Native Events was set up In 2017 as a response to the lack of sustainable solutions available to the events and cultural sector in Ireland. We quickly gathered a dynamic team of smart, hard-working, and driven individuals to accompany us on our journey. As the environmental movement gathers pace, we work with an expanding community of partners in the sector including events, festivals, and cultural organisations but also with the wider network of industry suppliers, ensuring a systems-wide transition to sustainability and regeneration.
At ADE Green in Amsterdam in 2019, Native Events became a co-signatory with Body & Soul to the Green Deal for Circular Festivals. This is an initiative of the Dutch Ministry for Infrastructure and the Environment, with 16 other international pioneering festivals, aiming to become circular by 2025.
The health crisis in 2020 gave us the opportunity to pause, reflect, and gain deeper learning in the application of resilience and systems-thinking. We have undertaken training with the Ellen McArthur Foundation, H3 University, and Common Purpose to give us the skills in using tools and methodologies for understanding and reporting on environmental progress and to facilitate transformational change. We see the future of Ireland’s cultural sector and creative industries as restorative and regenerative.
At Native, we believe that arts practices, events, and cultural activities have the capacity to ignite the imagination of society. Transitioning the sector to a more sustainable, just, and circular model is the pathway towards a more balanced way of being, thriving inside planetary boundaries.
Our backgrounds in horticulture, permaculture, ecology, and the three horizons have trained us as holistic systems-thinkers, allowing us a unique perspective on the world. We are advocates of adaptive resilience – bringing an approach that looks at the systemic memory, the current cultural viewpoints, and the transformative pathways for every organisation we work with.