How to deliver events that tread lightly and deliver economic, social and environmental value to stakeholders

1. ORGANISING HIGH PERFORMANCE
SUSTAINABLE EVENTS
Katarina Torstensson, Sustainability Director - Goteborg and Co
Guy Bigwood, Managing Director - Global Destination Sustainability Index

2. What about you?
Where are you from?

3. OBJECTIVES
1. Learn an approach to making your events more sustainable
2. Understand the importance of measurement and storytelling
3. Take away at least 5 new best practices
4. •

5. What keep you up at night?

6. Source: WHO
1 in 8 Deaths
are through air pollution

7. 8 Billion Tons
of plastic waste produced since 1950
= 55 million jumbo jets.
8 Million Tons
Go in the sea every year

8. By 2050 we will have more
plastic than fish in the sea

9. It’s getting hot and wet
3 to 4 °C
mean annual temperature increase by 2100
March 30, 2018

10. How does that make you feel?

11. But some days we woke up with total
hope?

12. REVOLUTION IN HOW WE CREATE ELECTRICITY
500,000 solar panels installed globally every day
80% price drop in 10 years

13. 18% OF ALL ELECTRICITY IN EUROPE CAME FROM
RENEWABLES IN 2018
+71% growth in 10 years
54% in Sweden in 2018

14. A REVOLUTION IN HOW WE GET AROUND
81% growth in US in 2018, 25% in UK
220 million new electric cars to hit
the streets by 2030

15. A CIRCULAR REVOLUTION IN HOW THINGS ARE BEING MADE
Garbage in doesn’t have to be garbage out!

16. 16
A REVOLUTION IN HOW WE EAT
24% growth in Vegan and Vegetarian market in France in 2018

17. Welcome to the
GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY REVOLUTION

19. IT IS NOT ENOUGH
We need to radically speed up & scale up action

20. We have a common agenda

21. WE NEED TO REIMAGINE THE FUTURE
We need to reimagine the impact of our events

23. WHO IS IN ACTION

24. Author:
Date:
THE APPROACH
How and where do we start?

25. Principles of event sustainability
Sustainability for events means
taking action towards
• preserving our natural
environment
• promoting a healthy, inclusive
society
• supporting a thriving economy
https://www.eventscouncil.org/Sustainability/
Sustainability-Pledge

26. ACCOMMODATION
VENUE
ENERGY & OFFSETS
MARKETING &
COMMUNICATIONS
BACKOFFICE & AGENCIES
Sustainability for events means
taking action towards preserving
our natural environment;
promoting a healthy, inclusive
society; and supporting a thriving
economy.
TRANSPORTATION COMMUNITY OUTREACH
FOOD AND
BEVERAGE
Builds upon APEX/ASTM Environmental Sustainability Event Standard covering all major areas of meeting
production
DESTINATION
PRODUCTION
CONSTRUCTION, IT, AUDIOVISUALS, EXHIBITS
Tactical Approach

27. Q1. What is the most
important area to
address?

28. Destination
Destination
One of the most important choices for
a sustainable event

29. Choose a sustainable destination
• Destination’s Environmental Performance
• Destination’s Social Performance
• Supplier Performance (hotels, venues, DMCs)
• CVB Performance The city of Kyoto has a landfill diversion rate
of practically 100%!
When choosing a destination consider the
following four areas:

30. SEARCH REVIEW COMPARE
Global Destination Sustainability Index - www.gds-index.com
How do you find a sustainable destination?

31. 50 cities from 5 continents and growing
Our goal is to have 300 global destinations by 2022
Top Ten City Name Country
1 Gothenburg Sweden
2 Copenhagen Denmark
3 Reykjavik Iceland
4 Oslo Norway
5 Uppsala Sweden
5 Helsinki Finland
6 Malmö Sweden
7 Zurich Switzerland
7 Glasgow Scotland
8 Melbourne Australia
9 Sydney Australia
10 Brussels Belgium
10 Espoo Finland
31 St Petersburg Russia
A Global Community of Collaborating Destinations

32. 90
79
95 97
94
81
77 76
78
82
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
2018 Env 2018 Social 2018 Supplier 2018 CVB Total 2018
Index Performance 2018
Gothenburg Top 10 Average
• Gothenburg is number one in the
Index in 2016, 2017, 2018
• Performance shows true leadership
and commitment
Gothenburg: GDS-Index Ranking

33. Venue and Hotel

34. Select a sustainable venue
Look for venues with green policies, practices and certifications.
A venue with proper sustainability management in place will automatically make your sustainability efforts much easier to
implement!

35. ISO20121 and Bream Certified
100% Renewable Powered

36. 92 % of hotel rooms environmentally certified

37. Selecting, contracting and managing your suppliers
• Create a Sustainability policy
• Include policy and requirements
in your RFPs
• Make it competitive. Place 5 -10%
weighting in your selection criteria
• Include requirements in contract

38. Food and Beverage

39. Use Sustainability to Improve THE DINING EXPERIENCE
FLOSS
Fair
Local
Organic
Seasonal
Sustainable
39

40. Reduced bottle water (from 15000 to 5000)
Always vegetarian option
No fish from endangered stocks
100% eco and fair coffee
Organic, locally produced and fair
Changed policy

41. Q2. What is the biggest
source of waste in an
event
A. Food
B. AV Production
C. Marketing Materials
D. Event Branding
E. Other

42. PRODUCTION

43. There is no excuse any more!
43
Go Zero Waste

44. The 5R’s: MCI’s Sustainable Production Approach
Rethink
•Work with suppliers
and partners to re-
design for
sustainability
•Dematerialise
•Use new eco-materials
Reduce
•Reduce non-
sustainable materials
(PVC)
•Reduce carpeting
•Reduce packaging
Reuse
•Produce reuseable
signage
•Upcycle signage to
bags, iPad covers
Recycle
•Work with suppliers to
improve waste
management
procedures
•Ensure sufficient bins
are on floor
Report
•Measure and disclose
impacts
•Set goals based on
performance
5 R’s of Sustainable Event Production

45. Focus area #3:
Resource & waste
management
Goal: Zero waste

46. RETHINK AND DEMATERIALISE
Source: Dorier
46
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXUW8o-UEFU

47. Rethink and improve
Dematerialise your badges – and use a digital engagement platform
https://crystalinteractive.net/event-technology/smart-wearables/

48. SYMANTEC Case Study

49. • Reduce: Eliminated PVC, disposable carpet, wooden stage sets, disposable plastics
• Rethink: Switched to LED lighting, carpet tiles, module stand systems
• Rethink: Switched to more sustainable print substrates

50. Before
88 tons of waste
37 kg/participant
After
10 tons of waste
5 kg/participant
x70 x11

51. Q3. What produces more
carbon emissions from an
event?
A. Attendee Travel
B. Waste
C. Energy use in the venue
D. Food

52. 52
Transportation

53. Avser tur-och-retur resor.
Koldioxidekvivalenter inklusive höghöjdseffekter
(uppräkningsfaktor 1,9 - den vetenskapliga
osäkerheten är dock mycket stor).
Figuren är baserad på 170 gram CO2-
ekvivalenter per person-km, samma för alla
destinationer.
Källa: Kamb & Larsson, 2018,
Klimatpåverkan från svenska befolkningens
flygresor 1990 – 2017
Bilden är gjord av Björn von Sydow, Chalmers.
Växthusgasutsläpp till olika destinationer

54. Offset your emissions
• Include a low cost per delegate fee (€1-2) to your
events and invest in certified development projects
• https://offset.climateneutralnow.org/

57. Community Outreach
What community actions have worked
for you created or you have seen?

58. Ideas for Community Action
58

60. Make your event more inclusive

61. Make your events more inclusive

62. Make your events more diverse

63. Communication

64. Measure, Engage, Share and Inspire

65. MAKE IT FUN

66. But isn’t all
this
EXPENSIVE
too?

67. Not
necessarily!
(Our average ROI of 66%)

68. ICCB17 Sustainability Performance Summary
ICCB 2017 Results
Congress for 1500
people in Cartagena,
Colombia
Reduced Environmental Impact
Produced
1700 tCO2e
Offset
100%
annual CO2
output of
883
Colombians’
Local Economic Development
Sourced
53%
of food locally,
on average
Within
160km
Reduced Environmental Impact
Produced only
1 tonne of waste.
Diverted
56%
from landfill
Community Development
Invested
$12K
On 2 certified
conservation
projects
supported
2 Projects
Return on Investment
$11,700
Saving from
sustainability
actions

69. A little less conversation, a little more action,
please

70. ”We cannot solve our problems
with the same thinking we used
when we created them”
Albert Einstein
in Gothenburg 1923

71. ACCOMMODATION
VENUE
ENERGY & OFFSETS
MARKETING &
COMMUNICATIONS
BACKOFFICE & AGENCIES
The Event Industry Council
Sustainable Event Approach
focuses on 10 workstreams.
The toolbox uses guidelines,
templates and supplier
questionnaires to engage
the value chain to measure
and improve performance.
TRANSPORTATION COMMUNITY OUTREACH
FOOD AND
BEVERAGE
Builds upon APEX/ASTM Environmental Sustainability Event Standard covering all major areas of meeting
production
DESTINATION
PRODUCTION
CONSTRUCTION, IT, AUDIOVISUALS, EXHIBITS
Tactical Approach

72. Mind the Gap: 8 Steps to Better Events
1. Set a sustainability vision, strategy and policy for your
organisation
2. Engage your staff, volunteers and partners
3. Become a zeronaut. Aim for zero environmental impact with your
events
4. Demand sustainability from your suppliers
5. Be more inclusive
6. Engage attendees and sponsors
7. Communicate progress
8. Have fun!

73. A little less conversation,
a little more action, please

74. If you have any questions or require more information,
please contact:
Guy.Bigwood@gds-index.com
www.lessconversationmoreaction.com
www.gds-index.com
katarina.thorstensson@goteborg.com
http://goteborgco.se/en/sustainability/