Eco Events

Taken from my article in The Green Paper on pages 8 and 9. Click here to see the full edition in pdf format.

In my experience there is as much confusion as to how to implement sustainability within your business as there is on the actual definition of the word. Misnomers abound, such as the belief that so called green events will be more expensive, or that being eco is a fad which will just go away in time. But whatever we feel about the subject, the fact is that the environment is here to stay. Synonymous with the economic climate it is, without doubt, the other global challenge that businesses today face. My best advice is to get in the water with it now – so that you are swimming when others are waiting for legislation to get them wet!

Sustainability is about better business practice. Doing what you do in the knowledge you are doing it better – economically, socially and environmentally. It is about turning the surge of interest in green issues to your advantage and securing significant savings through smarter use of energy, water and materials.

The evidence strongly suggests that this is best achieved through the installation of a management system like BS 8901. In its simplest form, BS 8901 is a mechanism for transferring information within your organisation so that you are in a position to make strategic business decisions based on instructive analyses. This enables you to be pro-active, tailoring your approach to specific requirements and managing your strategies and communications in ways that encourage participation. A management approach also allows for research and development as well as performance-driven objectives – and given that we are at the ‘edge of knowledge’ with  environmental issues, this is not only desirable but necessary!

The first step in the process is to get a clear idea of the aspects and associated impacts of your activities, products or services (remember you are aiming to manage the aspects so you control the impacts, not the other way round). This is known as benchmarking your ‘base year’ through an Initial Review. From this it will be possible to write a meaningful policy, develop objectives, targets and KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) for each aspect so that progress can be measured and benefits realised as part of a continuous model of improvement. Your policy needs to match the results of your Initial Review, which in turn needs to be congruent with your objectives, internal training procedures and data-capturing techniques. Any omissions could lead to faulty decision making and will be flagged up by an external assessor should you be applying for BS 8901 certification.

Whether you are a venue, event client, organiser or supplier, there are a few options available for working towards BS 8901 compliance. The first and most cost effective is to assign a member of your team (preferably a volunteer) who is responsible for overseeing the project, attending workshops and seeking outside specialist support as necessary. The second is to hire the services of a consultant who can work as an integral part of your team and manage the implementation and progress of the system. The third would be to employ an events management company who can implement BS 8901 as part of the life-cycle of the event.