Environmentally friendly events are important to us. But how does sustainable event planning work? We have compiled five tips for you to support you on your way to climate-neutral meetings, conferences and congresses.
Sustainable event planning? Green meetings? Environmentally friendly conferences and congresses? We asked ourselves: how does that actually work? What possibilities do organisers have to design events, meetings or incentives in Berlin to be as climate-neutral and sustainable as possible? The answer is: many!
From bicycle taxis to glass straws, the capital is full of creative event service providers who offer environmentally friendly solutions in all event areas. And it doesn't have to be that complicated – here are our five tips for environmentally friendly event planning:
Exhibition hall or congress centre? Conference hotel or industrial monument? Open-air location or ballroom? No question: the choice of location gives every event its own very special touch. Fortunately, exceptional venues are never far away in Berlin.
You can thus plan your event in Berlin to have short distances between accommodation and location. More than 360 central venues are at your disposal, some of them right in the middle of the neighbourhood. Berlin's high density of locations allows you to keep distances short, even at the coolest multi-venue events. Make sure that participants reach the location on foot or by public transport and recommend accommodation in the immediate vicinity.
The crucial step towards a well-attended event is – of course – the invitation. To minimise large mountains of paper and energy costs for printing and shipping, it is advisable to send invitations and information about the event electronically. However, this can be done in a much 'cooler' and more innovative way than by simply using emails: use an event app as an alternative to conventional communication channels.
This makes it easy for you to complete the entire registration process, manage the programme, and provide your participants with news in an environmentally friendly way. At the same time, you present yourself as a digitally progressive, contemporary organiser.
National and international conventions inevitably entail various arrival and departure journeys of participants from other cities and countries. These represent by far the greatest environmental impact. Therefore, support your participants in planning a climate-friendly approach right from the start, for example, with the event tickets from Deutsche Bahn or practical online tools such as Karzoo for organising car pools.
Berlin also offers a large selection of sustainable vehicles for local transport and shuttle services: how about a tour in a bicycle taxi? You could also offer a segway or e-bike tour as part of the supporting programme for your event and thus get your participants lastingly excited about environmentally friendly movement that doesn't require effort.
Have you ever eaten off a palm leaf? We have! And we would wholeheartedly recommend this as an environmentally friendly tableware alternative to cardboard and plastic plates.
The sustainable leaf dish is completely compostable. This way, you can avoid a lot of rubbish or save the energy for cleaning mountains of 'real' dishes. The glass straw is also particularly chic and stylish. It not only replaces one of the biggest environmental sins made of plastic, but also comes across as much more high-grade. For many Berlin catering companies, the 'glass straw' is now an integral part of their product range – inquire directly! Alternatively, you can also rent the elegant straws.
Lighting, sound technology, multi-media systems, refrigerators, heating – for most organisers it is still difficult to completely avoid a certain amount of energy consumption or CO2 emissions. Nevertheless, there are ways in which you can significantly improve the energy balance of your event.
Using the simple rule of thumb "avoid, recycle, compensate," you can plan your event to be environmentally friendly. Our tip: work together with a climate protection organisation right from the start or choose a Berlin location with a sustainable concept (e.g. via Sustainable Meetings Berlin). The climate protection experts help you to avoid CO2 emissions, use renewable energies or – if there are no sustainable alternatives – compensate for your emissions, e.g. through contributions to a climate protection project.
Planning an event in Berlin? We would be pleased to support you in the sustainable planning and implementation of environmentally friendly meetings and conferences, as well as green meetings and incentives in the capital. Our team will put you in touch with sustainable partners and event service providers and will be happy to provide you with many other tips on the subject of sustainable meetings and sustainability.
If you are interested, please write to us at: sustainable-meetings@visitBerlin.de.
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