AIPC
Convention centres as strategic assets and partners in urban resilience
AIPC CEO SVEN BOSSU OFFERS INSIGHT INTO HOW CENTRES ARE INTEGRATING SUPPORT FOR SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES INTO EVERYDAY OPERATIONS
T oday’ s venues create value
whether an event is taking place or not. They support jobs, strengthen local businesses, improve environmental outcomes and provide resources to surrounding communities – not simply meeting space. At Javits Center in New York, this mission is integrated into everyday operations rather than treated as a standalone sustainability initiative.
At the 2026 AIPC Annual Conference, we had the pleasure of having Joyce Leveston, the CEO of the Javits Center, as a speaker on how convention centres can elevate local communities and vice versa. Obviously, the Javits is not the only convention centre actively working on this – Cape Town ICC is another great example – but both the depth and width of actions taken are remarkable. Let me give a number of examples.
These – together with the leftover food from events – are donated to schools, community centres, low income families, domestic violence survivors and more. Just to give you an idea of the size of the effort: between January 2025 and March 2026, 121 tons of food was donated.
Waste is another common challenge for the AIPC community, both from a sustainability and financial point of view. Almost all AIPC members have programmes and processes in place, allowing to reduce waste as much as possible. Here again, the Javits has pushed a bit further, by emphasising circular economy practices. Organic waste for example is converted into bioslurry that powers residential and commercial buildings. Kitchen grease is
Above: Sven Bossu recycled into Sustainable Aviation Fuel. And soft plastics are transformed into composite decking materials.
Economic impact And finally, there is the notion of economic impact of convention centres. Next to visitor spending, there is also the creation of jobs – the Javits supports approximately 3,000 jobs on campus. The trends towards local sourcing – something seen worldwide – also extends the local economic impact. And in addition to this, the Javits also seeks to create opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses.
The story brought by Leveston is indeed an inspiring one, both for the AIPC community and for future generations of event professionals. While not all the actions and policy put in place can be“ copy / pasted”, the true inspiration comes from the fact these actions are not a separate“ sustainability programme”. They are embedded in day-to-day operations, making it the responsibility of every staff member to deliver impact on a continuous basis and turning the venue into a strategic community asset. n Community partnership Like many convention centres, the Javits is reducing its dependency on the energy grid by installing solar panels and battery energy storage. That has been done to such a level that the venue is part of the New York’ s City Demand Response programme, stabilising New York City’ s electrical grid during periods of peak demand by temporarily operating off-grid – demonstrating how large venues can become partners in urban resilience.
Addressing food insecurity is also a big topic for Leveston and her team. The one-acre rooftop farm produces over 60 varieties of crops and despite careful planning, there are sometimes leftovers.
ISSUE 144 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / 13