As the festival sector moves towards circular and climate-neutral event production, one thing has become clear: measuring impact is essential. Reliable data allows organisers to understand where change is needed, track progress, and make better decisions.
Within the Green Deal Circular Festivals (GDCF), we developed the GDCF Monitor: a practical tool to measure the footprint and impact of all facets of a festival, from energy and mobility to materials and circularity. The Monitor builds on the GDCF Model, an extensive framework developed with experts, festivals, and the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. It provides a consistent structure for data collection and supports festivals in designing and tracking sustainability strategies.
But the GDCF Monitor is not the only monitoring tool that is available for festivals and event. Organisations like Climeet, A Greener Future, GSES, Green Producers Tool, Tapio, ZeroZero, and Rubbish Ideas have also entered the field, each offering their own valuable perspectives on event sustainability. That is of course a very good and needed development, but this is also causing a broad range of key indicators and different standards to emerge. During this year’s ADE Green Conference, GDCF invited these developers and other stakeholders for a closed-door discussion on one shared goal: harmonisation.
Overview of monitoring tools for festivals and event organisers
We’ve created a matrix summarising the sustainability monitoring tools, with key features, scope, strengths and gaps:
| Tool | Primary focus | Key strengths | Main gaps |
| GDCF Monitor | Circular and climate-neutral festivals | Comprehensive coverage across carbon, materials, and circularity; tailored for festivals | Currently limited to GDCF network; integration with other systems in progress |
| Climeet | Carbon accounting for physical, hybrid, and digital events | User-friendly platform, GHG-aligned methodology | Strong focus on carbon; limited material or circular metrics |
| A Greener Future (AGF) | Certification and benchmarking for festivals and live events | Recognised framework, broad dataset across sustainability themes | Limited granularity on circular/material flows |
| GSES – Green Event Standard | Modular ESG and supply-chain system with event module | Robust architecture, CSRD alignment, strong benchmarking potential | Requires adaptation for cultural/festival contexts |
| Green Producers Tool | Emissions tool for culture and creative industries | Extensive emission-factor database, cross-sector applicability | Focus on carbon rather than circularity; limited material data |
| Tapio | Data-collection and sustainability reporting platform | Strong data-management features | Less specific for festival production metrics |
| ZeroZero | Event sustainability and supplier collaboration | ISO 20121 alignment (pending confirmation) | Limited public documentation; scope unclear |
| Rubbish Ideas | Circular-materials and waste consultancy | Strong on waste design and reuse systems | No public monitoring framework yet published |
Across these tools, three things stand out:
- Carbon focus dominates: Most tools concentrate on calculating CO₂e emissions (energy, travel, production).
- Circularity remains underdeveloped: Few platforms currently track material flows, reuse systems, or circular-economy loops with the same precision as the GDCF Model.
- Interoperability is key: Data formats, units, and methodologies differ, making it difficult to compare results or aggregate impact between tools and measures.
The GDCF Monitor distinguishes itself by bridging carbon and circularity, linking environmental impact directly to material use and festival operations. Yet, for the transition to scale across Europe, a common measurement framework is needed for all of us to speak the same language (Most heard argument: This will only work if we can align by “comparing apples with apples”).
Collective exploration
The discussion during the ADE Green Conference marked the beginning of a collective exploration. GDCF will now initiate a structured Monitoring Harmonisation project in 2026 to identify overlap, gaps, and opportunities for alignment across tools. We have already identified three important factors to take into consideration:
- Indicator Mapping: Comparing the metrics used by each tool with the GDCF Model to identify shared data points and missing indicators.
- Data Alignment: Exploring how emission factors, units, and categories can be standardised or translated between systems.
- Reporting Framework: Defining a minimal set of shared indicators that enable consistent benchmarking across the users of the tools.
Sustainability measurement should not be a competition, it should be a collaboration based on shared knowledge, transparent data, and collective progress. By harmonizing measurement tools, the Green Deal Circular Festivals aim to make impact tracking easier, more accurate, and more meaningful.
More info about our tools and resources
More info about the GDCF Model can be found here. Looking for the GDCF Monitor? Check out this part of our website.
In November 2025 we have relased the GDCF Monitoring Excel Tool as a beta version. If you want to learn more, or participate in the beta, please read this article.
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