We are happy to start the series of introducing the Destination Partners of the ecomice initiative at IMEX 22 in Frankfurt, with welcoming the Convention Office of the City of Berlin!
As capital of Germany, Berlin has a pioneering role when it comes to sustainability and the ambitions are correspondingly high – which is a good thing.
Berlin aims to be the most sustainable congress and event city. Period. A goal like this requires courage, a pioneering spirit, a lot of energy and, of course, openness to new solutions. Accordingly, the sustainability team of the Berlin Convention Office used the forced break in events during the pandemic to launch a whole package of new tools and ideas.
Kyra Reiter (in the picture) will present the sustainability strategy of the city of Berlin, the concept for sustainable events and the planning aids available, at the meeting with the ecomice explorers during IMEX in Frankfurt.
As a public event, Kyra will also present Berlin’s MICE toolkit and funding instruments (for the German market) in a dedicated campfire on Wednesday, June 1st at 10:30 – 11:00 a.m. at the Inspiration Hub, Hall 9. Don’t miss the discussion!
From ecomice side, we briefly present a summary of the existing options for more sustainability when planning events in Berlin:
The heart of the initiative is the Platform “Sustainable Meetings Berlin | Berlin Convention Office (visitberlin.de)”, which structures the different activities, stories, and tools.
A list of certified sustainable partners – 46 at presence – demonstrates that many stakeholders have joined forces here already. Agencies, venues, but also services like delivery and catering of regional products, equipment, guided tours – all of them focus on sustainable service and have taken serious steps to prove their focus here.
A sustainable event should always be an expression of a sustainable company policy and a CSR program – not a substitute for one. The participants of an event usually feel whether the efforts shown here are real or only serve to better self-presentation. Communicating the goals of an event and the connections with UN Agenda SDGs and corporate goals is crucial and creates transparency.
A very charming infographic presents 11 tips for sustainable event planning
For example, the main part of the emissions coming from an event – 70% of the total volume – is assigned to the arrival and departure. Since travelling to Berlin by train is quick and easy, the train should be used wherever possible. A comparison between different travel options makes the choice easy. After all, the fastest connection from Frankfurt Airport to Berlin is only about 4 hours – direct and convenient, with complimentary sightseeing of the landscapes flying by. A domestic flight is not really faster…
Another of the tips concerns the reduction of resources when working with sustainable and certified hotel partners. Water is a scarce commodity in Berlin and the surrounding area – saving water by reducing water consumption per guest is an important element of the necessary local water structures.
Measures do not only include the water used directly for showers, cleaning, toilets, etc., but also the indirect consumption through food, pool, garden maintenance, etc. There are many ways to communicate the measures taken to guests and to draw attention to existing bottlenecks.
Berlin is also called the capital of Urban Gardening – different projects can be supported for catering purpose, but also to visit, learn and copy them at home. Why not offer an urban gardening tour on bicycles, preparing and tasting plant-based food and then initiate the typical urban “raised bed shelf” back home as a joint team project. For example to care and learn about herbs and their usefulness for food and health….
A professional super tool and the highlight of available planning aids is Berlin’s “Sustainable Event Guidelines”
It allows individual evaluation of all steps to take around planning of an event and can be ticked and filled in through the interactive pdf. The guideline is thoroughly built, with every angle of event-organizing covered and sources given.
Kyra will present the capital’s visions at IMEX and what will be the next projects. Also, Kyra will bring best practise examples for application of the “Sustainable Events Guidelines Berlin”.
Being a young and liberal city, Berlin has a huge pool of possible narratives in its very own DNA, which are usable to attract big and small events to the German capital.
If you want to discuss about planning a sustainable event in Berlin – make an appointment with Kyra Reiter of the Berlin Convention Office at Stand
F 100-10!
Follow ecomice on LinkedIn and join our movement to make the meetings industry a leading voice for sustainable improvements.
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ecomice is a consultancy and PR / marketing unit for sustainable legacy and supply chains in destinations.
It is an initiative of tmf dialogue.
Travelling today means to reduce negative impact as much as possible and to take responsibility for the destination. Our collaborative business model integrates all stakeholders to jointly follow the sustainable goals of the UN Agenda. We support building legacy projects (environmental and societal) and creating new programs. Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/ecomice
Thanks so much for your interest and support in showing the industry that we can be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
