bmipublications/matt bonner

Follow our step-by-step guide and tick all the boxes on running a green event that complies with the new British Standard

Eventia, as the association for the events industry, has long maintained the need to create and ensure sustainable business practices in the events industry. Meetings planners understand that sustainability goes a long way to ensuring the economic viability of the events they hold, and by changing their business practices companies can substantially influence their environmental impact. BS8901 is a move in the right direction and Eventia, having under-taken extensive consultation with its members, is confident that by following this step-by-step guide to running a green event, benefits can be derived for the delegates, organisers, the companies and the environment. Read on for more information.

Step 1: Draft a corporate policy on sustainability that embraces company commitments to the principles of sustainable development, explains how the company will promote these principles in events-related activities and defines the scope of commitment in application to events, including supply chain and life-cycle. Ensure you get manage-ment approval of this policy.

Step 2: Identify and engage stakeholders – including the supply chain – as part of the planning process. Show that everybody has been given due consideration (be they trade bodies, the local community, staff or delegates) and that a risk assessment has been undertaken where applicable.

Step 3: Finalise sustainability objectives and set key performance indicators and targets and con-tinuously review them throughout the event planning process.

Step 4: The event now moves into phase two and this looks at the allocation of roles. Management will take overall responsibility and a competent representative should oversee the implementation and maintain operating procedures for sustainability. This step also requires initial and ongoing communication of the sustainability objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs) in progress. It also requires a documen-tation management system that covers policy, stakeholders, issues, engagement and measurement activities, as well as non-compliance.

Step 5: Check, monitor and evaluate against KPIs.

Step 6: Phase Three moves into the review stage and the company should review the event at regular intervals, assessing performance against items such as meeting contractual conditions, achieving objectives and targets, attention to non-conformance and so on. ”

BACK