… that’s why we have the Sustainable Meetings Berlin initiative
Not only has some time passed since our last blog post! A lot has happened in the meantime. Sustainability is becoming more and more important, and more and more companies have to report what they are doing to achieve it. Sustainability is demanded by customers, employees, investors, and an attentive public. We have to act sustainably. In business and of course also in the event industry. Over and beyond, sustainable events trigger a desire for sustainable behavior and action among the participants.
In this context, we would like to present the Sustainable Meetings Berlin initiative in more detail, because it is the strong partner at our side when it comes to sustainability. Berlin should become one of the most sustainable event locations in the world, that is the goal. Sustainable Meetings Berlin (SMB) is a management and certification system that serves as a roadmap for partners on the way to sustainable business. This includes an online platform on which event planners can find verified sustainable service providers, the Sustainable Partner. But SMB is also a network of committed and future–oriented Berlin companies.
Berlin is a member of the Global Destination Sustainability Movement and thus part of the worldwide sustainability movement in the tourism and congress industry. The German capital is the first German region with an internationally recognized catalog of sustainability criteria for the visitor economy: The Global Sustainable Tourism Council has recognized Berlin’s sustainability criteria programs for the tourism and events industry as equivalent to the GSTC–Sector criteria for hotels and tour operators. This is a confirmation of Berlin’s sustainability initiative, which started in 2018 with Sustainable Meetings Berlin and was expanded to include Sustainable Tourism Berlin at the end of 2022.
In order to organize events sustainably, economically, socially, and ecologically sustainable aspects must be considered. This requires a rethinking of all relevant actors – from employees to suppliers and service providers to the participants. The aim must be to organize economically successful events with ethical and fair trading with the least possible impact on the environment. Sustainability is much more than a charitable idea of some “world saviors” because sustainability is firmly anchored in law. From 2024, the gradually expanded CSRD reporting obligation will also apply to medium–sized companies. And thus, also for their entire supply chain.
