Sustainability
Each year Askonas Holt facilitates hundreds of performances all over the world for individual artists, ensembles and orchestras, and we are proud of the work we do. However, we recognise that this currently comes at a cost to our planet, and it is a priority for us as a company to address this.
Containing climate change must now be factored into all planning and practice.
The arts have always been a powerful voice for change, and we believe it is vital that we do our part to combat the climate emergency. To that end, we are leading new collaborative initiatives with our partners across the industry to ensure that together we are doing things better and doing better things.
EARTH DAY SUMMIT 2025
In April 2025, Askonas Holt hosted its first Earth Day Summit at Somerset House, bringing together orchestras, musicians, presenters, festivals, policymakers and sustainability experts to explore how the touring industry can respond more effectively to the climate emergency. The event offered space for open discussion, knowledge sharing, and honest reflection, and concluded with a collective commitment to building a more sustainable future for international touring.
A report of key action points was developed following the day’s discussions, and Askonas Holt has committed to spearheading a collaborative steering group to help implement these actions and drive long-term change across the industry.
You can read more about the event and see the full list of panelists here.
SURVEY 2024
In 2024, Askonas Holt partnered with and commissioned Indigo to conduct a global survey across our artists, touring partners, and presenting partners. The survey – 'Research with the classical music sector about their attitudes to sustainability and the climate emergency' – aimed to better understand the challenges our sector faces, the support required, and how we can drive change together. The findings are now available in the report 'Sustainable Classical'.
ADVOCACY AND CONSULTATION
Askonas Holt is proud to represent sustainability at the forefront of international discussion. Our team has delivered presentations and participated in panel discussions on sustainability at events hosted by the Association of British Orchestras, Royal Northern College of Music, Edinburgh International Festival, and the European Broadcast Union throughout 2024 and 2025.
We recognise that tackling the issue can be overwhelming; we are offering bespoke consultation services to find practical solutions, and to inspire new collaborative initiatives to change the nature of traditional touring.
Please contact Sorcha Coller at sorcha.coller@askonasholt.com for further information.
GREEN TOURING GUIDE
We have developed a Green Touring Guide for our touring partners to encourage and facilitate the practices of slow touring with travel and transport choices that minimise carbon emissions. We are consulting with all our touring partners to challenge traditional touring policies. Askonas Holt facilitates deep touring, helping our partners develop ways to connect more with local communities through workshops and outreach work, with longer stays in each city. We are working with our touring clients and partners across the globe to encourage them to join us in becoming leaders in sustainable touring, by investing finances differently and changing patterns to play our part in the fight against the climate crisis.
TRAINING
In 2023, members of our Tours & Projects team joined Julie’s Bicycle’s 10-week training programme, learning alongside 20 other arts organisations from the UK and Denmark. The full team also undertook a bespoke training day in 2025 with sustainability expert Jennifer Taillefer, deepening our knowledge and shaping our internal roadmap to embed long-term, systemic change.
