The Liepāja 2027 Foundation, together with culture and sustainability researcher Kitija Balcare, has prepared eco-design guidelines to support organisers of the Liepāja 2027 programme that are not just a technical tool, but a practical companion for anyone who wants to create events.
The purpose is simple yet ambitious: to help shape events that respect the environment, use resources wisely, encourage cooperation, and strengthen the community’s shared sense of responsibility. Within the guidelines, organisers will find advice on everything from choosing sustainable materials and applying circularity principles, to reducing water use, ensuring responsible production, involving local communities, creating environmentally sensitive communication, cutting waste, recycling, and rethinking transport and logistics.
“When we talk about eco-design, we are talking about more than protecting the environment – we are talking about how we treat one another and every living being around us. These guidelines are meant to spark change. They are here to help us build relationships that are more respectful, more dignified and more balanced. My hope is that this way of thinking will not stop with Liepāja’s year as European Capital of Culture but will become second nature in our daily lives and inspire others to follow,” says Kitija Balcare, author of the eco-design guidelines.
The guidelines are structured on two levels. The first introduces a core eco-design principle that organisers are encouraged to understand, adapt, and put into practice at their events, along with concrete steps to take during the event itself. The second level offers additional recommendations that deepen understanding of each principle and show how to turn it into practical action.
Kitija Balcare, Ph.D. (c.), is a researcher at the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art at the University of Latvia, a theatre critic, head of the scientific committee of the theatre sustainability project “STAGES” (Sustainable Theatre Alliance for a Green Environmental Shift), and a lecturer in environmental protection. Her research explores the connections between culture and sustainability, art and environmental activism, environmental communication, and theatre criticism.
The eco-design guidelines are freely available to everyone at liepaja2027.lv/ekodizains
Liepāja 2027 Foundation
Public Relations Specialist
Kristiāna Paula Lībiete
Phone: + 371 22 355 771
E-mail: kristiana.libiete@liepaja2027.lv
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