Convene 4 Climate, the global business events industry’s inaugural sustainability conference will be held from October 2-3, 2024, in Barcelona, spearheaded by PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association) and the Strategic Alliance of National Convention Bureaux (SANCBE).
Sherrif Karamat, PCMA’s president and CEO, elaborated during a press conference on May 14 at IMEX Frankfurt: “The audience will be intentionally curated, and we’re looking at a maximum of 120 people. (Attendees) will be those who are leading sustainable business practices within their organisations. Some of them will be from the business events industry, but we also want academia, and people from (the travel) supply chain, such as airlines and car companies. At some point, we’ll also want (to involve the) government.”
When asked why Convene 4 Climate was limited to a maximum of 120 people, Karamat stated: “We could have more, but we feel that 90 to 120 people would suffice. We want the event to be meaningful and intentional.”
The venue for Convene 4 Climate, NTT DATA’s corporate headquarters in Barcelona, was also deliberately chosen, having been recognised as the most sustainable office in Europe – its LEED certification score was 91 – for its environmentally-friendly design.
Recognition was awarded after evaluating the environmental impact of the design and construction and identifying that NTT DATA achieved energy savings of 37.3 per cent, 46 per cent water savings, recycling of 82 per cent of construction waste, and sustainable materials have been used, and prioritising the installation of those with high recycled content.
As to how the event will be structured, Matthias Schultze, managing director, German Convention Bureau, and also the co-chair of SANCBE, revealed that content for Convene 4 Climate will revolve around two mega trends in the business events industry: sustainability and digitalisation.
He pointed out that the meeting will not be about just “listening to smart ideas”, and will instead explore initiatives and learning points from companies around the world how they use technology to solve problems, in this case, sustainability.
“The conference is not about creating another guideline or initiative, but being a platform that brings these good initiatives together. We don’t want to have different solutions in Europe. Instead we want to align our activities, talk about the same standards, have the same vision and idea, and have a shared set of measurements.
“The target is to produce tangible content, create milestones, and build a roadmap that will lead us to a more sustainable future with the help of technology,” added Schultze.
Though the conference is held in Barcelona, Karamat also called upon other international destinations to be part of the effort to tackle sustainability challenges in the business events industry.
He concluded: “Sustainability cannot be done in isolation. Sustainability is not a challenge for one organisation, it is a global problem that’s we face. And we all have to be a part of the solution.”
