Sustainability Leaders to Meet Prior to IMEX

Attendees at 2017′s IMEX Frankfort.

The Events Industry Council is calling together leaders in the event and tourism industry for the first ever Sustainable Event Standards Industry Forum to be held on Monday, May 14, 2018 in Frankfurt, Germany, prior to start of the IMEX Frankfurt show.

The concept of the forum is to bring together global organizations that have sustainable criteria or standards relating to the events or tourism industry to explore ways to collaborate.  Preliminary comparisons show commonality among many of the standards.

The anticipated outcome of this forum is to reach an agreement about how to best support the existing criteria, find areas of commonality among them and potentially combine those common criteria into one mutually supported form that could exist in each standard and globally accepted.  Additionally, the forum will address how to gain more industry adoption of sustainable event practices.

Organizations invited to this forum have produced some type of sustainable event practices or standards with varying degrees of adoption, as well as individuals who are stakeholders or have an interest in event sustainability goals. Those organizations include the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat, Global Sustainable Tourism Council, UFI, World Wildlife Fund and the Events Industry Council.  This will be the first time these organizations have come together to explore ways to mutually support sustainable practices in the events industry.

This by invitation only forum is made possible through sponsorship from the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, the SMG Salt Lake Green Team (Salt Palace Convention Center, Mountain America Expo Center, Visit Salt Lake, Utah Food Services, PSAV) and the Events Industry Council. To inquire about participation or for more information, please email Mariela McIlwraith.