Why Green Film Cities: Empowering Sustainable Creative Cities?

- Poor awareness of environmental sustainability and environmental best practices within the film sector and the creative industries and their impact on CO2 emissions.
- Only one feature film “Stela” in North Macedonia filmed following eco-production standards.
- Lack of government funding to support sustainability projects aiming to reduce the carbon footprint in the audio-visual production sector.
- Lack of reliable data about the number of audio-visual productions in each City of Film.
- Environmental sustainability is currently not always a concern with regards to procurement.
- Environmental sustainability is perceived to be expensive.

To bridge these gaps, with this project we will try to improve knowledge at stakeholders and target group by exchange and networking in the audio-visual sector by sharing best green examples from the UNESCO Cities of Film, particularly from Galway, Ireland, Potsdam, Germany, Terrassa, Spain and other cities that apply sustainable solutions for urban responsible development. While sustainable filmmaking initiatives are on the rise in some of the UNESCO Creative Cities of Film, there is still progress to be made in terms of widespread adoption and standardization of practices. Challenges such as budget constraints, lack of awareness, and logistical hurdles can hinder the implementation of sustainable practices across the industry.

The project seeks to address the significant environmental impact of the film industry in Bitola and Sarajevo.
The activities of this project will reconnect cities from the UNESCO Creative Film Cities network and will advance their partnerships by commitment towards eco practices, as well as the exchange of future new ideas and collaborations in the direction of building inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities.