GDCF Monitoring Tool

The Green Deal Circular Festivals (GDCF) Monitoring Tool is a climate impact and circularity assessment tool for festivals. The Monitoring Tool supports both beginners looking for a first approach, and advanced festival organisations working on in-depth circularity strategy.

Developed together with more than 50 leading festivals from 18 countries and facilitated by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure & Water Management, the GDCF Monitoring Tool captures everything learned from working together in the Green Deal Circular Festivals between 2019 and 2025. As the Green Deal approaches its conclusion, this tool ensures that its insights remain accessible to organisers, suppliers, policymakers, and anyone committed to sustainable event production.
 

Why this tool matters

Festivals are small temporary cities with energy grids, material flows, mobility networks, food systems, and thousands of visitors. Measuring the impact of these systems is essential for understanding where change is needed, tracking improvements over time, and making data-driven decisions.

The GDCF Monitoring Tool offers festival organisers:

• A full climate impact assessment, including emissions from energy, materials, mobility, food & beverage, water, sanitation, production processes and artist travel.
• A circularity assessment, built around the GDCF Model: 8 core themes and 37 building blocks that capture how circularity is embedded in an event’s design and operations.
• A structured input workflow, guiding organisers through all relevant data points.
• Automatic calculations, using transparent emission factors and methodologies.
• Clear visual outputs, including summary dashboards and deep-dive material overviews.
• Compatibility with existing reporting frameworks, such as national sustainability requirements, circularity strategies, and internal festival reporting.

The result is a tool that supports both beginners taking their first steps, and advanced festival organisations seeking in-depth monitoring and strategy.
 

What’s inside the tool

The Beta version contains the following components:

• Input sheet
  A structured template for entering all relevant data: materials, transport, energy, food & beverage, water, production logistics, waste flows, and more.
• Results dashboards
  A clear overview of calculated CO₂-equivalent emissions, circular performance, hotspots, and recommended focus areas.
• Deep-dive results
  Detailed breakdowns enabling organisers to understand exactly where impacts come from and how interventions can be prioritised.
• Emission factor database
  A transparent list of sources, assumptions, and factors used in the calculations.
• User guide
  An accessible explanation of how the tool works and how to interpret the results.

All sheets are open and accessible; festivals can adapt the tool to fit their organisational needs or integrate it into existing monitoring workflows. This tool helps festival and event organisers measure their climate impact and circular performance. Measuring is essential to identify where change is needed, track progress, and make data-driven decisions towards truly sustainable events.

Download the GDCF Monitoring Tool (Beta)

Click here to download the user manual

This free tool brings together all the knowledge and experience gained throughout the GDCF project (2019 – 2025). As the GDCF comes to an end, the tool continues its legacy by sharing insights with all interested parties. This tool was developed by the Green Deal Circular Festivals (GDCF) – a European collaboration of pioneering festivals, facilitated by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.

GDCF and YOUROPE have agreed to keep the CDGF community alive and outputs available under the roof of YOUROPE’s GO Group (Green Operations Europe).