Vision of a Green Event
A green event is one designed, organised and implemented in a way that minimises negative environmental impacts and leaves a positive legacy for the host community.
The vision of greening an event is to minimise the emissions of green house gases and the consumption of natural resources; avoid waste generation where possible; avoid damage to the local and global environment while preparing and implementing the event; and ensure economic, social and environmental benefits for the local community and thus encouraging future sustainable development within the region.
It is important to realise that the greening of an event is an on-going and continuous process. It involves incorporating sustainable development principles into all levels of event organisation and implementation. Purchasing goods and services, the selection of the venue, transportation, catering and accommodation arrangements are areas where to apply greening principles. The awareness of green aspects needs to be spread and communicated amongst staff, service providers and participants to foster sustainable behaviour and encourage people to make responsible decisions.
Benefits
Greening an event can have a number of benefits for the organisers, participants, service providers and the host/local region on an economic, environmental and social level. Long-term cost savings can be achieved by reducing energy and water costs through reduction in use and efficient technology, minimizing waste and encouraging recycling where possible, and by purchasing local products. These practices also provide unique opportunities to raise awareness around sustainable development issues and encourage people to change their perceptions and behaviour. Social benefits for the local region can be fostered through providing jobs, benefiting regional suppliers and promoting better working conditions.
Climate Legacy Initiative
For the 6th ESCT Conference - Dunkerque 2010, a climate legacy initiative will be adopted. The initiative aims to reduce the environmental impacts of events. As part of the initiative, a carbon offset payment is included in the conference fee to compensate for CO2 emissions caused by conference related travel. This offset payment is calculated according to participants’ average distance travelled by region. The funding generated through the initiative will serve to finance CO2 reduction projects.
Greening Guide
Organised events that bring many people together can often be a valuable opportunity for awareness-raising, learning and creating a new culture of caring for natural, social and financial resources. But these same events pose significant problems for local natural resources, (e.g. energy, water), environment (e.g. caused by emissions, waste, soil degradation) and the community.
To assist organisers and hosts of small-to medium-sized meetings in greening their events, ICLEI, in cooperation with UNEP, has developed the Green Meeting Guide 2009. You can download the greening guide on the following website: www.iclei.org/itc/greening