Under the slogan "Are we green or what?", the ICCA Iberian Chapter organized its traditional Spanish seminar at the past edition of EIBTM, this time putting sustainable events "on trial".
The debate was organized in courtroom format, with a judge’s bench, jury, public prosecutor, defending council, witnesses… In short, the idea was to examine the pros and cons of sustainable events and pass judgement, using a fun and participative format.
Two experts on the subject, MCI’s Guy Bigwood and Ephymera Sostenibilidad’s Alberto Gomez, played the roles of public prosecutor and defending council, respectively. Both of them organized a group so as to discuss the issue and reach conclusions. A number of witnesses were also called upon to give testimony: Manuel Macias, director of Seville Convention Bureau; Javier Lacunza of Pamplona’s Baluarte Convention Centre; Mark Martinez of Servisferial; and David Berrocal of Unit Elements.
Spain is still too "green" for green events
The conclusion reached is that Spain is still too "green" for green events, although the industry is aware that it is a pending issue that will have to be addressed sometime in the future, because it generates profit: "We won the bid for organizing an event for the simple reason that we are a member of the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) and because we had chosen bikes as the official mode of transport for the congress," commented Manuel Macias, director of the Seville Convention Bureau. "Even though Spain isn’t a fully sustainable destination, it’s getting there. So it’s not the moment to put the brakes on," he added.
Another two service providers specializing in corporate social responsibility (CSR) fully agreed with Macias. "Our clients end up accepting 90% of the suggestions that we put forward to them so as to make their events more sustainable, especially when what is involved is supporting a social cause," explained David Berrocal of Unit Elements. Over the last six years, this communication and event agency has directly channelled 1.6€ million in funds to 16,000 people. Likewise, Marc Martinez Pujol-Xicoy of Servisferial (tradeshow services) regretted that the industry is not prepared for sustainability: "Spanish clients don’t even bother to ask their suppliers if they’re sustainable. Spanish companies need to implement sustainable management models; clients need to be educated about CSR and avoid the misguided belief that sustainability is expensive."
The sentence
Once all the declarations and testimonies had been considered, the Court handed down its verdict:
"It is clear that sustainability in the meeting and event industry has to be related to the global strategy of a destination or region."
"It is clear that, in times of economic crisis, clients are unwilling to accept new solutions that might be more expensive."
"It is clear that it is essential to reduce consumption and environmental impact, as well as developing more socially responsible policies."
"It is clear that it is a progressive process that involves people and companies."
"It is clear that we have little time to change behaviours, since the planet is now showing signs of having reached its limit, above all as regards climate change."
For all these reasons, a dual verdict was handed down: "Or we get our act together fast or the planet will do it for us… or, alternatively, we will have to emigrate to Mars where everyone is green."
The ICCA Iberian Chapter’s seminar
