Committed to Sustainability

Sustainability and our Green Commitment

‘Sustainability’ is a popular term today, however, it is not new for us. The Soča Outdoor Festival and sustainability have been intertwined since the first performances of the event at Sotočje. We develop the festival according to the principles of responsible, sustainable business conduct, we strive to reduce the negative impact on the natural and social environment while preserving and highlighting the specifics, the identity of the environment in which the festival takes place.

Our sustainable practices are being upgraded every year. We are committed to continuously improving the sustainability of our event, and we also encourage our visitors to do so. In addition to preserving the natural environment, we promote the development of a healthy, inclusive society and support the local community and economy.

Sustainable is much more than just “green”. When organizing a sustainable event, we strive to minimize negative impacts and best contribute to the well-being of the community, visitors and others involved. Our goal is to achieve an optimal balance between environmental, social, and economic responsibility.

Sustainable development continues to be the priority of Soča Outdoor Festival. We strive to minimize negative impacts and contribute as much as possible to the well-being of the community, visitors and others involved. When planning and implementing our event, we follow the Guidelines for Green Events of the Slovenian Tourist Board.

Initiative ITRA Green Charter

We believe that trail running and other outdoor activities can contribute positively to the preservation of the environment and educate the public about the need to take into account the impact of our activities on the planet. Our sport has a unique power to stimulate wider social change that prioritizes sustainable development and reducing our carbon footprint, so that the beauty of our planet, our nature, can be enjoyed by future generations. This is precisely why the Soča Outdoor Festival joined the ITRA Green Charter initiative, which encourages the organizers of trail running events to introduce sustainable and responsible practices and reduce the impact of our sport on the environment.

To learn more about the commitment and initiative, visit International Trail Running Association’s website: https://www.itra.run/About/Eco-Responsibility

 

Action plan 2025

Hosting a sustainable event is a responsible task that requires important planning and coordination to achieve the set goals. Every year we prepare a special Action plan with measures and actions that would help us to reduce negative impacts on the environment and strengthen positive effects on the local community. In the Action plan for Soča Outdoor Festival 2025, we have set the following goals: 

  • Route changes on Saturday to improve flow through the Tolmin Gorges – reversing the routes for the 25km, 35km, and 50km distances.
  • Obtaining the Good Events sustainability certificate.
  • Implementing a policy for athletes with disabilities (offering a free race entry for their companion).
  • Raising funds to support the local community.
  • Donation station – a gear swap initiative for well-preserved sports equipment and clothing.
  • Procurement optimization – based on food and drink consumption analyses at refreshment stations, we’ll fine-tune purchasing to minimize leftovers.
  • Monitoring participant satisfaction and the festival’s economic impact on the destination (via survey), and encouraging longer stays in the Soča Valley (with a guide, tips, and an extended side program in the week leading up to Soča Outdoor Festival).
  • Improving the campsite – setting up an eco-island and providing more detailed guidelines and info regarding arrivals, waste management, etc.

In addition to our goal to remain the leading outdoor festival in Slovenia and beyond, we also aim to remain a leading event and an example of good practice in the field of sustainable development. Through our activities, we want to encourage the organisation of events based on sustainability principles and show other organisers how they can incorporate sustainable practices into their events.

 

Green guidelines

Each of us can contribute to making the festival friendly to the environment in which it takes place, therefore it is our mission to spread green awareness and be an example of good practice. That is why it is important that everyone involved, visitors, the local community and partners engage in our efforts.
Take a look on how you can help with that.

The achievements and the fulfillment of the activities set out in the plan for 2024 are collected in the sustainability report, which can be viewed in full here: SOF Sustainability Report 2024.

Due to the potential negative impacts on the environment brought by the organization and implementation of the event with a larger number of participants, we decided to assess the environmental impacts. The analysis, prepared by experts from the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology from the University of Maribor showed that the total carbon footprint of the Soča Outdoor Festival 2019 was 104,257 kg, which means 74.2 kg of CO2 per visitor. We believe that we can reduce this, so we are actively designing new initiatives that will help us do so.