In January 2021, La Biennale de Lyon decided to focus more closely on the social and environmental impact of its activities. This intention yielded a formal CSR (corporate social responsibility) programme that involves computer-modelling our artistic projects and internal organisation and holding ourselves responsible vis-à-vis all our stakeholders – artists, audiences, visitors, public and private partners, contractors and employees.

Assessment drives continual evolution

To measure our impacts and target sustainable improvement, we have undertaken several initiatives to assess our actions.

From January to March 2020, a specialist consultancy helped us to formalise a CSR programme structuring our organisation and external relations.
We analysed our sustainability actions with reference to three criteria: social, environmental and economic. Although our events have, over the years, naturally fostered social responsibility, and especially the Défilé and Veduta, we now have a role to play in the ecological transition.
In early 2022, we caculated the carbon footprint of our activity in 2021, in order to implement a low-carbon strategy aligned with the objectives of the Paris Agreement (limiting climate warming to +1.5°C, through cutting our CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050).
Two employees oversee the execution and tracking of concrete actions, in close collaboration with the executive director and thanks to the commitment of all of our colleagues, in line with their remits – and beyond.

View our carbon footprint assessment for 2021 and our low-carbon strategy (in French)

En 2023, la Biennale de la danse et le Défilé intègrent des objectifs bas carbone

After measuring the carbon footprint of our 2021 edition (extrapolated from the 2018 data), we pinpointed three areas of CO2e emissions where we will operate as many levers as possible to reduce our environmental impact per the Paris Agreement goals, (limit climate warming to +1.5°C, through cutting our CO2e emissions by 80% by 2050).

Tangible steps will be taken to reduce the impact of:
• Travel (spectators, artists, amateurs, employees, etc.)
• Our communications
• Our catering (teams, amateurs, artists, spectators)

Inspiring us
ARVIVA - arts vivants, arts durables
The Shift Project

Assisting us
Wecount
Herry conseil

  • strategie_bas_carbone_biennale_de_lyon.pdf
    pdf 1.2 Mo

En 2023, la Biennale de la danse et le Défilé intègrent des objectifs bas carbone

After measuring the carbon footprint of our 2021 edition (extrapolated from the 2018 data), we pinpointed three areas of CO2e emissions where we will operate as many levers as possible to reduce our environmental impact per the Paris Agreement goals, (limit climate warming to +1.5°C, through cutting our CO2e emissions by 80% by 2050).

Tangible steps will be taken to reduce the impact of:
• Travel (spectators, artists, amateurs, employees, etc.)
• Our communications
• Our catering (teams, amateurs, artists, spectators)

Inspiring us
ARVIVA - arts vivants, arts durables
The Shift Project

Assisting us
Wecount
Herry conseil

  • synthese_2022.pdf
    pdf 8.4 Mo

2022: a transitional year, with concrete actions for the short and long terms

La Biennale de Lyon is now changing how it works to fit its strategy of reducing its environmental and social impact, with:

  • A sustainable waste management programme.
  • Reorganisation of office-waste collection, and increased employee awareness of waste reduction through reduction and reuse initiatives.
  • A sustainable mobility plan covering all travel, with tangible proposals to facilitate and promote the use of transport modes that have a low or moderate carbon impact.
  • Our catering-services specification includes low-carbon criteria (menus with a larger proportion of vegetable-based items; and procurement of seasonal produce via short supply chains from producers with a raisonné (integrated pest management) approach.
  • A responsible purchasing policy based on procurement from suppliers approved by ecolabels aligned with our environmental-impact reduction push and our social commitments.
  • Raising the awareness of all stakeholders during each of our interactions and through all our collateral communications.
  • A carbon footprint assessment of the 2022 Contemporary Art Biennale, so we can adopt a trajectory for cutting our event-production emissions.
  • Calculation of our gender equality index (tool: EgaPro)

Through these measures, we aspire to a culture of continual improvement that is informed by stringent self-assessment and regularly redefined as we move forward, adapting to the context and geared to long-term progress.

2022: a transitional year, with concrete actions for the short and long terms

La Biennale de Lyon is now changing how it works to fit its strategy of reducing its environmental and social impact, with:

  • A sustainable waste management programme.
  • Reorganisation of office-waste collection, and increased employee awareness of waste reduction through reduction and reuse initiatives.
  • A sustainable mobility plan covering all travel, with tangible proposals to facilitate and promote the use of transport modes that have a low or moderate carbon impact.
  • Our catering-services specification includes low-carbon criteria (menus with a larger proportion of vegetable-based items; and procurement of seasonal produce via short supply chains from producers with a raisonné (integrated pest management) approach.
  • A responsible purchasing policy based on procurement from suppliers approved by ecolabels aligned with our environmental-impact reduction push and our social commitments.
  • Raising the awareness of all stakeholders during each of our interactions and through all our collateral communications.
  • A carbon footprint assessment of the 2022 Contemporary Art Biennale, so we can adopt a trajectory for cutting our event-production emissions.
  • Calculation of our gender equality index (tool: EgaPro)

Through these measures, we aspire to a culture of continual improvement that is informed by stringent self-assessment and regularly redefined as we move forward, adapting to the context and geared to long-term progress.