Spread the Word is looking for an impact and evaluation consultant to assess the environmental impact of the 2025 Deptford Literature Festival, which will take place from Thursday 27 to Sunday 30 March 2025. This evaluation will establish baseline measurements and provide recommendations for future sustainability improvements.
About Deptford Literature Festival
- An annual four-day festival across multiple venues.
- Print distribution: a programme before the festival and a free anthology of commissioned writing during the festival.
- A mixture of in-person and online events. Recorded events are available online for one month afterwards.
- Local artist/organisation-produced events including performances, panel talks, walking tours and workshops.
- New writing commissioned for the festival.
- Free public access to the majority of events.
- Accessibility is a priority – we work with many BSL interpreters to cover festival events. All of our online events are captioned.
Objectives for the Environmental Evaluation
- Establish a baseline for understanding the festival’s environmental impact.
- Identify areas of improvement related to sustainability.
- Create practical recommendations for future iterations of the festival.
- Develop a monitoring framework for ongoing assessment.
- Compare the impact of digital vs in-person delivery.
We are keen to understand the true environmental impact of the festival and to weigh that against the positive impacts it has, in order to understand where improvements should be made.
Key Areas for Assessment
1. Transport & Travel
- Audience travel methods
- Speaker/performer transport
- Staff/volunteer travel
- Delivery services e.g. print distribution, delivery of technical event equipment
2. Materials & Resources
- Festival Anthology production
- Marketing materials
- Event materials
- Signage
- Merchandise
- Food/drink provision
3. Waste Management
- Recycling rates
- Waste types
- Disposal methods
- Waste prevention opportunities
4. Digital Footprint
- Online event hosting
- Website hosting
- Digital marketing
- Impact of online participation
5. Venues/Spaces
While not ‘owned’ spaces, the venues we choose to use for the festival will have an impact on our environmental footprint.
- Size/ capacity of venue
- Venue’s environmental policies
- Venue’s practice in terms of waste, energy, food/ drink provision etc
- Capcity vs use of space
- Distance and travel between venues
Timeline and deliverables
1. Initial Framework (delivered before the festival, by 26 March 2025)
- Assessment methodology
- Data collection tools
- Monitoring templates
- Staff guidance documents and team briefing
2. Monitoring and assessment is in-place during the festival (27-30 March 2025)
3. Final Report (June 2025)
- Executive summary
- Methodology
- Carbon footprint calculation
- Detailed findings
- Comparative analysis
- Practical recommendations
- Future monitoring framework
Required Expertise
- Experience assessing environmental impact, preferably in an arts and culture context.
- Understanding of event production.
- Understanding of sustainabilty as it applies to events and how to monitor it.
- Experience delivering practical, insightful reports to senior leadership.
Methodology Requirements
- Adherence to recognised environmental assessment standards.
- Clear data collection protocols.
- Reliable carbon calculation methods.
- Practical monitoring approaches.
- Replicable assessment framework (in the context of a small charity).
Budget
£5,000 total, approximately 12.5 days at £400per day
Reporting Structure
The consultant will report to the Director and work with:
- Festival Producer
- Venue managers
- Technical teams
- Production staff
How to apply
Please submit:
- Your proposed methodology, on 2 sides of A4 maximum.
- In a cover letter, maximum 1 side of A4, please explain your relevant experience and share an example of at least one similar project.
- Your day rate.
- The details of two referees.
The deadline to apply is 10am on Monday 11 February. Please send your application to [email protected].
Interviews will take place on Tuesday 25 February. Interviews will be conducted by Director Ruth Harrison and Festival Producer Tom MacAndrew.
If you would like to request any reasonable adjustments to the application process please contact us via [email protected].
For an informal discussion about this brief, please contact Ruth Harrison at [email protected].