The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has published a new standard to support the organisers of meetings and events in integrating sustainability with their activities.
ISO 20121:2012, Event sustainability management systems – Requirements with guidance for use, the Geneva-based ISO Secretariat claims, is suitable for all members of the supply chain and for ensuring that events, ranging from local celebrations to ‘mega events’ such as the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, leave behind a positive legacy.
Conferences, sporting events, exhibitions and festivals can offer a wide range of public, local community and economic benefits. However, staging an event can also generate negative economic, environmental and social impacts, such as material waste, energy consumption and strains on local communities. ISO 20121, its sponsors claim, provides the framework for identifying the potentially negative social, economic and environmental impacts of events by removing or reducing them, and capitalising on more positive impacts through improved planning and processes.
The Head of Sustainability at LOCOG, David Stubbs, says: “London 2012 is proud to have been the catalyst for ISO 20121. This is a piece of legacy with the potential to transform how events around the world consider their economic, environmental and social impacts.”
The new standard takes the management systems approach familiar to thousands of organisations worldwide through the success of standards such as ISO 9001 (quality management) and ISO 14001 (environmental management).
More than 30 countries and liaison bodies participated in the work to create ISO 20121. Fiona Pelham chaired the ISO team of experts who developed ISO 20121, and adds: “The development process has been led by members of the event industry from around the world who have experience of event management and sustainability leadership initiatives.”
Pelham identifies ‘Best business practice’ and ‘Reputational advantage’ among the new ISO’s key benefits.
“It makes sense to take an organised, processed approach to managing economic, environmental and social impacts. In addition, what gets monitored and measured gets reduced, so there are likely to be lower overheads. Using a recognised international framework will enable leaders in sustainability to demonstrate their actions in a credible and transparent way,” Pelham adds.
ISO has a global membership of 164 national standards bodies.
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