Planning a Standard for Sustainable Events.

2009-10-01

Jacques Blanchet, Ecoadvisor and Coordinator of Standards Development in Social Responsibility at the Bureau de normalisation du Québec (BNQ) believes that it is possible to reduce the environmental impact of the thousands of meetings, conventions, festivals and other events organized each year across Canada.

“These events can have a substantial impact on the environment,” says Blanchet, “the most obvious being the amount of waste and greenhouse gases that they produce.”
To tackle this challenge, BNQ has developed a standard geared towards helping organizations plan their events better. It will publish its standard for Responsible Event Management (BNQ 9700-253) in the fall of 2009, along with a certification protocol.

The standards development organization, accredited by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) to develop standards – has a clear goal: to simplify the organization of sustainable events and encourage event organizers to adopt more sustainable practices.

Blanchet says that despite organizers’ best intentions, sustainable event planning can be tricky to do today because of the various required procedures and applications from a variety of sources. These can prove to be more unwieldy in combination than the original challenge of staging an event. Standardization of best practices will offer a much needed “how-to” guide for event planners, says Blanchet.

“The Responsible Event Management standard will give organizers a way to reduce an event’s environmental impact and increase its positive return on a social, economic and environmental level,” Blanchet says.

The objectives of the standard are focused on sustainability training for event managers, reduction of event environmental impact through better energy and waste management practices, and the development of long-term management habits based on sustainable development principles. It also aims to promote responsible consumption, to stimulate local benefits, to share existing expertise, and to develop knowledge of eco-responsible event planning.

BNQ has already put the criteria of the standard to the test. In May, 2009, it organized the About ISO 26000 conference and hosted, in collaboration with SCC, the seventh ISO Social Responsibility Plenary Meeting in Quebec City, using responsible event management “zero waste – zero carbon” practices.

Caroline Voyer, general manager of Quebec’s Réseau des femmes en environnement (RQFE), says that for her organization the practice of sustainable event management begins at the first step of planning events: most meetings are conducted through teleconferencing or videoconferencing; all suppliers are selected based on sustainable development criteria, and no print materials are distributed at meetings, but rather information is disseminated electronically.

During the event, the program builds on the planning experience: no delegate kits; a minimum amount of printed information; a reduction in disposable (one-use) materials; optimal use of permanent infrastructures; and data gathering on means of transportation and distances travelled by participants and users.

The program works with a series of benchmarks, checks and balances – and standards.
Voyer says the goal of the initiative is to facilitate and encourage event planning that focuses on eco-responsibility. To this end, it is hoped that the standard will be an incentive to encourage organizations to adopt practices that are more environmentally sustainable. By following the standard, organizations can both reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions.

The standard, Voyer says, will help raise the bar for what is expected of event planners. Awareness efforts and training can only go so far, she says. A standard will enable officials to set benchmarks. Equally important, it will encourage organizations to share and grow their knowledge of sustainable event planning.

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This article first appeared in Volume 36 of CONSENSUS Magazine, 2009.  The information it contains was accurate at the time of publication but has not been updated or revised since, and may not reflect the latest updates on the topic.  If you have specific questions or concerns about the content, please contact the Standards Council of Canada.

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