The CONAMA Foundation, responsible for organizing the National Environmental Congress which was held several weeks ago, has created the Work Group for Sustainable Events, whose aim is to research the evolution and current situation of green initiatives in the Spanish Meetings and Event Industry, and submit its results.
Another of the work group’s objectives is to put forward management, communication and awareness proposals for congresses, conventions and business meetings, keyed to the event industry on the whole and all kinds of event planners, both big and small, with a special emphasis on PCOs.
Proposals
So as to generate proposals, the Work Group for Sustainable Events has set a number of goals, such as using local resources; reducing, reusing and recycling (the three Rs); the efficient management of energy consumption and transport; compensating for emissions; involving all the parties in achieving sustainability; making the most of the opportunity to disseminate good practices; and lastly evaluating the impact of these and other measures.
Along these lines, some of the proposals or aspects that should be taken into account when holding sustainable events include the choice of venues that are easily accessible by public transport or the creation of the post of event transport manager.
Other efficient steps to ensure event sustainability also include the use of suppliers committed to sustainable transport, proposing energy-efficient driving courses for drivers taking part in an event (delivery men, chauffeurs, etc.), or planning and controlling emissions and other environmentally friendly measures.
After the congress, convention or meeting, it is also possible to implement measures geared to improving green initiatives for future events. For example, the work group proposes to analyse aspects that can be improved on, identifying actions that failed to achieve their goals, as well as calculating and compensating the event’s carbon footprint, and encouraging all the participants to evaluate their own use of transport so as to reduce its environmental impact.
