Sustainable Event Management

Sustainable development is on the agenda as never before, and related services have rarely been in greater demand. Climate change has opened up new markets and demanded a response to the threat of an uncertain future. Since the early nineties, many construction industry projects have been required to, or have volunteered to, undergo environmental assessment such as BREEAM, Ecohomes and more recently the Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH). The use of these assessments is now becoming more widespread and the Government is now considering that the Code for Sustainable Homes becomes mandatory for all new housing projects in the future.
Beyond the built environment, business sectors that have previously existed under the sustainability radar have been faced with the need to take responsibility for their environmental and social impacts. Clients and the general public demand greater accountability and transparency, with higher brand value being attributed to sustainable products and services, while the threat of future legislation and increasing taxes are powerful stimulants to change.
The events industry is one sector that is hoping that its voluntary movement towards sustainability will deter onerous legislation. November 2007 has seen the launch of a new British Standard, BS 8901 – “Sustainable Event Management System, Specification with Guidance for use”. This document is the first in a series of daughter standards emanating from BS 8900 – “Guidance for managing sustainable development” which sets out generic sustainability principles.
The UK Government understands that while the events industry generates billions of pounds of revenue per annum, it also produces substantial sustainability impacts. Producing an exhibition can be the equivalent of building a village, then tearing it down three days later. The process can be highly energy-intensive and resource-hungry.
Events are unique in that they not only are they extremely diverse, they also exist beyond their specific industry – a lighting supplier can hold an event, as can a design company. Indeed, events are increasingly used as part of an organisation’s brand experience. It is therefore important that they should be assessed in relation to their impacts alongside other more permanent developments.
The BS 8901 document has been developed for the British Standards Institution (BSI) by Arup’s Sustainable Business Management team, in partnership with the trade body Events Industry Alliance (EIA). The standard set out guidance for the sustainable management of events. It is applicable to all types of events, large and small, from rock concerts and sporting events to theatre performances, conferences, one-off parties and trade shows etc.
As with the environmental / sustainability assessment mechanisms for buildings, this type of assessment is likely to become an integral, if not a mandatory, part of event production and management. It will not only help to ensure the sustainable management of events and supplier activities relating to events, but it should also add value through the introduction of a more considered design approach. The standard is a management system, which means that sustainability will be embedded into an organisation’s activities, rather than being an ‘add-on’ tick-box exercise.
Arup was commissioned by the BSI to help facilitate the production of the new standard due to their substantial experience in sustainability and their proposal to work with the EIA to ensure extensive stakeholder engagement. Arup’s Sustainable Business Management Team also has market-leading experience in the field of sustainable event management, which links closely to Arup’s overall sustainability ethos: their founder, Ove Arup, talked about the importance of environmental and social issues sixty years ago in his Key Speech – long before the term ‘sustainability’ had been coined.
BS 8901 took several months to develop inclusive of time for consultation with the events industry, which were largely very supportive of its development. Many leading event producers, organisers and suppliers (including venues) felt that the use of such a standard would give them a global marketing advantage while helping them to achieve the status that they are seeking as an independent sector of industry.
Inspired by the launch of BS 8901, the organisers of the Switched On London festival of light are undertaking an energy / sustainability assessment as part of the 2008 event. The aim of this assessment is to gain an understanding of the impact that the event has in terms of energy and CO2 emissions and to provide a basic benchmark so as to run a more sustainable event in the future, demonstrating continuous improvement – a key component of BS 8901 and an important concept in sustainable development.

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