Venerable Wolf Trap Foundation Leads Innovative "Green" Initiative in Performing Arts

Booz Allen is providing pro bono support to the first-of-its-kind effort to incorporate eco-friendly practices and policies into the arts.

Located on 100 acres of gentle hills in Vienna, Virginia, the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts combines an attractive natural setting with an art venue—and inspired foundation president and CEO Terrence Jones to further explore the interplay between arts and the environment.

Photo courtsy of the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts

In March 2007, Jones announced two ambitious goals towards “greening” his nonprofit organization: Become carbon neutral, and generate zero waste.

“Wolf Trap had visionary goals in green activities just as they do in the performing arts, but they needed technical expertise and operational guidance to meet those goals,” says Booz Allen Hamilton senior associate and program manager David Erne.

Shortly afterward, a third objective was added: To inspire enduring environmental practices within the performing arts community and engage the greater Wolf Trap community in sustainability initiatives. Booz Allen president Dennis Doughty offered the firm’s support to help achieve those goals.

“Art and the environment are intertwined,” Erne continues. “Arts organizations and individuals have great enthusiasm for ‘greening,’ but the challenge is to channel that enthusiasm into realistic goals that can produce measurable results. Booz Allen’s pro bono support for this proactive sustainability planning effort will help ensure real results are achieved.”

In September 2007, Booz Allen started developing the foundation’s baseline and strategy for its greening initiatives in collaboration with Wolf Trap’s senior leaders and volunteer greening team and the National Parks Service (NPS). The firm has the extensive expertise needed for such a bold project, having contributed to numerous high-profile efforts that span environmental performance measurement, renewable energy and energy efficiency, green procurement, waste management, green buildings, and strategic outreach and communications.

Not long after, on July 14, 2008, Wolf Trap, Americans for the Arts, and The Aspen Institute held the first summit on arts and the environment. Held at Booz Allen’s campus in McLean, Virginia, it raised awareness about sustainability issues in the arts community and identified strategies to link the arts with eco-friendly practices.

Jones and the Honorable Norman Mineta co-hosted the summit, at which leaders from environmental advocacy, engineering, media, academia, architecture, music, art, and business discussed practical solutions for engaging performing artists and art organizations in environmental stewardship.

The two-day summit opened with a community Green Spot at Wolf Trap National Park, presented in cooperation with Reverb, a nonprofit specializing in greening performance tours. Environmental advocacy groups encouraged the public to take action in their own lives by starting “where you are,” and the event was followed by a concert.

“We were excited to participate in this event,” says Booz Allen vice president Molly Finn, whose team provides support to Wolf Trap. “It is a great extension of our pro bono support to the ‘Go Green with Wolf Trap’ program and takes the concepts to a wider audience nationally.”

Enhancing Activities in the Arts Community to Protect the Environment

Wolf Trap Foundation has long been engaged in eco-friendly practices, including maintaining an extensive recycling program; reducing traffic inside the park by providing a shuttle to the metro station; and using green materials to construct its Education Center.

But the organization also wanted to be recognized as an environmental leader in both the local and arts communities and enhance its energy, materials flow, visitor experience, artist community, and carbon reduction efforts.

Most of the foundation’s green initiatives will be carried out in tandem with the NPS and aligned with the Climate Friendly Parks Program (CFPP) that the NPS established in accordance with the EPA. The Booz Allen team facilitated discussions to help the foundation and NPS develop a strategy and action plan with near- and long-term objectives, initiatives to achieve those objectives, resources, projected benefits, metrics to measure progress, and a communications plan.

Yet Wolf Trap’s National Summit on the Arts and Environment may have been the most visible sign of the birth of this new movement within the arts community, while also serving as an official call to action. Summit participants tackled three primary strategies for artists and organizations:

• Implement environmentally friendly policies and practices
• Develop strategies to help artists and arts organizations reduce their environmental impact
• Develop strategies for partnerships between the arts and other entities that will promote environmental sustainability to communities

Recommendations resulting from the summit include:

• Establishing a nationwide shared vision for the arts and environment
• Creating a national council on the arts and environment
• Creating public and private sector funding resources for the arts and environment

Aided by summit participants, Wolf Trap will work with Americans for the Arts president and CEO Robert Lynch to spearhead the effort forward in the short term.

Booz Allen delivered Wolf Trap’s action plan in April 2008 with recommendations that will help the organization achieve its greening goals. Wolf Trap has started implementing some of these suggestions and making near-term changes.

The next phase for the Booz Allen team involves helping Wolf Trap prioritize its options and develop a cost-benefit analysis with procedures to help the organization make substantial headway.

story posted September 16, 2008