5-Year Sustainability Action Plan (SAP):

Z2 Entertainment LLC

As part of my Master of the Environment at the University of Colorado Boulder, I partnered with Z2 Entertainment to develop a comprehensive 5-Year Sustainability Action Plan (SAP) for their live music venues, including the Boulder Theater and Fox Theatre. Rather than selecting a pre-arranged capstone project, I independently built this partnership by networking across Colorado’s live-music ecosystem and aligning my academic work with real-world industry needs. The goal of the project was to support Z2 in strengthening their sustainability efforts in a way that was practical, scalable, and aligned with the realities of operating live entertainment venues.

Live music venues sit at the intersection of energy-intensive production, high material throughput, and constant human movement. Sustainability efforts must navigate tight margins, fast turnarounds, and a wide range of stakeholders, from venue staff and touring crews to artists and audiences. Z2 was interested in moving beyond isolated sustainability initiatives toward a more coordinated, long-term approach that could evolve alongside their venues and community. To support this, I conducted stakeholder interviews across departments, assessed existing practices, and synthesized staff insights with best practices in venue sustainability to identify realistic, high-impact opportunities.

The resulting Sustainability Action Plan provides a five-year roadmap that balances ambition with feasibility. It outlines phased actions across energy use, waste reduction, water stewardship, communication, hospitality, and community engagement, while offering tools and frameworks designed to remain useful as staff, partners, and circumstances change.

Beyond the final deliverables, this project helped foster cross-departmental alignment and demonstrated how sustainability can be embedded into the core of live music operations. For me, it marked a meaningful step into the live-music sustainability field, opening the door to ongoing collaboration with venues, artists, and cultural organizations. At its core, this work reflects my belief that music spaces can be powerful catalysts for climate action and community care — and that culture has a critical role to play in shaping a more just, regenerative future.