Home PARTNER STORIES PARTNER NEWS Esteemed international event’s carbon footprint calculated in Cankarjev dom

Esteemed international event’s carbon footprint calculated in Cankarjev dom

IAPCO’s AM &GA received a certificate according to the Planet Positive Event methodology

Apr 29, 2024

iapco_cankarjev_dom — Photo: Marko Delbello Ocepek

Certified sustainable event

Cankarjev dom has been an active member of IAPCO (the International Association of Professional Congress Organisers) for several years. In 2024, they helped the association organise the 57th Annual Meeting & General Assembly. The event took place between 28 February and 2 March 2024 in Ljubljana and other destinations across Slovenia.

The organisers aimed to create an event as sustainably as possible. That is why they prepared a Green Pledge at the start of 2023, aspiring to reduce their carbon footprint according to the 7R model »Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Refuse, Recreate, Regenerate«. They invited key stakeholders, partners, suppliers and employees to cooperate in the initiative.

Can an international event be carbon-neutral?

From 16 sustainable criteria of Planet Positive Event, they selected 14 criteria: mobility, project management, communication, event venue, purchasing and ordering, food and beverage, multimedia equipment and production, hotel accommodation, social responsibility, natural environment, energy, waste, water and regenerative effects. They were aided by numerous recommendations offered by the tool in the certification process. With the help of unique forms, they collected data from partners and subcontractors needed to calculate the carbon footprint. The final sustainability rating of the certification amounted to 3.62 out of 5.00.

The final sustainability rating shows how successful we are in creating regenerative events. Every step counts on the path to events sustainable to the environment, society and attendees.

The result of measuring carbon footprint has shown that the four-day event convening 150 attendees generated 441,536.19 kilogrammes of CO2. Attendees spent most of their time in Ljubljana but also visited Bled and Postojnska jama. As expected, mobility generated the greatest part of the carbon footprint. Most international attendees, some from other continents, came to the event by plane. That is why the percentage of mobility in the overall carbon footprint is as high as 90.63%. Energy comes second (5.09%), followed by hotel accommodation (1.87%) and event production (1.20%). The calculation will serve as a positive encouragement for future sustainable aspirations and a benchmark to compare with other events. The concept of “what we can measure, we can improve” still stands true.

Can an international event be carbon-neutral, considering the inevitably high percentage of CO2 generated by mobility? It certainly cannot be carbon-neutral; however, the organisers measured the event’s regenerative effects with the help of an SDG matrix. Every expert event fosters knowledge exchange and acts as a catalyst for innovation, thus contributing to the development of the local community and society.

Maja Vidergar, the Green Team Project Manager for IAPCO 2024, concluded: “I am proud to share our experience with the 54th IAPCO Annual Meeting and General Assembly, which focused on sustainability in reducing negative environmental impacts that any gathering may have. As the official PCO of the event, Cankarjev dom aimed to plan and execute the meeting in the most environmentally friendly manner possible without compromising the attendees’ experience. We were keen not to diminish the possibilities offered by modern technology for knowledge transfer and key messaging. With awareness and the expertise gained over our 44 years of operation as a professional congress organiser, we undertook the implementation.”

“Despite careful planning on paper, we were interested in assessing how successful we were in integrating sustainability principles into the execution. Therefore, we sought a suitable tool to measure the impacts that IAPCO 2024 had on the environment and society. We decided on an evaluation using the Planet Positive Events methodology. We were pleased to test this effective tool, which combines ESRS Standards and Carbon Footprint Measurement, providing valuable insights and recommendations for organising events sustainably.”

“Our experiences have been very positive, and we are delighted to have tangible and quantitative data in the form of a written report. We shared the findings with the IAPCO association, and I believe that starting from the event in Ljubljana, every new IAPCO gathering will bring improvements. Event organisers now have a powerful tool to create more environmentally friendly, socially responsible, and economically viable events.”

Why Planet Positive Event?

The tool encourages and enables event organisers to make a sustainable transformation. Many companies who entrust event agencies to organise their events have been obliged to write sustainability reports since 1 January 2024 in line with the CSRD Directive (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) and the ESRS Standards. There are over 50,000 companies that fall into this category. Event organisers will soon have to provide these companies with concrete data, define and identify value chains and integrate all acquired information into a holistic system of sustainability reports. The tool stands out on the market thanks to trustworthy national and international external assessors. They include leading experts in sustainability in Slovenia. The external assessment is conducted in accordance with Planet Positive Event’s Quality Manual, which defines the organisation of the process and external assessment. The external assessors guarantee the credibility of the final sustainability rating.

Learn more about the tool here.