November 2023 - event:decision

It’s been an busy month for the team at event:decision in the world of event sustainability. Here’s our round-up of just two of the events we’re taken part in, so far, in November. More to come!

Event Sustainability Live

The inaugural two day event at London Excel where we exhibited our Track and Impact solutions and also took part in no less than three panels:

Stakeholder engagement : why does it matter? – alongside Carina Jandt (Event Cycle), Jennie Mossman (Amplify) and Meg Strahle (The Bulb). We spoke about how to tailor your conversation with stakeholders, to emphasise that there is no excuse to ignore sustainability and to demonstrate how events people are leading this internally, not sustainability teams. Above all we agreed that the sustainable event community and environment is changing and is growing and highlighted that legislation is coming for larger organisations.

“Don’t just do the wrong thing a little bit better, do the right thing”.

Matt Grey, event:decision

The next frontier in event food sustainability – with Jenner Carter and Jo Austin (Lime Venues Portfolio), where we discussed how chefs’ roles have changed to include sustainability, not just producing delicious good looking food. Yes, we acknowledged, food makes up a small proportion of an event’s overall carbon footprint, but it is one of most commented on and visible elements. Huge advances have been made in identifying and working with local and seasonal products but more education is needed.

“If you want to work in sustainability, you can.

If you want to make the world and the society a better place, you can.

Where better to do this, than both at the same time. In events”.

Matt Grey, event:decision

Where to start in ESG – this was a session where we broke apart each element of the E, S and G illustrating the importance of each and showing how to measure it.

You can explore the deck here. The audience wanted to know “How do we engage senior stakeholders who may not be interested?” Thoughts: leaders should be aware of the changing role of business in relation to a. environment and b. society. This is a fundamental change in the role of business. Business is the key driver in transformation, all businesses have innovation, more resources and a LOT more to gain than individuals or government.

Reimagine ‘Events as a Force for Good’

Hosted by the forward-thinking team at emc3, this event was a real highlight for us. It brought together a community of change-makers to talk about how we can harness the power of events, experiences, and campaigns to create strategic, sustainable change. We were invited to join a panel with Josh King, Lisa Sweeting (Green Sense Events) and Danielle Ward (reWARD Events) to discuss using events to create a wider positive impact.

We looked at not just the carbon emissions associated with events, but the societal benefits you can bring to your event with your value chain. Everything we discussed aligned perfectly with evet:decision’s tool Impact – the ONLY ESG tool for event planners.

“What you can’t measure tends to get overlooked.”

Matt Grey, event:decision

It was a brilliant day. The energy was tremendous, the varied and engaging panel sessions and breakouts were inspiring. The day even ended with a customised song.…

🎶 It’s about improvement, not perfection, embracing flaws and real connection, experiences we can enjoy together, and creating a sustainable future forever. 🎶

Sam McNeill, SongDivision

Thanks, as always, Sam!

If you’d like to find out more about how we could measure and advise on your event ESG goals, including its carbon footprint and its social impact get in touch.

Introducing Shawna McKinley

Our event sustainability heroes series is all about introducing you to the people behind the drive to transition the event sector to a more sustainable future. We’re chatting to them about their own sustainability habits to see what tips and tricks they can share. Next up our series we’re delighted to introduce Shawna McKinley from Clear Current Consulting.

Q: How did you first become interested in sustainability?

“I wasn’t exposed to the idea of sustainability until I went to university. But knowing what I know about the concept now, I can see growing up ‘out in the sticks’, as my Dad called it, is what awakened my consciousness about it. Being one of a family of six living on a seasonal well, I learned very young that you could run out of water for a few months of the year. And fuel for heating was something you had to stretch through the winter. So, in a way, I was learning about how to manage environmental resource budgets at, well, five!”

Q: What sustainable habits are important to you?

“Transportation is my bugbear. One of the reasons I love the city I live in is that I can get anywhere on public transit. It’s easy, fast, clean, safe, affordable and integrated. Plus who can argue with not having to fight traffic and find parking? That said, I live in a country that has really under-invested in long-distance rail travel in recent decades. I’m envious of those regions where travellers can choose the train. I want to train-brag!”

Q: Have you any tips or tricks for living a more sustainable lifestyle that you’d recommend for others?

“I have a lot of hacks but honestly: learning to be content is the main thing I focus on. We get so many signals from so many channels that we need this, should buy that, have to go there. It’s constant! And while some things are worth doing and having, simply slowing down to ask if it is necessary or makes me happy helps me better spot hype, and take a pass on what I don’t need that doesn’t fulfil me.”

Q: Are there any new areas of focus you might have for your sustainable habits looking forward to 2024?

“I’ve been learning a lot recently about the Inner Development Goals. The IDG are the skills and qualities that help people lead purposeful, sustainable and productive lives. My learning is making me curious about how events can be harnessed to cultivate ideas that are central to the IDGs, like optimism, humility, trust and perseverance. It seems like a critical role we can play in the times we’re living in. Those are the kind of events and communities I am keen to engage in, and create.”

Thanks to Shawna for kindly chatting with us for our event sustainability heroes series. if any of you would like to find out more about how we could work with you to achieve all your event ESG goals, get in touch.

How is Event Sustainability Progressing?