How can you build trust with clients concerned about the environmental impact of your event?

It's useful to understand the sustainability goals of the client, and I think it's also important to discuss how they want to be perceived by their audience, and what sort of role they want to play in modelling sustainable behaviour in their community, and how best to do this. Do they want to nudge their audience and prompt positive thought and discussion that may lead to action? Do they want to shock their audience? Do they want to talk about their sustainability journey? And importantly, to what extent do they want to engage and involve their audience in their vision for a hopeful, sustainable future?

Don't offer water in plastic bottles or coffee from machines which use non-recyclable plastic pods (both available at a sustainability event I recently attended!)

Go plant based or vegetarian. Lots of events already do this it's not the big deal some people think it is! Manage food waste by monitoring attendance numbers closely and arranging somewhere to donate leftover food to before the event. Or offer doggy bags!

Comunica de manera transparente las prácticas ambientales que implementarás, destacando iniciativas como la reducción de residuos, el uso de materiales reciclables y la eficiencia energética. Proporciona información clara sobre cómo minimizarás el impacto ambiental del evento y considera la posibilidad de obtener certificaciones o reconocimientos de sostenibilidad. Además, brinda espacio para el diálogo abierto, permitiendo que los clientes expresen sus preocupaciones y sugerencias, mostrando así tu disposición a mejorar continuamente.

Check the details of suppliers claims and supply chains - face value won’t always give the detail that lurks under the surface. Also worth considering the mileage that the supply chain has incurred to get to your event.

Choose suppliers carefully based on their sustainability goals and track record. And go beyond the obvious: food is key, plastic is key, waste is key, travel is key, regional and organic are key, AND so are the people who work in the company, make the food, serve participants, interact with guests. Make sure that suppliers' sustainability approach aligns with your vision to avoid sending out mixed messages.

How and what you communicate depends on your goals. If one of those goals is to engage and involve participants in your vision, and embed sustainable thinking and action more widely, then it's wise to not only talk about how great YOU are, but also what you have achieved with the help of your suppliers, employees and attendees. Make attendees feel part of your sustainable action. Give them an opportunity to not only feel that they have contributed, but also the chance to think, "Huh, that wasn't so hard!" This way, you can create a ripple effect that starts with you.

Apply ISO 20121 standard, our very own ISO standard created for the London 2012 Olympic games.It grants a framework for a truly sustainable event instead of singular actions and gives you tools to measure the improvement of your future actions.

Again, depending on your goals, a "lessons learned" communication to different stakeholders, including participants, might be interesting. > What worked? > What didn't? > What could you do better? Sharing key learnings can show that sustainability and creating sustainable events is a process, and allowing everyone to learn with you can position you as a pioneer: imperfect, but striving to do better, and equipping others with your learning so that they can do the same. It's a generous approach, as well as something that aids transparency and accountability.

Travel will be one of the biggest impacts so consider this first. Is the venue easy to reach by train? Can people car share? Can they get home confidently on public transport? If not, they'll all drive and you're efforts to reduce impact will be in vain.

Event footprint - how are you going to monitor it and communicate it? Can you get this data from the supply chain, if not, can you help them with this data?

Is the event necessary? And does it have to be an all-singing, all-dancing event that requires people to fly and drive from across the globe, generating emissions, waste and more along the way? Travel and waste are significant impacts of large events. Is there a way to reduce this by offering hybrid options, or regional hub events, or even alternating between an online-only event one year, followed by an in-person+hybrid event the next? My challenge to you would be this: can you create more opportunities for online events that are really useful by making them as brilliant - or better! - than the in-person option?