Green concerts by Die Ärzte & Die Toten Hosen

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The German rock bands “Die Ärzte” and “Die Toten Hosen” perform for four concerts at Tempelhofer Feld in Berlin. The former airport will become a test site for circular solutions for major events like these. adelphi also makes an appearance at the “Tempelhof Lab”.

“The problem with our current linear production method based on the ‘take – make – waste’ principle becomes particularly clear at major events. Immense resources are consumed and, in the worst case, a lot of waste is left behind that can be harmful to people and the environment. We and our partners in the Tempelhof Lab want to show that things can be different,” says Jana Hack, a consultant at adelphi.

The project initiators Cradle to Cradle NGO, KKT GmbH – Kikis Kleiner Tourneservice, Loft Concerts GmbH, Side by Side Eventsupport GmbH, together with numerous partners from the field, are implementing the most climate and resource-positive products, processes and innovations possible in this “Tempelhof Lab”. The goal is to use the concert series to show how existing circular and sustainable solutions (cradle-to-cradle) create economic, ecological and social added value for society – and how this can become the standard for large events with positive effects for people and communities.

adelphi worked with the project team in the “Tempelhof Lab” project throughout the event planning process, providing support with research and advice in the planning phase, especially on the topics of textiles, stage construction and logistics.

Data from the “Schrei nach Liebe”

Green electricity, humus toilets, compostable T-shirts – the four concerts attempted to optimise all products and processes through cradle-to-cradle innovations. Where this was not possible due to a lack of technical implementation options or cost, the events implemented the best-possible ecological alternatives.

Along with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), adelphi is measuring and documenting the successes and failures of the cycle-based concert series. They are also identifying the political and economic framework conditions that are still missing in order to scale circular innovations. While the 240,000 concert fans listen to “Schrei nach Liebe” or “Tage wie diese”, the project team is collecting data for the documentation of the “Tempelhof Lab” and measuring the footprint of the concert series. By the end of autumn 2022, adelphi and BCG will have evaluated this data and published the results along with instructions in the form of a digital guidebook.

Sustainable alternatives from the areas of mobility and logistics, energy, nutrients, food and agriculture, water, building and construction, textiles, plastics and packaging as well as digitization are taken into account. In addition to the development of the digital guidebook for the events industry – a blueprint intended to encourage replication – adelphi is also responsible for a report with theses and recommendations for political decision-makers, which is to be published in August.

A different kind of rock concert

“In this concert series, solutions can also fail, because we can then identify which hurdles still exist and which framework conditions and structures are necessary to make large events with positive economic, ecological and social added value easy to implement and to positively influence production decisions. With our participation in the Tempelhof Lab, we hope to be able to make a contribution to fundamental change at major events and we are very grateful to the two bands for making these four concerts available to the Lab,” adds Hack.

The bands “Die Ärzte” and “Die Toten Hosen” are putting off the four concerts on August 20, 26, 27 and 28, 2022 at Tempelhof Airport in Berlin. Up-to-date information is available on the project website (German only).