A sustainable organisation is absolutely desirable for us. We, like many other events, are very concerned with climate change and lowering our environmental impact. However, structural institutional change takes financial and time investments, meaning we can only roll out piece by piece. In the past years, we have been very mindful to produce our activities in an environmentally-respectful manner and employed strategies to increase sustainability in our organisation and our activities.

The City of Leipzig has declared a state of climate emergency and we as a festival are called upon to work in the most resource-efficient way possible. In addition, the city has initiated a project to determine the environmental footprint of major events. DOK Leipzig has made itself available to be part of this pilot project. Calculating our carbon footprint provides us with a solid foundation on which to build a strategy aimed at reducing emissions. Offsetting CO₂ emissions is a last resort for us.

We also monitor the carbon footprints of our suppliers and partners. In general, we give priority to local and regional partners.

Travel is the most significant factor in DOK Leipzig's carbon footprint. For several years we have been trying to reduce air travel by inviting more panellists and jury members who are from Europe or are visiting Europe during the time of the festival. We primarily cover travel costs by financing train journeys. The selection of online and hybrid industry events at DOK Industry also offers potential for reducing air travel. For our own business trips, we choose train connections if the travel time is less than 8 hours and especially for air-travel we weigh carefully which business trips are really necessary.

Our festival catering is at least vegetarian and preferably vegan. At industry events, we use tap water in carafes and reusable tableware.

In 2024, we collaborated with the German bike sharing company Nextbike. Accredited participants could rent a bike free of charge for 120 minutes.

We avoid shuttle rides as far as possible. There is no regular shuttle service for our guests.
 

In recent years, we have reduced the number of printed promotional materials for DOK Industry (DOK Film Market catalogue, DOK Co-Pro Market project book, Pocket Guide). In the area of branding, we check every product for durability aiming for example to produce banners and stands that can be used for more than one year. We encourage guests to bring less flyer materials to avoid paper waste and offer digital promotion opportunities instead. 

We have been using plastic-free paper accreditation badges since 2019.
 

For many years we have used cotton tote bags for accredited guests, which are handed out on request. Prior to the festival, our guest management team asks all accredited visitors to use their own bags if possible. In 2024, we reduced the number of cotton tote bags for the first time, providing a small number of recycled paper bags instead.

For the production of the tote bags, we use screen printing, which is an efficient use of materials as it allows a high ink coverage with a low ink usage, which enhances both the durability and quality of the bags.

As with the bags, our Guest Management encourages all accredited guests to reuse their own lanyards. Instead of producing new lanyards, we also work with partners who provide lanyards that have already been produced to savematerial and energy and minimise transport and waste.

As an organisation, we reduce waste through waste avoidance and recycling. For our print products we use recycled paper and offer digital media alternatives wherever possible. We prefer to use rented technology (laptops, smartphones) instead of purchasing new ones and use car sharing for transports. In our office, we use water and energy economically. In the months between the festival editions, we use and heat only a part of the office space.

In a working group made up of colleagues from different departments, we discuss strategies and determine guidelines for the organisation and our activities.

We also exchange knowledge and experiences on the topic of sustainability with partner initiatives and other festivals, including our Doc Alliance network.