Put simply, we must all try harder to bring sustainability to the core of our conference planning.
As a professional conference organiser (PCO), we recognise that the event sector has never been the poster child for sustainability. However, things are changing. Far from ignoring the undeniable carbon footprint that is generated from hosting a conference (with hundreds of people traveling across the globe to congregate in a single location, for a relatively short space of time, and probably consuming above one’s daily average of food and other commodities), we are now able to look at practical and realistic ways to reduce the environmental impact and even offset the emissions entirely.
Pandemics aside, in-person events will continue to exist in every sector, whatever their purpose. But we must be more environmentally savvy throughout the planning and delivery process and stop leaving it up to others to worry about.
At Fitwise we deliver educational events on behalf of our clients. This means in many cases that our role is in an advisory capacity, rather than as the decision maker, but we can influence change and make it easier for clients to tackle big issues such as sustainability.
Since signing the Net Zero Carbon Events pledge that was launched at COP26, we at Fitwise have been looking at ways to ensure our events are more sustainable. Part of this was implementing a mechanism which allows our clients to make informed but easy decisions in the interests of delivering carbon balanced events.
With this in mind, we are delighted to announce that from April 2022, Fitwise will be supporting our clients to deliver more sustainably focused events via our Carbon Offset Your Event initiative, which will:
- Facilitate the calculation of emissions generated at the event.
- Provide solutions that educate, create behavioural change and deliver a reduction of emissions at the event.
- Offer a range of carbon programmes which allow the remaining carbon footprint to be offset in an ethical manner.
Are you a member of a conference organising committee?
Nowadays, as a member of a conference organising committee, you are not only responsible for thought-provoking programme content and financial performance, but your success will also be measured by the environmental impact of the event. The Fitwise Carbon Offset Your Event initiative will be key to creating a more sustainability-focused conference, and as an organising committee member there are steps you can take towards reducing the carbon footprint of your conference:
- Be open to a change in mindset and be confident to step away from the traditional approach.
- Consider virtual sessions for international speakers to reduce travel emissions.
- Choose venues and suppliers who are aligned with your sustainability ambitions and committed to good sustainable practices throughout their business.
- It’s ok if the buffet runs out! This one makes even the hardiest event organiser feel anxious, but food waste is a huge environmental issue and the average event wastes between 15% and 20% of the food it produces (findings from Chapter One of the Beyond Food Report).
- Consider sustainability as a factor when making menu choices – red meat has the highest carbon footprint of any food so consider a vegetarian or plant-based meal at the Gala Dinner.
- Build event sustainability into your conference budget.
- For event collateral deemed essential, build in extra budget for these items – in some cases, the more sustainable option is likely to have a higher price-tag. Or is it needed at all?
- There is a relatively small monetary cost associated with the monitoring and management of the environmental impact from the event, in order to offset the carbon footprint – visit here to find out more.
- Finally, consider sustainability in every decision and be honest. For example, is the item/choice essential, or a ‘nice to have’?
- Did you know a cotton canvas tote has to be used 7,100 times for its creation process to have a lower carbon footprint than one single use plastic bag!