Through its Green EXIT platform, EXIT Festival 2024 focuses on sustainability and the protection of the Petrovaradin Fortress and the camp traditionally located on the city beach, “Štrand,” with a series of socially responsible initiatives and ecological innovations.
Aside from gaining access to improved waste management solutions, including an expanded mobile beverage container collection system coupled with rewards, all festival visitors will be able to contribute to environmental protection. Guests of the EXIT camp will have the chance to try zero-plastic cosmetics, while two important energy-saving innovations will be incorporated into the camp, thanks to improved collaboration with Belgrade’s Mihajlo Pupin Institute.
EXIT’s ecological commitment has been reinforced over the past two years through its membership in Green Deal Circular Festivals. This commitment was formalized at the ADE Green 2022 conference on sustainability, innovation, and social change in the music industry in Amsterdam. Supported by the Dutch government, the association includes over 50 European music festivals, with EXIT recognized as one of the pioneers in sustainable event production. This season, the festival will surprise attendees and campers with new eco-friendly solutions.
“As part of the Green Deal Circular Festivals group, we have discovered many innovative ways of greening the festival, taking inspiration from festivals that lead the way in ecological aspects, and learned more about the importance of networking and openness to new ideas. We still have a long way to go and cannot accomplish everything in one day, but we are not stopping! We are proud of the increasing support from festival visitors, as well as our friends and partners, including ecologists and scientists, each year,” says Ida Siljanović, EXIT Foundation program manager and one of the initiators of the Green EXIT platform, in anticipation of the new edition of the EXIT festival.
Intensified cooperation with a team of scientists in developing Green EXIT solutions for 2024, recommended by the office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has resulted in two important innovations aimed at improving energy efficiency, developed by the Center for Robotics of the Mihajlo Pupin Institute in Belgrade. These are prototypes of a solar panel guitar and a solar water heater – modular, foldable, and portable devices that will be positioned at the city beach Štrand in the EXIT camp zone.
The solar panel guitar is an innovative technical solution resembling a musical instrument – a guitar measuring 6.2 meters in length and 2.2 meters in width. In terms of function, it is a photovoltaic solar generator that produces electric voltage. The device will be used in the EXIT camp’s reception area to supply campers with electricity.
The solar water heater is a simple ecological solution, shaped like a vinyl record, designed to provide mobile showers with hot water in the EXIT camp. As of this year, some of the camp’s users will be able to shower using hot water from renewable energy sources, with capacity expansion planned for future festival editions.
“The partnership between EXIT Festival and the Mihajlo Pupin Institute aims to expand the scope of creative industries in the field of energy efficiency by bringing science, culture, and entertainment closer together to more actively promote eco-friendly ideas and social responsibility, all through a shift in the visual identity of EXIT as a leading brand among festivals. By combining art and science, we send an unequivocal message to young festival-goers about the importance of environmental protection and the role of both science and art in promoting it,” says Dr. Aleksandar D. Rodić, scientific advisor, head of the Center for Robotics, and vice-president of the Assembly of the Mihajlo Pupin Institute in Belgrade, about the first collaborative project on the Green EXIT platform.
Both conceptual solutions were realized with financial support from the European Union (EU) within the “EU for Green Agenda in Serbia” initiative. This initiative is implemented by the UNDP in partnership with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and in cooperation with the Embassy of Sweden and the European Investment Bank (EIB), with additional resources provided by the governments of Sweden, Switzerland, and Serbia. The project has also received financial support from the Innovation Fund of the Republic of Serbia.
“Making the EXIT festival more eco-friendly means using less plastic, making recycling easier, and using solar energy and renewable water heaters for showers. The EU has been coordinating its activities with EXIT for several years to support these Green EXIT initiatives. This year, check out the new solar panel guitar in the EXIT camp and visit the EU stand in the State of EXIT Zone at the fortress to enjoy a unique atmosphere and music,” says Antoine Avignon, program manager for environment and climate action with the EU Delegation in Serbia.
Recycling has been a focus of the Green EXIT platform for years, and this year, the mobile beverage container collection system has been expanded, offering a variety of rewards to the audience. Additionally, through the INSPIRE project, supported by the European Union under the Horizon program, EXIT will provide campers with high-quality zero-plastic personal care products – shampoos and bath gels in environmentally friendly biodegradable packaging.
