Earlier this year, the Events Industry Council released six new supplier standards for sustainable events for public commentary. Major changes have been made to increase their ease of use, strengthen social responsibility considerations and recognize innovation and exemplary performance. These standards will replace the APEX/ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Meeting Standards.
More than 100 of the industry’s leading practitioners contributed to the development of the new standards, which have been purposefully designed to increase sustainable practices across the events industry. The public commentary phase is an important milestone in launching standards that can be implemented around the world.
“Throughout the process of revising the standards, we focused on making them globally relevant. In addition to having volunteers from 15 different countries participating in the revisions, we designed the requirements to focus on environmental and social outcomes, rather than country-specific regulations and programs. Most importantly, they have been streamlined with clear compliance levels that are actionable and trackable,” said Mariela McIlwraith, CMP, Director of Industry Advancement for the Events Industry Council.
Current categories include accommodations, audio visual and production, destinations, exhibitions, food and beverage and venues. A new event organizer standard is also being developed.
Chance Thompson, Chair of the Events Industry Council Sustainable Events Standards Committee, adds, “We are thrilled to share the first phase of industry comment for the new Events Industry Council Sustainable Event Standards. We encourage everyone in the industry to jump in with thoughts, comments and questions. The ultimate goal is for our industry to use these standards to make events more sustainable, which will help build a better future.”
The Events Industry Council’s more than 30 member organizations represent over 103,500 individuals and 19,500 firms and properties involved in the events industry. The Events Industry Council’s vision is to be the global champion for event professionals and event industry excellence. Learn more online at eventscouncil.org.
