The IMEX Group is inviting organisations to share their sustainable stories and submit their best, most exciting innovations for the IMEX-EIC Innovation in Sustainability Award, presented at IMEX in Frankfurt, 12 – 14 May 2020.
Sustainable innovation is now gaining momentum in the events sector. Take Rotterdam – the city has several unique and sustainable venues, including the solar-powered Floating Pavilion and the Floating Farm, a working dairy farm. Hotels are rethinking design in order to connect guests more closely with nature – Singapore’s PARKROYAL on Pickering is nicknamed the ‘jungle hotel’ because it’s designed as a high-rise garden, with plants cascading from exterior and interior walls. Even event giveaways – traditionally single use plastic products – have morphed into healthy and biodegrable branded fruit.
IMEX is harnessing and celebrating this wide spectrum of innovation with the IMEX-EIC Innovation in Sustainability Award. Organisations making a significant commitment to reduce the environmental impact of their meetings and events are invited to apply for the Award, presented at IMEX in Frankfurt, to see that effort recognized and rewarded.
Last year’s winner, Global Climate Action Summit, was recognized for their commitment to reducing the environmental impact of their event and building a legacy of venue sustainability, throughout the host city of San Francisco, USA. The summit put forward a range of bold new commitments across five climate action areas, serving as a launch pad for deeper worldwide commitments and helping to realize key tenets of the Paris Agreement. Want to know more?
Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group, explains: “Sustainability is the watchword of our times – it’s a topic we’re exploring through our Nature Talking Point over the next two years – and it features high on the list of planner requirements for an event. How can I reduce the carbon footprint of my event? How can I reuse or recycle food and other materials? These are the questions many event professionals are now rightly asking their suppliers and it’s innovation that, in many cases, delivers the answers. We want to showcase successes in this area and share best practice within the business events sector.”
