As a meeting organizer, you can make choices that further improve the meeting from a sustainability perspective. Here, we provide you with our best tips!
Start here!
1. Think of how you are going to measure sustainability at the beginning of planning – name a person as
responsible for sustainability in your planning group.
2. Engage and involve! Co-workers, suppliers, exhibitors, partners etc.
3. Dare to ask questions and benchmark – how are others working with sustainability?
4. Measure, report, evaluate.
5. Inspire others – dare to share your success stories as well as the things that did not go as planned.
6. Reconsider what your purposes are. How can your meeting leave a positive legacy and imprint – locally,
professionally, personally?
Transportation and travel
Umeå is strategically located in northern Sweden and is easy to travel to, in different ways.
Here are a couple of suggestions:
• Decide that all delegates are to travel by train. Book a group travel with Norrtåg or SJ – or why not charter an entire train with SJ.
• Fly one way, take the train the other way
• If you choose to travel by airplane, climate compensate with klimatkompensera.se or reduce your climate impact with Fly Green Fund . With climate compensation you are indirectly contributing to lowering your CO2-impact where the compensation can be planting trees. If you choose to climate reduce, the airplane is fueled by biofuel instead of fossil fuel.
Purchase and waste
• Plan purchases with the key words ‘minimize – reuse – recycle’ in mind. Find more help on
how to deliberate on purchases, waste and left-over material on VAKINs’
(Umeå’s local water and waste organization).
• Choose local, certified and ethically labeled products
• Choose local suppliers
• Instead of classic give-aways and gifts to lecturers, make a donation to charity. Here are some suggestions: Umeå Stadsmission (Umeå City Mission), Vän i Umeå (Friend in Umeå), Hjältarnas Hus (House of Heroes), Barnrättsbyrån (The Bureau for Childrens' Rights), Fatta!
• Ask your venue if you can donate your food waste and left over event materials
Food and beverages
• Make more meals vegetarian
• Ask for seasonal and local food. Make demands when it comes to ethical and ecological certifications.
• Communicate what you are serving – what are the food and beverages origin?
• Serve tap water (still or sparkling, most restaurants can offer both) instead of bottled water.
Sweden has one of the world’s best and cleanest tap water – take the chance to drink it!
Another way is to choose a “Kranmärkt” venue or to make the meeting
“Kranmärkt” – read more about it here.
• Provide information on contents of the food to simplify and assure your delegates what they are eating
• Choose Fairtrade- or ethical labeled products when it, for example, comes to: coffee, tea, chocolate,
bananas etc. Make demands on the venue!
Open, welcoming and accessible
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Plan your meeting according to generally accepted accessibility criteria, so that everyone can participate regardless of function variation.
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Communicate accessibility as soon as possible, preferably in the invitation.
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Actively strive and work for equality in the conference program and having both women and men in panel sessions in panel sessions.
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Activate delegates in charity events and collections for local society- or environment organizations.
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Share important knowledge from your meeting and engage in accessible activities with local organizations.
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Collaborate with a nonprofit organization.
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Offer digital participation to those who are unable to travel to the meeting.
Do you have any questions or do you want help with how to take on these tips above? Visit Umeå offers support and guidance to help you make your meetings more sustainable! Don't hesitate to contact us!