Every year, the festival brings together thousands of audience members for concerts, performances and events in Harstad. With many people gathered in one place comes a responsibility to reduce our environmental footprint. Through the collaboration with HRS, the festival’s work on sustainable solutions will be strengthened throughout the delivery of the festival.
“We want to be a festival for the future, and it is extremely important to us that we facilitate a festival that can continue to be here for the next 60 years. That is why we are committed to developing the festival in a way that takes care of the environment around us. With HRS on the team, we gain a partner with both expertise and commitment to sustainability,” says Festival Director Susanne Næss Nielsen, who also expects the collaboration with HRS to extend into other parts of the festival delivery.
A green partner
As part of the collaboration, HRS will, among other things, be responsible for waste management during the festival and contribute as a strategic sustainability partner throughout the rest of the year. The aim is to ensure good solutions for sustainable festival operations all year round, both in terms of practical measures and from a broader perspective: reducing our climate and environmental footprint.
“We do not only want to create high-quality arts and cultural experiences, but also to raise awareness around sustainability. Together with HRS, we can develop good solutions while also creating activities that inspire audiences to think more about reuse and resource use,” says Eva Lien, Head of Community and Sustainability at True Northern Arts Festival.
Wants to contribute actively
“True Northern Arts Festival is a key cultural actor and meeting place in the region, and we are proud to be a partner,” says Liis Meitus, Head of Marketing and Communications at HRS.
She emphasises that HRS wants to contribute actively to the festival’s continued development, while the collaboration will also help strengthen a clear and ambitious sustainable direction.
The collaboration includes both concrete environmental measures, such as efficient waste management and better facilitation of reuse, and the use of the festival as an arena for creating engagement and awareness around reuse and resource utilisation – particularly among children and young people.
“Through good collaboration and joint effort, we strongly believe this will produce very good results,” says Meitus.
From HRS Miljø, Ted Pedersen, Head of Sales, has main responsibility for facilitating the collaboration. The partnership marks the beginning of a long-term collaboration, with the aim of developing True Northern Arts Festival into an increasingly sustainable festival.
About HRS
Hålogaland Ressursselskap (HRS) is an inter-municipal waste and recycling company owned by eight municipalities in the northern part of Nordland and Southern Troms: Harstad, Narvik, Evenes, Gratangen, Ibestad, Kvæfjord, Lavangen and Tjeldsund. The company was established in 1990 and is today one of the leading actors in waste management and recycling in Northern Norway.
Through its subsidiaries, HRS works with the collection, sorting and processing of both household and commercial waste, as well as the recycling of metals and other resources. HRS provides services to around 60,000 residents in the region and has facilities in locations including Narvik and Harstad.
The company has a clear social mission: to develop sustainable solutions for waste and resource use, and to contribute to the green transition in the north. Through collaboration with municipalities, businesses and local communities, HRS works to create more circular solutions and reduce environmental impact in the region.