We’re dedicated to organising our festival around principles of sustainability and transition. A transition initiative is defined as:

“A community-led response to the pressures of climate change,

fossil fuel depletion and increasingly, economic contraction.”

Building a festival around its community provides an exciting opportunity to engage new audiences and attract fresh thinking to principles of sustainability. We hope to create an atmosphere free from everyday constraints and distractions, where information and inspiration can combine in abundance.

We’re commited to building an environment in which consumerism is challenged, in which the scale of our environmental crisis is comprehended, and in which people feel empowered, through their on-site experiences, to live more sustainable lives.

As a temporary community, Cloud Cuckoo Land is confronted by many of the challenges which face permanent communities. We’re determined to build a community which is sustainable, localised, adaptable and resilient.

To demonstrate our intentions and guide our development, we’ve adopted a manifesto of commitments to principles of permaculture and transition.

We hope to successfully develop methods of effective waste management, of renewable energy generation and of optimised health and spiritual well-being, helping to repair destructive relationships with our local environments.

Building on our positive beginnings in 2011, we’ve committed to the following policies in 2o12 and beyond:

• Continued development of Fernhill Farm. As one of the UK’s leading operational eco-farms, Fernhill’s WET system, solar powered showers and provision of locally grown and reared food represents the foundation of our commitment. Following the example set by Sunrise Off Grid, we’d like to help develop these outstanding facilities, starting in 2012 with investment in the farm’s Conference Barn.

• Provision of festival buses and cycle schemes. Cloud Cuckoo Land will offer guests a return shuttle bus service from Bristol, powered by recycled cooking oil. Furthermore, Brake the Cycle will provide experienced cycle guides and organise the collection of luggage to encourage attendees to cycle the 15 miles from Bristol. Car-parking will incur a £10 ecological tax, and lift-share schemes will be encouraged wherever possible.

• Comprehensive and creative recycling. Our event will combine the separation and local disposal of waste with creative projects designed to confront consumers with their responsibilities to reduce and re-use. Eco Rangers will patrol our site to theatrically engage festival-goers and assist them in their efforts to reduce waste, while Scrap Dragon and the Upcycle ExChange will collect salvageable waste in order to build a series of on-site sculptures and conduct build-you-own fancy dress workshops.

• Local and organic sourcing of consumables. Cloud Cuckoo Land will prefer local and organic suppliers in order to reduce food and drink miles and ensure guests are properly nourished during our event. Plastics and packaging will be avoided wherever possible, and volunteers will be drawn from the local area wherever practical.

• Introduction of renewable energy generation. 2012 will see the continued integration of a pedal and solar powered stage operated by the Magnificent Revolution, as well as a smaller, portable wind powered sound-system. Fernhill’s luxury eco-mmodation is fuelled exclusively by solar power and biomass combustion, while the farm’s energy supplier remains Good Energy, who source 100% of their electricity from renewables.

• Extensive programme of workshops and speakers. Leading environmentalists including Tamsin Omond and Mark Boyle will inspire and inform, while a series of permaculture, food harvesting and yoga workshops will encourage participation. Cinematters will screen conscious films early and late, while walkabouts will be supplemented by ‘guerrilla campaigning.’