Event sustainability guide for conferences and events

Tips for success and mistakes to avoid when starting your sustainability journey.

Event sustainability is no longer optional. It is a strategic priority for conferences and large-scale events.

Large-scale events such as conferences, concerts and sporting events leave a mark on the communities in which they operate. "The average meeting or conference influences a number of other independent yet interactive industry sectors which, in turn, may produce a direct economic, social and environmental impact at their point of intersection," as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) describes. Done correctly, events can drive enormous benefits in terms of economic activity, inclusivity and social and even political benefits.

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Event sustainability focuses on reducing environmental impact while strengthening social and economic benefits for host communities. Conferences and events that adopt sustainable practices protect their reputations, reduce risk and create long-term value.

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Events create significant environmental impact that must be managed intentionally.

But when it comes to the environment, the impact is almost always negative. Attendees, staff, presenters, performers, and others must travel long distances from different regions, often by planes or gas-powered vehicles. Events also involve the convergence of materials, many of which are designed to be discarded once the event is over. Event organizers may overlook opportunities to generate positive social, equity and economic impact in the regions where their events take place, either. Critically, they often are ill-prepared for regulatory and consumer expectations surrounding these issues, which are critical to their long-term success. Fortunately, there are practical ways event planners can mitigate harm and drive positive benefits in each of these areas. In this guide, we provide both insights and practical steps for driving lasting sustainability as part of your event operations.

Events and Sustainability: An Evolving Relationship

According to Association Meetings International (AMI), a single national conference attendee will produce more than 1.89 kilograms of waste per day, much of which will end up in landfills. "Anyone who has ever attended a conference or exhibition can see where the waste comes from: massive oversupplies of food, reams of printed material, goodie bags full of marketing materials, [and] show floors built from scratch," AMI describes. Worldwide, only a very small percentage of events are truly sustainable or carbon neutral in terms of the environment. But events can have a tremendous positive impact in other ways, especially in terms of creating community, supporting inclusivity and boosting economic growth — for example, in regions that have low-income residents who benefit from event jobs. Event organizers can:

• Source materials and resources from local businesses.
• Recruit workers locally, especially from underprivileged communities.
• Participate in local charities or volunteer activities.
• Highlight cultural elements of the region in communications and marketing.
• Bring together otherwise contentious global communities or leaders.

What is event sustainability?

Event sustainability refers to the strategic planning and operational practices that reduce environmental harm while increasing positive social and economic impact. It includes waste reduction, carbon management, responsible sourcing, diversity initiatives and transparent reporting. A strong event sustainability strategy balances environmental responsibility with financial performance and attendee experience.

Defining Sustainability for Your Own Event

The United Nations famously defined sustainability as both a goal and an activity: "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." This serves as a helpful, altruistic guidepost for event leaders hoping to create positive change both regionally and globally over time. But near-term regional, organizational and monetary benefits are also possible. Proving your event is truly sustainable improves your reputation with consumers and sponsors, increases your appeal as an employer and a partner, and encourages communities and venues to accept your event. Your transformation can't happen overnight — measuring improvements over time is the best way to begin. As we will demonstrate, event organizers must set goals, establish metrics and create both practical and achievable methods to realize these outcomes and mitigate the negative impact of their activities.

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Common Mistakes Among Event Organizers

Although sustainability is a key topic of discussion across organizations, event planners often don't prioritize sustainability initiatives when organizing their events. This likely isn't because of negligence or ill will. Rather, their shortcomings are often the results of one or more common factors: They don't know specific ways to drive results in these areas. They don't know the right metrics for tracking their progress. They are unable to ensure consistency in how personnel act on these goals. Given these factors, event planners simply aren't prepared to formally launch their sustainability initiatives, let alone how to measure progress and deliver consistent results. This can lead to a vicious cycle of mistakes that are difficult to break.

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Mistakes to Avoid

Paying lip service to sustainability. Executives approach sustainability as a PR initiative, prioritizing marketing and public relations rather than real results. Tasking someone within the organization to handle it — without direction. Executive leaders assign a "head of sustainability" or similar role to an existing employee who has no background or understanding of what that role requires, but has the bandwidth to learn quickly. Measuring the wrong things. Executives put too much stock into tasks and metrics that don't drive real results in terms of sustainability, let alone measurable results. Neglecting to put consistent progress into motion. Executives have initial discussions about tasks, KPIs and goals necessary to meet sustainability objectives, but fail to set benchmarks, "check-ins" or reporting requirements for personnel responsible for those results. Event leaders must bridge the gap between sustainability ambitions and strategies — and then operational value. Fortunately, easy-to-use systems can encourage teams to become proactive, share information and work together toward achieving their sustainability goals.

8 Steps Towards Sustainability Success for Your Event

Creating and launching a successful sustainability program in events management means establishing sustainability elements as core values and then "baking" sustainability initiatives into event operations. Here is a closer look at the key steps events organizers can take to ensure they operationalize sustainability and meet well-defined, long-term sustainability goals — meeting regulatory standards as well as the expectations of their audiences.

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1. Adopt sustainability as an executive priority.

Sustainability by definition is a lasting goal — it's not something organizations can "fix" once and then set and forget. That's why a truly effective sustainability approach requires support from organizational leadership. This includes defining sustainability initiatives as part of broader organizational objectives, with key performance indicators (KPIs) for personnel and teams that are unique to their roles. Key steps include: Partnering with leadership consultants to determine the scope of your initiatives. Identifying key risks and opportunities within existing operations. Developing a mission statement with clear goals based on those conclusions. Committing to a cultural transformation through an iterative approach. Event leaders also must select one or more people for sustainability leadership roles. But critically, they must clearly define each person's role and their measures for success. Sustainability leaders should also be equipped to interface with personnel in a way that helps them drives their KPIs.

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2. Establish the right goals for your organization and your teams.

Realizing your goals starts with determining what success "looks like" for your teams. Some goals may include achieving a net-zero carbon footprint, eliminating any waste to landfills and fulfilling diversity hiring targets, among others. But it is critical event leaders establish the right KPIs to track progress toward each goal, developing appropriate metrics that apply to each branch of the organization. Examples of potential goals and their associated departments include: Production: Reducing year-over-year materials waste; for example, by creating reusable badges or consolidating physical structures. Human resources: Setting and achieving diversity and local hiring and contracting goals. Finance: Applying cost-cutting measures to high-waste event activities. Procurement: Transitioning to more sustainable sources and shipping methods.

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3. Align the right sustainability metrics with each of your teams.

Sustainability initiatives are only meaningful if they generate measurable results. That's why successful event organizers invest in systems that help them track key KPIs and hold all members of the organization accountable for meeting their goals. Measurable, achievable KPIs might include: Reducing the mass of landfill waste per attendee (kg). Prioritizing electricity usage from renewable energy sources (kWh). Increasing local and diverse team members' share of total worker headcount (%). Boosting charitable donations from the organization and participating attendees ($).

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It's difficult to drive the results — let alone report on them accurately — day to day. But with the right digital tools, event organizers can make progress updates easy for team members in each of their roles.

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4. Perform an honest audit based on your goals.

Once you've determined the metrics that are important to your organization, you must do an honest assessment of your status quo in these areas. This means looking at your current data and practices to understand how far you'll need to go to meet your sustainability goals. From there, it's essential to create a roadmap towards progress. Develop a timeline for working through the various components of your sustainability program and assign team members in charge of each area. Don't get discouraged if your work is cut out for you — even small progress beats none at all.

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5. Digitize your capabilities.

With modern event management software, stakeholders can easily build out what they want to track and then assign related tasks to individual parties or teams. Integrated venue management software also helps teams monitor energy use, space utilization and vendor coordination in support of sustainability goals. Platforms that are agnostic in terms of metrics enable organizations to establish their own units of measurement, determine their ideal frequency of reporting, automate personnel reminders and notifications, and align everyone's efforts directly with organizational goals. Ultimately, a dedicated digital platform can become a helpful part of long-term sustainability initiatives. For example, sustainability tracking software helps event organizers and stakeholders record and report KPIs on their journey to becoming more sustainable, even as it provides in-depth support for their broader operational efforts long term.

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6. Operationalize sustainability as an essential function.

Oftentimes event leaders' biggest hurdles are simply encouraging, and then getting information from, personnel in terms of their progress on key sustainability metrics. Team members may be afraid of underperforming or they simply struggle to routinize sustainability activities as part of their regular responsibilities. Software can help event leaders hold personnel accountable and visualize shortcomings in terms of operationalizing their initiatives. It can also automate reminders and streamline how personnel access tools that help them stay on track with their sustainability goals.

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7. Normalize reporting through tiered targeting and gamification.

In time, sustainability reporting will become as normal and essential as financial reporting has become in all organizations. On the other hand, sustainability initiatives are far more inclusive than financial goals, which are often delegated to accounting and leadership teams. This inclusivity — where everyone participates in sustainability in an individualized but unified way — creates exciting opportunities for gamification, awards, rewards, and celebrations. With the right software, events organizers can: Save key details about their latest sustainability achievements. Share the details of those achievements internally and externally. Celebrate milestones; for example, through bronze, silver and gold rankings. Inspire team members by demonstrating real sustainable results (i.e., CO2e reductions, local economic growth).

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8. Use your new best practices and accomplishments to your financial advantage.

Sustainability progress can drive real commercial benefits for events and ensure they avoid fines associated with regulations. Marketing and PR teams can leverage sustainability accomplishments in their campaigns and even monetize them through sponsorships. Events that demonstrate social responsibility often attract more interest from potential attendees and exhibitors, driving additional revenue streams as well. This demonstrates sustainability is a smart business decision that benefits the industry — and the world more broadly, beyond your event alone.

You Can't Improve Until You Begin.

When sustainability becomes an integral part of decision-making — where key sustainability metrics are associated with decisions made throughout the organization — long-term successes will follow. You should anticipate falling short of your sustainability goals at first. You may struggle to identify the right metrics, motivate your personnel or account for all their accomplishments at the start. But with the right tools in place, you will position your event as a leader in your space. You will position your organization as a leader in event sustainability within your industry. Explore how integrated event management software can help you track event sustainability metrics, manage resources and align teams around measurable goals.

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