GO stands for Green Operations. GO Group is an independent, pan-European, cross-industry think tank to inspire people in the music festival and events industry to run their operations greener, smarter and more sustainable.
GO Group was initiated at the 1st International GreenEvents Conference in Bonn in November 2010. YOUROPE co-founded the group alongside GreenEvents Conference, Green Music Initiative (GMI) and Bucks University in early 2011. Since then, GO Group has been stimulating exchange and leading the discussion about social and ecological responsibility. The group inspires and connects hundreds of festivals, initiatives and scientists.
It is the aim that GO Group:
- identifies international best practices in sustainable innovations for the music festival and event industry.
- collects, communicates and shares accumulated knowledge with interested stakeholders from all over Europe.
- establishes working relationships between different industry groups to enable practical and spontaneous exchange of personal experiences.
- supports initiatives and takes part in projects related to GO Group’s fields of action.
GO Group has put green issues on the agenda by delivering:
- 5 international conferences with up to 180 participants
- 14 international two-day workshops and festival field trips with up to 50 participants per event
- 60+ conference contributions (such as panels, presentations, keynotes) in 15 European countries
GO Group is a regular contributor to the most important conferences and conventions of the (live) music industry such as ESNS, Green Events & Innovations @ILMC, ADE Green, Reeperbahn Festival, by:Larm Oslo, MaMA Music & Convention Paris, Nouvelle Prague and more.
In fall 2012, GO Group and YOUROPE initiated the “Green Operations Award” as a category of the European Festival Awards. Its target group are festivals that have made a significant contribution to or achievement towards developing more sustainable events. The award is given out by a panel made up of experts that are not directly linked to any specific festival.
15 years of GO Group
In 2025, we celebrate 15 years of GO Group since its founding, looking back at a number of events:
- 2010: GreenEvents Europe Conference, Bonn (DE) – this is where GO Group was initiated
- 2011: 1st workshop in Amsterdam (NL, co-hosted by ID&T)
- 2011: GreenEvents Europe Conference, Bonn (DE)
- 2012: 2nd workshop in Budapest (HU, co-hosted by Sziget)
- 2012: 3rd workshop in Berlin (DE, co-hosted by Green Music initiative at Berlin Music Week)
- 2012: GreenEvents Europe Conference, Bonn (DE)
- 2013: 4th workshop in Paris (FR, co-hosted by We Love Green)
- 2013: field trip and seminar @ Øya Festival, Oslo (NO)
- 2013: field trip and seminar @ EXIT Festival, Novi Sad (RS)
- 2013: GreenEvents Europe Conference, Bonn (DE)
- 2014: 5th workshop in Vienna (AT, co-hosted by Beatpatrol, Jump! & Umweltbundesamt)
- 2014: field trip and seminar @ EXIT Festival, Novi Sad (RS)
- 2014: GreenEvents Europe Conference, Bonn (DE)
- 2016: 6th workshop in Cologne (DE, co-hosted by Hochschule Fresenius)
- 2018: 7th workshop in Berlin (DE, co-hosted by Festival Kombinat & Spreewerkstätten)
- 2019: 8th workshop in Prague (CZ, co-hosted by Soundczech & Nouvelle Prague)
- 2022: seminar cooperation with GEI – Green Events & Innovations, London (UK, co-hosted by AGF)
- 2023: 9th workshop in Barcelona (ES, with support of Primavera Sound, FMA & Sound Diplomacy)
- 2024: 10th workshop in Bratislava (SK, co-hosted by Pohoda Festival)
- 2025: 11th workshop in Roskilde (DK, co-hosted by Roskilde Festival)
GO Group has supported several EU-funded projects such as
- Everywh2ere – introducing fuel cells & hydrogen power to festivals (within the Horizon 2020 program) – finished
- GEX Green Europe Experience – sustainable scenography and catering solutions for festivals (within the Creative Europe program) – finished
- Future Festival Tools – empowering event professionals in live events across Europe to be future-ready, with green competency, tools and personal certification. (within the Erasmus+ program) – finished
- EE Music – Energy Efficient Music Culture (within the Intelligent Energy Europe program) – finished
More Information: www.go-group.org
