AVIADEV'S SUSTAINABILITY CHARTER

I have toyed with publishing this post for some weeks, so here goes.

To address the elephant in the room, I understand that AviaDev Africa is an aviation conference and our aim is to improve air connectivity, which means more flights.

However, Africa is a huge continent, landlocked and with very few alternative modes of transport to move around. An improved aviation sector will unlock trade, create jobs for the most youthful population on this planet and so much more

Additionally, across the globe, aviation is doing more than most to reduce its impact on the environment, which today stands at 2-3% of global CO2 emissions. Investments are being made in alternative fuels and aircraft technology continues to evolve.

Specifically, AviaDev Africa brings 300 stakeholders together for a 3 day period and delivers over 500 pre-arranged business meetings and thousands of informal meetings. Therefore, the event acts as an efficient and highly productive forum to do business. Much of the post-event communication can be done via digital means.

I challenge anyone who has spent the last 2 years toiling away at a laptop and screen for hours on end (like me) to tell me that they have built meaningful relationships. We are human beings and we were born to interact with one another and build relationships through shared experience.

Put simply, AviaDev Africa is a community and serving the community is at the heart of everything that we do.

So how does AviaDev aim to maximise its impact on the local community, whilst also minimising its impact on the environment?

Here are some examples for next week's event:

Recycled and recyclable delegate badges. Our delegates will be provided with clip-on badges made from recycled material that will be recycled again at the end of the event

Local labour. Our Staging and audio visual teams come from Cape Town, as does our photographer and videographer, maximizing our impact on the local economy. We also have 300 delegates staying in the local hotels and spending money in restaurants, shops all during the week in the low season for Cape Town.

Reusable delegate bags. We are not offering our delegates poorly made, imported bags, but have invested in a reusable shopping bag to be taken away by our delegates (also made from recycled materials)

Minimised stand building. Our attending exhibitors bring a simple background wall or pop-up banner that is portable and can be reused at other events. AviaDev is about the meetings, not the vast expense and wastage of large stands.

Digital signage. We are lucky that our venue has invested in digital signage which removes the need to print and create large amounts of physical signage

VENUE INFORMATION

We are very lucky with our amazing venue. Century City was named proud winners of the?Sustainable Venue of the Year (Africa) Award during Global MICE Awards?in September 2019.

Their full sustainability document can be found here

Supporting local charities. Each year, we organise a run/walk in aid of a local charity and this year is no different. We are supporting the PSFA, https://www.psfa.org.za/ and will raise enough funds to support 200 learners affected by poverty, with a cooked nutritious breakfast and lunch every school day for an entire year

Outreach. Each year, we partner with a local Organisation to deliver a day of outreach activities. This year we are supporting the GFPA at their local camp.

Supporting the next generation. The AviaDev Ambassador programme was devised to offer aviation students and enthusiasts with the opportunity to gain real-world experience. The 3 winners of our competition will be flown to the event and be part of the AviaDev onsite team. Additionally, they will have the opportunity to address the industry from the stage, raising their profile and opening the door to new opportunities

Considering the delegate’s physical health. Our food offering is chosen to offer healthy alternatives and our morning run offers delegates the opportunity to exercise during the event

I am not writing this to humble brag about our efforts, as we know we can still do more, but to say that we don’t want to own these ideas.

Great ideas spread and we encourage other event organisers to consider the items and see if they can also make small improvements that can make a huge difference.

If you have any other ideas as to how we can improve, please let us know!