchasing decisions to partnerships, the Ludwigsburg Festival has an impact on economic, ecological and social dimensions. So where do we stand? A current stocktaking reveals positive standards, which on the one hand speak for Jochen Sandig's driving artistic direction and on the other hand are great motivators. In order to get further steps rolling, a working group consisting of staff members from different departments was formed. Read below what we have achieved so far. 

Sustainability Action Network

As a special milestone, we are pleased to have become a member of the »Aktionsnetzwerk Nachhaltigkeit« in 2022. In consultation with experts and in exchange with other partners, the »Aktionsnetzwerk Nachhaltigkeit« offers support in improving the operational ecology of cultural institutions. This will concretise our future goal of drawing up a CO2 balance sheet for the Ludwigsburg Festival and, on this basis, taking quantitative steps to reduce our CO2 footprint. (Goal 13)

At the workplace

We are very pleased to see how many resource-saving measures have already been implemented at Palais Grävenitz. The use of green electricity, energy-saving light bulbs, recycled paper, microplastic-free cleaning products, flow limiters in the taps, etc. - the list could be extended thanks to further efforts - all make an active contribution to environmental protection. A lot has also been done in terms of mobility: e-cars are now used for necessary journeys. In addition, our vehicle fleet was expanded by two e-bikes in 2022, one of which can also be used as a cargo bike for transport. This way, the weekly set-up and dismantling of our »Frei Luft Musik« on the market square could be carried out almost exclusively with the help of the cargo bike.

We are passionate about our responsibility to »communicate development issues in a lively way«, as the development policy guidelines for Baden-Württemberg put it. Thus, in addition to dealing with current issues such as gender identities and the climate crisis, the programme offered also focuses on the involvement of all visitors (Goal 4). Through our offers of »Frei Luft Musik«, the Festival Centre and some workshops, we were able to get into conversation with new people from Ludwigsburg and involve them. This is also connected to the desire not only to address a more diverse audience, but also to be perceived as a more diverse workplace. In addition, the entire team of the Ludwigsburg Festival has been engaged in an opening process since 2020, accompanied by Handan Kaymak (Goal 3). 

In the festival business

Many things also happen during the festival: In 2021, for the first time after a whole week of rehearsals, the waste from the artist catering of the Unpacktladen Ohne PlaPla amounted to a single office waste bin (target 12). In 2022 we continued this artist catering and thus saved a lot of waste.The gift of flowers at the end of a concert became personalised tree sponsorships: artists like Oksana Lyniv and J Henry Fair already support the reforestation of German forests and CO2 offsetting with the regional project »Zukunft schenken – Bäume pflanzen« by fit4future natur, the Cleven Foundation, Hitradio antenne1 and the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Food, Rural Areas and Consumer Protection (Goal 15).

Our 2022 artists' gifts have been extended to include certificates of sponsorship for native flowering meadows. The flowering meadows are sown in Möglingen on the grounds of the Jopp family farm and serve to preserve biodiversity. Beyond these ecological aspects, we are pleased about all the cooperations and collaborations with strong partners and institutions that have been realised so far (Goal 17), which we have also deepened regionally in 2022. In the course of a »roadshow«, our artistic director met with people from Ludwigsburg at various places and shops who have had little contact with the Schlossfestspiele so far. Here, too, we benefit from our partners who provide a space for these encounters. In addition, in the 2022 season we have always offered the evening programmes at our events free of charge with the option to give money voluntarily. This has resulted in a generous donation of over €6,000, which will go towards the evacuation and further education of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (Goals 3 and 4).

Future milestones

We have already added some achievements of the 2022 season to the interim balance sheet of the 2021 season. Nevertheless, we still have a lot to do and a lot of work to do. For more inclusion in everyday life (Goal 16), we also want to increase the possibility of participation in our programmes by means of admission prices and barrier-free as well as intergenerational offers. In 2022, the pricing has already been lowered somewhat. The offer for young festival guests in training was also extremely well used. The free offers of the marketplace concerts and the audio broadcasts to the Festival Centre were very well received and attended. These formats will therefore be continued and optimised. To mitigate climate change and its effects (Goal 13), we will be able to introduce concrete measures in our Festival operations with the help of the Sustainability 2023 Action Network. Thus, with openness to critical dialogue and a willingness to constantly innovate, we are working to implement the 17 goals and the resulting themes in our daily work.