Olympic Certificate of Sustainability

Thomas Sakschewski, Professor of Event Management at the Berlin University of Applied Sciences, supported Oper Leipzig during the introductory phase. Lucas Zimmermann led the implementation of DIN ISO 20121 at Oper Leipzig. The sustainability working group is organised by Dirk Becker, Equipment Manager at Oper Leipzig and Transformation Manager for Sustainable Culture. The certification itself was carried out by the accredited certification body CEA. The requirements of DIN ISO 20121 are reviewed annually in an external audit and are currently not met by any other theatre company in Germany.

Tobias Wolff, Director of Oper Leipzig since 2022, who already announced the aim of sustainable working practices at the launch of his candidature, received the audit report along with the certificate and seal this week. »For us, the certification is a wonderful acknowledgement and reward for our efforts to achieve greater sustainability in opera operations. I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in the more than three-year process and who continues to contribute to its success. Now the concrete work begins; after taking our initial steps, such as a costume guideline and our first climate neutral opera production, we will gradually implement the other measures that we have summarised in a catalogue.« The planned sustainability management measures at Oper Leipzig include both small and large scale changes, ranging from optimised hearing protection and the recycling of special plastics to improvements in internal communication regarding training opportunities or information from the newsroom – to name just a few examples.

DIN ISO 20121 was created for the London 2012 Olympic Games and is updated for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. It requires the definition of fields of action such as emissions reduction, waste management, communication and mobility, with derived targets and the corresponding definition of guidelines, as well as the creation of documentation that clearly defines responsibilities and processes and keeps them transparent. Tobias Wolff: »It’s a challenge, but the journey is its own reward. Work culture will and should change in the long term, and that doesn’t just apply to our responsibility for climate and resources.«

Further information is available at:

oper-leipzig.de
certeuropagroup.com
committee.iso.org