Tech
We aimed to provide every
event with a clear path of
what they should be looking
to achieve, allowing them to
track their progress, share
stories of best practice and
see how they compare across
the company.
Our aim is for all of our
events to score themselves
on the Fundamentals in the
next show cycle, and achieve
the 12 Fundamentals within
the next two event cycles.
And from there, the
sky’s the limit. These are
fundamentals in name and
concept, and we hope they
further embed sustainability
into our teams’ processes
and enable our events to go
even further in the future.
We definitely want as
many events as possible
to go further than the
Fundamentals as we
think there are far more
opportunities to engage with
our customers, develop new
revenue streams, save money
and create engaging content
from this agenda.
How is this being rolled out
across Informa?
Our senior leadership teams
got involved in the initial
launch. They set the ball
rolling by explaining and
endorsing the Fundamentals
and encouraging all event
teams to embed them into
their event processes.
To spread awareness and
understanding across the
company, we have had a wide
array of communications
including videos, webinars,
guidance documents, town
halls, training days, team
presentations, internal news
articles, and league tables of
our events scores. A little bit
64 — February
of competition always helps!
We have developed a
library of resources for
teams to utilise - from
guidance documents on what
to consider when procuring
items for the event, to
templates they can use for
onsite signage, to lists of
examples and best practice
from across the company to
help spread innovation.
Each of our regions
and businesses are then
adapting what they do
to suit their situations.
Some are embedding their
Fundamentals score into
post-event KPI reports,
while others are setting up
champion networks and
focus groups, incorporating
them into objectives
structures, or even making it
part of their bonuses in some
teams.
What impact could these
measures have?
Right from the beginning,
our event teams fed back
how excited they were to
have a system that was clear,
simple and allowed them to
take action.
Through the achievement
of the Fundamentals, we
believe our events will:
» Increase their engagement
with the markets
they serve, to help
provide a platform for
sharing knowledge and
collaboration across the
industry.
» Engage even better with
our attendees, exhibitors
and supply chains around
what actions they can take
to contribute to the events
sustainability.
» Reduce our events’
carbon impact through
increased energy efficiency,
reduced waste and careful
procurement.
» Create an even more
positive impact on the local
community around each
event.
» Find a new source of
innovation and creativity as
our events look at ways of
delivering better events.
After only five months
since launching, around 60
of our events have submitted
their Fundamentals score
for 2019, spreading from
Vancouver, to Amsterdam,
Cairo to Shanghai. We also
already have over 300 of our
events already working on
the Fundamentals ready for
their 2020 event.
Overall, across the
business, delivering events
more sustainably (including
through the Fundamentals)
has been a cost positive
programme.
By creating this framework,
we have allowed large scale
action to be taken, which
is succeeding in creating
a consistent baseline of
sustainability.
But the Fundamentals are
not only helping accelerate
Informa’s sustainability.
These criteria are leading
to a shift in the wider
events industry, as we work
with organisations such
as the AEO to adapt our
Fundamentals framework
to be used across their
organiser, contractor and
venue network.
We really hope that the
Fundamentals, within
Informa and the wider
industry, have the potential
to help shift the needle in
the industry’s sustainability
performance.
Procurement
7. At least three
items secured for
the event must
have enhanced
sustainability
credentials
8. There must be three
ways in which the
sustainability of
food and beverage
waste has been
enhanced
Community and wellbeing
9. Each event should
have at least two
initiatives that
support the local
community around
the event
10. The event must
have three initiatives
which enhance
wellbeing, equality,
accessibility and
respect
Governance
11. All events must
be compliant with
Informa’s health and
safety guidelines
12. All sustainability
data to be
submitted within six
weeks of the event