Le Grand Mix
Le Grand Mix
Le Grand Mix is a venue dedicated to contemporary music, with a 650-seat hall, a 300-seat “club” and a rehearsal studio. Beyond the concerts, Le Grand Mix is open during the day. Its club becomes a restaurant at lunchtime from Monday to Friday ( 12:00 to 2:00 pm). Occasionally, workshops and conferences are held there. The place is also popular with regional artists for rehearsals in the studio or residencies in the hall.
Field of activity
Culture
Work team
15 employees and around 90 volunteers per year
City
Tourcoing
Website / Social media
https://legrandmix.com/
Good ecological practices
Le Grand Mix is committed to sustainable development actions at several levels of its activity: waste sorting and management, energy consumption, social accessibility, circular economy and short circuits…
In terms of purchases and waste (furniture, raw materials for the restaurant, etc.), the association aims to:
give preference to local service providers who have eco-responsible values, particularly in terms of integration through work
buy reconditioned technological objects when possible: computers, cameras etc.
reduce waste by using neutral, non-returnable ecocups, reusable dishes, water bottles and a water fountain for the artists
recover waste according to its particularities: composting of bio-waste (food waste and other biodegradable natural waste). Recycle of cigarette butts via TchaoMégots recycling of disposable masks by the company Elise.
On the biodiversity side:
install beehives on the roof of the building managed with the volunteers of the association
green the spaces with tomato plants, aromatic herbs and hops
Regarding electrical energy consumption, the association has decided to:
subscribe to the green supplier Enercoop
renew the lights with LEDs
put in place timers for the lights
to set up a protocol for turning off lights and electronic devices in the building to limit consumption
Mobility is the main source of carbon emissions for a concert hall or festival. Incentives have been put in place for the mobility of audiences and teams:
set up an online carpooling system
purchase an electric car and bicycles for work teams
paying 75% of the Ilevia public transport pass (i.e. 25% more than the legal rate)
What was the trigger?
The sustainable development approach of the association was initiated by the management of the association and shared by the employees and volunteers. Though the desire existed before, the arrival of the European DEMO project (Sustainability and Ecology in the Music and Operators sector) in 2016 was an undeniable trigger to finance and implement actions.
Running the project
The employee in charge of sustainable development (SD) worked on changing practices in collaboration with the association’s stakeholders: employees, volunteers, board of directors. The European project made it possible to identify paths of improvement and solutions, in particular thanks to the realization of a common environmental diagnosis published on the project’s website. The data was then submitted to Le Grand Mix team and applied to their own specificities.
Keys of success
- appoint a sustainable development referent to have a transversal view of the association’s eco-responsible approach
- carry out an environmental impact study by an external service provider to diagnose the carbon footprint of the organization’s activities and to look for innovative actions to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions
- pool purchases with the partners of the European project: water bottles, technical equipment, planting of vegetation
- benefit from exchanges of knowledge and good practices with the partners of the European project and the culture/music networks at the scale of the region (Haute Fidélité), the country (Fédélima) and Europe (Live DMA)
- train the work team (management of the composter, eco-actions, beekeeping, etc.)
- promote the sustainable development approach in the qualitative assessments.
Financial support
The association benefited from European Interreg financial support within the framework of the DEMO project “Sustainability and Ecology in the Music Sector and its Operators”. This cross-border cooperation project between France and Belgium brought together 11 stakeholders around sustainable development in the current music sector. These funds allowed to finance in part the position of a Sustainable Development referent employee, whose mission was to accompany the association in the improvement of its environmental practices during 4 years, while coordinating the European project.
Encountered barriers
The association wants to perpetuate and optimize its sustainable development approach in the long term. It realizes that with the end of European funding, it will not be able to test as many actions as before, but it will continue those already existing. Le Grand Mix wishes to integrate the ecological and societal responsibility approach in the whole production chain of its activities. However, for cost reasons, the green energy and waste sorting contracts were recently ended.
The association does not have the capacity to ensure that the ecological practices it promotes are respected by the entertainment workers, artists and service providers who work in its structure.
Measures of change
The sustainable development actions of Le Grand Mix have allowed the creation of partnerships and collaborations for cultural action projects with numerous actors of the social and solidarity economy of the territory at the level of the city, the metropolis and the region: Fabrique de l’Emploi, Papillons Blancs, Arcane, etc.
The different actions carried out by the team have enabled the employees and volunteers to gain skills and knowledge in eco-gestures, beekeeping, composting, etc.
