On September 26 of this year, the webinar “Sustainability Aspects in Public Events and Catering” took place, providing an opportunity to share experiences and practical solutions for integrating sustainable principles and reducing waste in event organization and the catering sector.
The webinar was opened by Sandija Svarupa, Senior Expert at the LIFE Integrated Project Implementation Department, who spoke about the latest updates and initiatives under the LIFE integrated project “Waste To Resources Latvia - boosting regional sustainability and circularity” carried out in recent months to reduce waste, promote the transition to a circular economy, and raise public awareness.
Experts and practitioners shared their experiences during the webinar, addressing the issue of waste reduction in public events and the catering industry, while also highlighting other sustainability and circular economy initiatives.
Liene Klišāne, expert of the Vidzeme Planning Region project Ce4Re, presented a digital tool developed under the project “Circular Economy Solutions for Restaurants.” The tool is available free of charge to restaurants, catering businesses, and households and helps assess the amount of food waste both in terms of weight and economic value. During her presentation, L. Klišāne demonstrated how to use the tool https://zerofoodwaste.vidzeme.lv, how to register, what data to enter, and how to obtain food waste calculations for a company or household. The project aims to promote the transition to a circular economy in the restaurant industry, reduce waste in catering companies, change consumer habits, and encourage more thoughtful resource consumption. Project partners include organizations from Sweden, Finland, and Latvia, as well as five Latvian restaurants currently testing the tool in practice.
Santa Pētersone, Head of Organizational Processes for the XIII Latvian School Youth Song and Dance Festival, presented the sustainability program implemented during the festival, emphasizing the importance of waste reduction and efficient resource use. She highlighted that large events have a significant environmental impact, but scale should not be an obstacle to moving toward climate neutrality — with smart planning and targeted activities, negative impacts can be reduced. S. Pētersone gave a detailed overview of the sustainability guidelines developed specifically for the festival, which focused on four main areas:
Energy and resources – reducing and conserving electricity, drinking water, and other resources;
Catering – ensuring high-quality local food with diverse choices;
Packaging and waste – reducing food waste;
Transport – optimizing vehicle use wherever possible.
As a result, the amount of household waste was significantly reduced, and numerous good practice examples were implemented in waste reduction and circular economy principles, offering transferable initiatives for public event organization and encouraging festival participants to adopt sustainable practices.
Jānis Gailītis, Head of Development and Communications at the Art Academy of Latvia (LMA), shared the Academy’s initiatives in implementing circular economy principles, demonstrating how cultural and educational institutions can serve as drivers of innovation. In his presentation, he mentioned:
Design Days at LMA, where the central event — the exhibition “I Am Design” — showcases works by bachelor’s and master’s graduates from the Design Department, alongside other student projects, and includes the presentation of the JA Power Recycling Sustainability Awards;
The traveling exhibition “The Crown of Creation,” created in collaboration with Latvijas Zaļais punkts, featuring crowns made from waste materials;
The fashion show “Life After the Closet,” where employees of Eco Baltia vide and Latvijas Zaļais punkts presented outfits made by LMA students and Latvian textile artists from reused textiles;
The international art residency “Sustain-ART-ability” and the newly established Riga Makerspace prototyping workshop, which will serve as an excellent resource for realizing student art projects.
The webinars in the “Dialogue with Science” series are organized quarterly on various topics related to improving waste management and implementing circular economy principles. They serve as a valuable platform for experience exchange among municipalities, educational and research institutions, waste management companies, NGOs, and other stakeholders.
The webinar was organized as part of the LIFE Integrated Project “Waste To Resources Latvia - boosting regional sustainability and circularity” (LIFE Waste to Resources IP, No. LIFE20 IPE/LV/000014).
The webinar presentations in Latvian are available here:
LIFE projekta “Atkritumi kā resursi Latvijā” aktualitātes
Digitālie rīki projektā “Aprites ekonomikas risinājumi restorānos Ce4Re”
Ilgtspējas programma XIII Latvijas Skolu jaunatnes dziesmu un deju svētkos
LMA iniciatīvas aprites ekonomikas principu ieviešanā
Photo: Reinis Oliņš
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