A ‘practical roadmap’ designed to help associations and conference organisers integrate sustainability into event planning, delivery and reporting has been launched by Radisson Hotel Group and GDS-Movement.
The guide, Accelerating Sustainable & Regenerative Events: A Guide for Associations & PCO, follows recent findings that indicate that while 66% of associations consider sustainability ‘highly important’, fewer than 34% have embedded it into their operations and only 3% report having an advanced sustainability programme.
‘Implementation challenge’
“The industry does not have a sustainability awareness problem; it has an implementation challenge,” commented Inge Huijbrechts, chief sustainability and security officer at Radisson Hotel Group.
“As a global hospitality company, we work closely with associations, event organisers and destinations around the world and understand the practical barriers they face. This guide is designed to move the conversation from ambition to action by providing planners with practical tools, trusted frameworks and stronger collaboration models.”
The guide addresses some of the key barriers to implementation when it comes to integrating sustainability into events, such as perceived costs, limited access to sustainability data, fragmented supplier ecosystems and a lack of practical frameworks.
Stakeholder collaboration
It argues that successful sustainable events require more than individual initiatives – rather, they depend on collaboration between stakeholders to establish ‘measurable and repeatable approaches’ that can be applied consistently across event portfolios, particularly for organisations hosting multiple conferences and meetings across different destinations.
“Destinations play a pivotal role in accelerating the transition toward sustainable and regenerative events,” added Guy Bigwood, CEO and chief changemaker of GDS-Movement. “Through the GDS-Index, we help destinations measure and improve their sustainability performance while providing event organisers with the information they need to make informed decisions.
“Collaboration between destinations, venues and suppliers is essential to creating events that generate meaningful social, environmental and economic value.”
Five key actions
The guide outlines five key actions that associations and conference organisers can implement to strengthen sustainability performance across the events they organise:
- Collaborate with destination partners earlier in the planning process
- Prioritise certified supplier networks and sustainability credentials
- Integrate social impact and legacy initiatives into event design
- Incorporate low-carbon mobility strategies for delegates and stakeholders
- Implement sustainability-linked measurement, reporting and incentive frameworks
The full guide, Accelerating Sustainable & Regenerative Events: A Guide for Associations & PCOs, can be found here.
