Ceres Park & Arena has announced the launch of a new venture that intends to make the complex one of Denmark’s most sustainable concert venues.
Located in the city of Aarhus, Ceres Park & Arena has been working on a sustainability strategy since last year that among other things focuses on the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals – in particular numbers two, seven, 12, 13 and 17 – with the aim of reducing resource consumption, optimising energy consumption, and exploring circular possibilities for recycling materials.
The new program, entitled ‘Responsible Arena’, increases the focus on sustainability and on reducing the environmental footprint from concerts. Ceres Park & Arena manager, Hanne Bisbo Stadsgaard, said: “We know that many artists are engaged in the fight against climate change. But we also realise that it can be difficult to live up to those ambitions, when you go on tour and are part of a large production.
“So we want to help both artists and promoters to go greener. We wish to offer a venue that makes it easier to tour and organise large shows in a way that impacts the climate less.”
Ceres Arena is currently 100% powered from renewable energy sources. In 2021, all lamps and spotlights have been replaced with LEDs, which save 100,000 kWh of energy annually. Ceres Arena has developed a new waste management system so that concert guests can separate their waste into up to four types of materials – including plastic cups, so that the plastic can be recycled optimally. Employees then sort the waste into 10 different types to be recycled.
No disposable cups are used in Ceres Café and plastic straws have been phased out. For meetings in Ceres Park & Arena, tap water is served in a glass dispenser, and organic butter is served in slices rather than single portions. Coffee and tea is certified organic and fair trade, while paper and napkins in the Ceres Arena are FSC-certified.
The latest venture comes after AGF Aarhus, which plays at Ceres Park, in May became the first Danish football club to sign up to the UN Sports for Climate Action framework, an initiative bringing together clubs, federations and athletes to join the fight against climate change.
Director of branding and sustainability at AGF Aarhus, Anne Jensen, said: “We are already doing quite a bit. But we need to figure out how we can do even better.
“How can we offer a more sustainable venue? That is what we ask ourselves with this new program. We do it to keep up with the expected increased demands from artists, but also because it comes as a natural result of the sustainability vision that we launched last year for AGF A/S – the football club that runs Ceres Park & Arena.”
Image: Ceres Park & Arena
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