How can the events industry leave a sustainable legacy?

Author:

Hannah Jarvis

Producer, MCI UK

The conversation on sustainability is ever-growing, and the constant news can make it easy to take a glass-half-empty approach to sustainability and the adoption of more sustainable practices within our industry.

However, there is a lot we can remain optimistic about. Conferences and events have undergone a huge shift in the past three years, and despite the industry’s fatigue, it proves we are ready to progress and can make overnight changes to our practices. With a view of the triple bottom line (people, planet, and profit), we can make a fitting comparison between each of these elements and the journey our industry has taken on sustainability over the past few years and forecast our future needs for progress.

The events industry has moved a long way from its profit-driven practices of the past, where a lack of consideration was made to the planet or to the people involved and our impacts on our communities whilst building service-orientated businesses in a booming economy.

In the present day, we are in a time where the economic value in events has been established, and the focus has shifted to the planet.

We are producing far fewer single-use materials for our events, providing options for delegates to attend our events virtually, and there has been a real focus on the plastic-free movement. Some excellent strides have been made that have allowed for some innovative change-makers to develop solutions that provide more sustainable options, at a convenience to event organisers.

Many PCOs have made their commitments to Net Zero, ISO certification, or even B Corp status. This is a great first step, but it seems the industry does not quite know where to go from those commitments. Change does take time, but these actions need to keep momentum and propel the industry forward at a considerable speed to counteract the vastly impactful major events we are increasingly seeing as a result of climate change. Net zero will become achievable when we start looking at the bigger picture: there will always be single-use items in circulation at our events, and so we must commit to offsetting the deliverables that cannot yet be altered to a more sustainable solution.

As PCOs, we have one of the largest platforms out there to influence behaviour change across the masses. Our events can influence the behaviours not only whilst our delegates are within the four walls of our venues, but they hold the power to transform behaviours once delegates get back home.

Our next step as event organisers, suppliers, or associations is to bring into focus the final element of the triple bottom line: people. Having now navigated through the experiential economy, and a huge change in how we deliver our event experiences through the pandemic, we now provide a well-rounded, human-centric approach to event processes and delivery.

The UN SDGs provide such an all-encompassing overview of sustainability, comprising not only the environment and the economy but the people, too. Look beyond the RFP and build legacy into all your events and find ways to impact not only your event’s direct stakeholders but its community.

Our role is vital to driving the growth of destinations and supporting their local economy, infrastructure and community development through collaboration. The biggest legacy our event can leave is not only on the environment but in being inclusive of our diverse communities and supporting each other and our environment, together, by bringing everyone into the conversation.