Global Awards Resource Library

Human Impact Award

Redesigning the human element of events: inclusion, behaviour and community.

20262026 winner

Neurodiversity in Events Checklist: Creating Inclusive Experiences for Every Mind

Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC), with Welcome Brain and ABPCO, Edinburgh, UK

The Neurodiversity in Events Checklist is a practical framework that helps organisers remove cognitive, sensory and communication barriers often overlooked in event design. Developed by EICC, Welcome Brain and ABPCO, it provides simple, scalable actions that make events more accessible, inclusive and engaging for all delegates.

Impact at a glance

6,250+online views worldwide

~600downloads

20+events fully accredited

99–100%attendee satisfaction at accredited events

Inclusion & accessibilityPlanning & measurement

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Gayle McGuinn (opens in a new window)Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC), with Welcome Brain and ABPCO

Full description

The Neurodiversity in Events Checklist is a collaborative industry innovation developed by the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC), Welcome Brain and the Association of British Professional Conference Organisers (ABPCO).

It was inspired by hosting the international ‘It Takes All Kinds of Minds’ (ITAKOM) conference, delivered with the Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre at EICC. ITAKOM brought together over 1,000 delegates from 24 countries across academia, healthcare, education, workplace practice and lived experience communities, with a clear ambition to ensure no mind is left behind.

The event demonstrated what is possible when neuroinclusion is embedded from the outset. However, it also highlighted a wider industry reality, many standard event structures still exist across the sector and can unintentionally create barriers. This reinforced the need for a scalable approach that extends inclusive practice beyond individual events.

This became a defining moment for EICC. In line with its mission to create an environment that inspires ideas that change the world, it reinforced the belief that events can only achieve their full potential when every participant is able to engage meaningfully.

Working with Welcome Brain and ABPCO, the Neurodiversity in Events Checklist was co-developed to translate lived experience and best practice into a practical, scalable framework suitable for all event types, sizes and budgets.

Its innovation lies in its dual purpose. It is both a practical guide and an educational tool, helping organisers understand not only what to implement, but why it matters. This shifts neuroinclusion from compliance-based thinking towards human centred design.

The checklist spans the full delegate journey, including communication, registration, sensory environment, content delivery, networking and onsite support. It promotes simple, high impact actions such as predictable scheduling, reduced sensory load, flexible participation formats and quiet spaces.

A three-tier model ensures accessibility at scale. Silver level actions are achievable for all events, Gold introduces enhanced practice, and Platinum represents sector leading neuroinclusive design.

Since launch, it has been adopted across corporate, association and public sector events, embedding neuroinclusion into mainstream event design practice.

Ultimately, it represents a shift from isolated accessibility measures towards a shared industry framework, supporting events designed for every mind, not just the majority.

The challenge addressed

This initiative addresses a systemic gap in event design where neuroinclusion has historically lagged behind physical accessibility.

An estimated one in five people are neurodivergent, yet event environments often still prioritise content density and operational efficiency over cognitive accessibility. This can create barriers including sensory overload, communication fatigue and reduced participation.

The result is not only reduced accessibility, but a loss of diverse perspectives within professional and academic exchange.

How it transforms business events

The checklist reframes neuroinclusion as a core design principle rather than a specialist consideration.

It shifts event planning from a one size fits all approach to one that recognises cognitive and sensory diversity as standard.

It enables practical change across three areas:

Design, embedding accessibility from the outset

Delivery, enabling flexible and lower load formats

Experience, increasing autonomy, comfort and participation

The result is more inclusive engagement for all attendees, not only neurodivergent delegates

Measurable impact

Since launch, the checklist has achieved strong global traction and measurable adoption.

The checklist has now recorded over 6,250 online views and approximately 600 downloads worldwide, reflecting genuine international demand that continues to grow.

At least 20 events have completed full accreditation under the framework and that figure represents only those we are directly aware of, suggesting real-world adoption is likely broader still.

The quality of that adoption is equally striking. NatWest's Gold-accredited Internal Audit Academy event in 2025 achieved 100% attendee satisfaction, while the Seren Events-delivered British Fertility Society Conference reached 99% satisfaction figures that speak directly to the impact of neuroinclusive design on delegate experience.

NatWest subsequently progressed to Platinum accreditation in 2026, and in perhaps the most significant indicator of long-term impact – the success of that event directly influenced the bank's wider corporate practices. As Nick Curle noted, the event was so successful that it has led the organisation to embed more neuroinclusive approaches across its broader operations, not just its events.

Adoption spans corporate, association, academic and public sector events, with international uptake continuing across the United States, South America and New Zealand.

Feedback from organisers highlights changes in agenda design, communication approaches and sensory planning, indicating a meaningful shift towards more intentional inclusive practice.

Timeframe

The checklist was launched in March 2025. Within 12-18 months, it progressed from initial adoption to international uptake, accreditation activity and cross sector implementation across corporate, association and public sector events.

Supporting evidence

Evidence for the impact of the Neurodiversity in Events Checklist is drawn from formal evaluation, case study documentation, third-party recognition and ongoing industry validation across the events sector.

Scalability & replicability

The checklist is inherently scalable by design, created specifically to ensure neuroinclusive event design can be embedded consistently across all contexts, rather than limited to specialist or high resource environments.

It can be applied across all event sizes, from small internal meetings and workshops through to large-scale international conferences, without loss of effectiveness. Its structure ensures that inclusive design principles remain relevant whether an event has 50 attendees or 5,000.

It is also applicable across all sectors, including corporate organisations, association conferences, academic institutions and public sector events. The underlying principles focus on human experience and event design fundamentals, making them transferable regardless of subject matter or audience type.

Geographically, the checklist has already demonstrated international relevance, with downloads and engagement extending beyond the UK into Europe, South America and Oceania. This reflects its adaptability across different cultural and operational event contexts.

A key strength is its accessibility across budget levels. The tiered Silver, Gold and Platinum framework ensures that meaningful neuroinclusive practice is achievable for all organisers. Silver level actions are intentionally low cost or no cost, enabling immediate adoption, while higher tiers provide progressive enhancement for organisations with greater capacity or ambition.

Importantly, the checklist does not rely on specialist infrastructure, proprietary systems or complex implementation processes. Instead, it focuses on practical behavioural and design changes that can be integrated into existing planning workflows, making it easy to adopt and replicate at scale.

Its strength therefore lies not in exclusivity, but in adaptability. It provides a consistent framework that can flex to different event formats, resources and regions while maintaining a shared standard for neuroinclusive practice.

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2026Finalist

Business Events as Catalysts for Inclusion

TOSEvents Group, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

TOSEvents has transformed business events into real-life inclusion experiences. By embedding people with disabilities and individuals facing barriers to employment into frontline event operations, every event becomes an opportunity to challenge stereotypes, change behaviours, and demonstrate that inclusive teams deliver operational excellence alongside lasting social impact.

Impact at a glance

~50people supported

20permanent jobs created

9.6%staff turnover

100%of chefs and senior managers trained

Inclusion & accessibilitySkills & ecosystems

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Reda Bendjebbour (opens in a new window)TOSEvents Group

Full description

Despite growing commitments to diversity, most inclusion initiatives remain confined to HR policies or corporate communications. They rarely influence how business events are actually designed, delivered or experienced. As a result, many people still hold unconscious biases about disability, employability and professional capability.

TOSEvents chose a radically different approach.

Instead of treating inclusion as a social programme running alongside operations, TOSEvents embedded inclusion directly into event delivery.

Their approach was built around a simple but ambitious vision: to create high-quality events while generating lasting social impact through employment. They believe that events can be powerful platforms for inclusion, capable of changing perceptions, strengthening communities, and creating opportunities for people who are often excluded from the workforce.

The innovation lies in the creation of a fully integrated employment pathway for individuals facing barriers to employment, including people with disabilities. Rather than offering isolated opportunities, TOSEvents has redesigned its recruitment, training, management, and event delivery processes to ensure that inclusion becomes part of everyday operations.

The pathway combines partnerships with employment and social service organizations, workplace immersion, vocational training, apprenticeships, and long-term employment opportunities. Chefs and managers are trained to become mentors, while all employees receive training on disability awareness and inclusive workplace practices. Workstations, schedules, and event operations are adapted when needed to ensure everyone can contribute successfully.

This approach has transformed management practices across the Group. Beyond delivering operational excellence, chefs now play an active role in supporting employees throughout their professional journey.

As Kevin Geoffroy, Chef at La Fine Fourchette, explains:

"Recently, we welcomed a young person living with a psychological disability who had failed his vocational diploma twice and was ready to give up. We offered him an adapted apprenticeship and a supportive environment. Two years later, he earned his qualification and now works professionally in a kitchen. That's what inclusion means at La Fine Fourchette: we don't just talk about it, we make it happen."

Every gala dinner, cocktail reception or conference becomes an authentic inclusion experience. Clients, suppliers and attendees naturally interact with diverse teams working together at the highest professional standards.

These encounters replace assumptions with direct experience.

Inclusion is no longer explained through awareness campaigns – it is experienced through exceptional service. This direct exposure helps challenge long-standing assumptions about the employability, capabilities, and professional performance of people with disabilities or those facing social and economic barriers.

Over time, inclusion has become part of the Group's identity. Managers now lead differently, teams collaborate differently, and clients increasingly perceive diversity as a driver of quality rather than a social obligation.

The initiative has also transformed organizational culture across the Group's five catering companies. Managers have adopted a more supportive leadership style, teams have developed stronger cohesion and empathy, and employees report a greater sense of purpose and belonging. These changes have contributed to improved employee retention, higher engagement, and sustained client satisfaction.

Today, the programme extends across all five TOSEvents companies, demonstrating that inclusive event delivery can be replicated without compromising operational excellence.

The challenge addressed

TOSEvents initiative tackles a combined social, operational, behavioural and systemic challenge: demonstrating that business events can become powerful catalysts for inclusion by transforming how organisations recruit, lead and collaborate, while changing perceptions of disability, employability and human potential.

The greatest barrier to inclusion is not the lack of regulations or recruitment programmes – it is the persistence of unconscious bias. Too many talented people remain excluded because organisations underestimate their capabilities. TOSEvents therefore set out to prove – not simply claim – that diverse teams can deliver premium hospitality while strengthening business performance.

Like many hospitality and event businesses, they face increasing difficulties in attracting and retaining talent in a demanding sector where recruitment challenges, staff turnover, and skills shortages can affect long-term performance. At the same time, employees are seeking greater purpose, inclusion, and opportunities for personal and professional development.

From an operational perspective, they needed to demonstrate that a more inclusive workforce could maintain the high standards of quality, reliability, and customer satisfaction expected in premium event catering.

Finally, as part of their ISO 20121 commitment to sustainable event management, they sought to strengthen their contribution to local communities by creating local employment opportunities, developing skills, and generating positive economic impact through partnerships with regional stakeholders.

The challenge was therefore not only to create jobs, but to prove that inclusion can simultaneously improve business performance, strengthen employee engagement, and change perceptions about talent and human potential.

How it transforms business events

Business events are no longer only places where inclusion is discussed. They become places where inclusion is experienced.

Every guest becomes part of the inclusion journey. Without changing the event programme itself, attendees experience diverse teams delivering premium hospitality. These authentic interactions create lasting behavioural change that no awareness campaign could achieve.

To create an environment where employees with disabilities or facing barriers to employment can thrive, they adapt workplaces and event operations when necessary, including kitchen layouts, workstations, schedules, service flows, and accessibility considerations. These adjustments improve working conditions for everyone while maintaining the high standards expected in premium event catering.

More importantly, their approach transforms the event experience itself. Employees from diverse backgrounds are fully integrated into event delivery teams and become visible contributors to the success of each event. Rather than experiencing inclusion as a policy or statement, clients, partners, suppliers, and attendees experience it directly through everyday interactions.

These interactions create opportunities to challenge assumptions about disability, employability, and professional capability. They foster greater empathy, understanding, and appreciation of diverse talents while demonstrating that inclusion and operational excellence can go hand in hand.

As a result, events become more than service delivery platforms. They become spaces where people encounter different perspectives, where stereotypes are challenged, and where a more inclusive vision of work and society can be experienced in practice.

Measurable impact

The programme demonstrates that inclusion is not only socially beneficial – it is also a driver of business resilience and operational excellence.

Since 2023, the programme has delivered measurable results:

Social impact

Around 50 people supported

30 people facing barriers to employment integrated

20 permanent jobs created

10 apprentices trained

10 internships completed

Organisational impact

9.6% staff turnover

100% of chefs trained

100% of senior managers trained

100 commercial staff trained

Beyond these figures, the greatest achievement has been demonstrating that inclusion strengthens operational excellence, employee engagement and customer satisfaction simultaneously.

Their impact now extends beyond their own organisation with a national recognition of their initiative.

Timeframe

The initiative has been progressively developed and scaled between 2023 and 2026.

2023 marked the launch of the inclusive employment model within La Fine Fourchette, with the programme already receiving national recognition through the Gold Award at La Nuit de l’Événementiel for its CSR commitments.

Between 2024 and 2026, the model was progressively expanded across all five companies of the TOSEvents Group, strengthening recruitment pathways, management practices, employee training, and partnerships with employment and disability organizations.

In 2025, the programme received the MEDEF CSR Award in the Disability & Inclusion category for its inspiring employment pathways.

In 2026, its influence extended beyond the organisation when TOSEvents was selected by UNIMEV to contribute to the national White Paper on Accessible and Inclusive Events, demonstrating that the initiative has evolved from an internal programme into a recognised model capable of influencing the wider business events industry.

Supporting evidence

Independent validation include

2023 Gold Award at la Nuit de l’Événementiel for its CSR commitments

2025 MEDEF CSR Award in the Disability & Inclusion category for its inspiring employment pathways.

2026 Contribution to UNIMEV White Paper on accessibility and inclusion in the event sector in France (Unimev is the French National Federation of Event Professionals)

Support letters from Unimev (French National Federation of Event Professionals), Atout France (French National Tourism Board) and the Provence Alpes Cote d’Azur Tourism Board (where companies have their headquarters)

Scalability & replicability

The model does not rely on sophisticated technologies, expensive infrastructure or complex regulatory frameworks. It is built on transferable management practices, local partnerships and operational processes that can be adopted by organisations of any size.

The model was first developed and tested within La Fine Fourchette, one of the Group’s catering companies, before being progressively deployed across all five TOSEvents businesses.

As Patrice Knecht, Director of La Fine Fourchette and CSR pioneer within the Group, explains:

"La Fine Fourchette paved the way as the Group’s innovation laboratory. Within our organization, each company becomes a catalyst for the others, creating a virtuous cycle of learning and continuous improvement."

The successful expansion of the program across five companies demonstrates its scalability and long-term viability. Beyond the catering sector, the model can be replicated by hospitality, tourism, and event organizations seeking to address workforce shortages, improve employee engagement, and create meaningful social impact.

Because it is built on partnerships, training, and culture change rather than industry-specific processes, the approach can be adapted across regions, event formats, and sectors while delivering both business and social value.

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Technology for Climate Award

Bold uses of technology to decarbonise the event lifecycle.

20262026 winner

CosyOS

Cosysense, UK

CosyOS is an AI operating system for commercial buildings. It connects occupants, equipment, buildings, and grid signals into one contextual intelligence layer, allowing HVAC and electrical systems to optimise autonomously. We cut energy waste, emissions, and optimise comfort in shared spaces without replacing existing infrastructure or requiring upfront capital. We only charge a fraction of realised savings.

Impact at a glance

27–38%average HVAC energy savings

38.5%weather-normalised savings in one restaurant pilot

<10 hrsto install

£0upfront cost; paid from verified savings

Energy & buildings

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Sebastian Horstmann (opens in a new window)Cosysense

Full description

CosyOS is a hardware-agnostic autonomous operating system for commercial buildings. Business events depend on shared, high-occupancy spaces: conference halls, hotels, restaurants, and office spaces. These spaces constantly change, yet their heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, and other electrical systems still operate through static rules, fragmented controls, or manual decisions that facility teams rarely have time to optimise.

For business events, CosyOS matters because comfort and energy performance directly shape the attendee experience. Overcooled conference rooms, overheated exhibition areas, invisible comfort bias affecting women and other groups, and unnecessary energy peaks all emerge from the same root problem: buildings do not understand who they serve. CosyOS transforms commercial hospitality buildings into responsive, efficient, comfortable, and grid-aware venues. This is an analogous transformation to that happening in the transport industry from manual to self-driving cars.

CosyOS solves this by creating a contextual universal intelligence layer across the building. We deploy plug-and-play sensors or connect to existing BMS data to generate a real-time digital twin of each space. Our patented AI agents then optimise HVAC and other electrical equipment every 15 minutes, factoring in occupancy, quantified comfort, occupant feedback, indoor conditions, weather, equipment performance, grid pricing, and grid carbon intensity.

What makes CosyOS transformative is that it does not simply monitor or recommend changes. It executes changes in each piece of electrical equipment autonomously. It takes into account people, buildings, and grid signals. Buildings can perceive what is happening, reason across competing needs, communicate with people and systems, and act autonomously under human and international standard guardrails. This shifts event venues from manually operated infrastructure to adaptive, low-carbon environments that respond to attendees in real time.

Our technology has already demonstrated 27-38% HVAC energy savings across restaurants like McDonalds and Burger King, offices with shared spaces, and other hospitality environments. As an example, CosyOS executed over 25,000 autonomous HVAC adjustments in one month in a tier 1 corporate restaurant. It achieved 38.5% weather-normalised HVAC savings while improving 20% to 50% the users' comfort.

Unlike traditional BMS upgrades, CosyOS installs in under 10 hours, works across standalone and BMS-connected equipment, and requires zero upfront cost. Clients pay only a fraction of the verified savings obtained through international standards. This makes decarbonisation accessible to event venues, hotels, restaurants, and SMEs, mid-market commercial buildings that cannot afford expensive retrofits.

The challenge addressed

We address an environmental, operational, behavioural, and systemic challenge. Commercial buildings waste energy because HVAC and electrical systems operate through static settings that ignore occupancy, comfort, weather, grid conditions, and real use patterns. This increases emissions, operating costs, and peak demand.

The same failure also creates a human impact. Shared spaces often overcool or overheat because controls optimise for generic assumptions rather than real occupants. Women and other groups frequently experience thermal discomfort disproportionately, yet current building systems rarely measure or act on this (as described in the book “Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men” and academic papers PLoS ONE 14, 2019). CosyOS is the only company in the world that links energy efficiency with thermal equity by making comfort visible, quantifiable, and actionable for all genders and people inside a space as human analytics is part of the optimisation layer.

Our solution also plays a key systemic role. We live at a time when energy consumption is growing exponentially at increasingly higher rates due to the electrification of cars and data centres. Grids are constrained and cannot cope with the upcoming demand fast enough which means if buildings can support active grid operations through variable intelligent demand, it can have a huge societal impact.

Therefore, people and grid-aware buildings can have a transformative impact on people, building operational performance, and support the grid evolution at a time of unprecedented energy landscape changes.

How it transforms business events

Every conference, exhibition, hotel gathering, and hospitality venue faces the problem we solve: dynamic occupancy and demographics in shared communal spaces. CosyOS allows venues to adapt comfort and energy use continuously as rooms fill, empty, heat up, or change function. CosyOS understands and changes setpoint, mode, and ventilation rates for an optimal occupant experience at minimal energy consumption.

This improves attendee experience, lowers emissions, reduces operational burden, and gives event organisers auditable evidence of climate action. We already work across hospitality, restaurants, offices, and shared commercial spaces, making the solution directly transferable to business events. We often also experience that recovering margins on SMEs also matters as hospitality businesses are suffering the increasing electricity prices which affect their survival rates.

Measurable impact

CosyOS has demonstrated 27-38% average HVAC energy savings across restaurants, offices, and hospitality sites. In one tier 1 corporate restaurant deployment, we achieved 38.5% weather-normalised HVAC savings over 28 days, saving 2,362 kWh and executing over 25,000 autonomous control actions across 23 HVAC units through building management. In other similar restaurants, but without building management, we achieved over 37% savings over a similar period of time. We also showcase in shared office spaces 34% savings over more than 6 months.

Across all the hospitality buildings we are operating, we have demonstrated energy savings and CO₂e avoidance growing rates between 10% and 100% per quarter over the past 6 months as we moved from R&D into commercial rollouts. As we charge a fraction of realised savings, this has made us one of the fastest 100 UK impact ventures in the UK.

Timeframe

Cosysense began part-time R&D between August 2022 and February 2024. We went full-time in February 2024, secured our first research grant, and built a PhD-led technical team focused on real-building pilots.

From February 2024 to July 2025, we validated the technology across live buildings. In July 2025, we generated first revenue and proved 34% average savings in a coworking space, with peak HVAC savings of 82%.

In December 2025, we secured our first large enterprise franchise deployment and achieved 38.5% measured HVAC savings in a restaurant. In April 2026, we added a second large enterprise franchise pathway. We have grown from 3 to 14 people and now expand across hotels, offices, restaurants, and some of the world’s largest commercial brands. We currently have 31 sites across experimental and client sites, with installation of 196 new sites starting next week and ongoing commercial/legal stage negotiations of over 200 more for the next 6 months. Our 24-month pipeline that is already in technical or commercial stage evaluation is 8,330 buildings.

Supporting evidence

We support results through technical case studies, client reports, and measurement methodologies aligned with the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol, using Option B and Option C depending on site instrumentation. Our weather-normalised models pass ASHRAE Guideline 14 quality-control thresholds, giving clients auditable savings evidence rather than estimated claims.

External validation includes recognition from CIBSE, the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, which named Cosysense best thermal comfort innovation product of the year. We also won innovation recognition from the Building Controls Industry Association against products from some of the world’s largest building technology companies.

Scalability & replicability

CosyOS scales because it does not depend on replacing equipment. It works across legacy HVACs, standalone systems, and BMS-connected buildings. It is hardware agnostic thanks to a universal knowledge graph and hundreds of closed-to-open protocol communication libraries. We are moving towards installing 13 buildings per day during 2027 and 30 buildings per day by the end of 2028. Our 24-month pipeline that is already in technical or commercial stage evaluation is 8,330 buildings.

This scale comes from a new execution engine built around 143 mapped autonomous processes connected to more than 20 AI and machine-learning models. We already beta test this onboarding system with existing clients. Our commercial model also scales with impact: clients pay from verified savings, while existing investors have pre-committed around 20% of our upcoming seed round because we are exceeding financial and impact targets six months ahead of plan.

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2026Finalist

Meeting Place Finder

CONVIEN GmbH, Germany

CONVIEN's Meeting Place Finder brings travel data into the moment when a business event's location is being chosen — the upstream decision that determines most of an event's carbon footprint. The platform cuts travel-related CO₂ by up to 40%, plus 25 to 30% in travel cost and time.

Impact at a glance

Up to 40%less travel-related CO₂

25–30%lower travel cost

1,172 tCO₂ saved in one tech-sector pilot

219meetings optimised in that pilot

Travel & logisticsPlanning & measurement

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Benedikt Hieronimi (opens in a new window)CONVIEN GmbH

Full description

The problem.

For most business events, the largest source of carbon emissions is decided before any venue is even booked: the location itself. Attendee travel typically accounts for 70 to 80% of an event's footprint, but where to convene is usually chosen on the basis of habit, familiarity, or supplier relationships rather than data. Once the location is set, every later sustainability effort (renewable energy, waste reduction, catering) operates within an emissions ceiling that has already been locked in.

What CONVIEN does.

The Meeting Place Finder brings climate and efficiency data into the moment when the location is being chosen. The planner enters the participants and their origins; the platform calculates how each candidate location would compare in CO₂, travel cost, and travel time, and shows the results before the decision is made.

What is new about it.

Projecting how each individual participant would actually travel from their origin to any candidate destination, across all relevant transport modes, is a non-trivial data and modelling problem. It is the main reason this kind of decision support has not previously been available to planners. CONVIEN solves it with a combination of live data from global GDS systems and our own destination algorithms, which are tailored to different event types and include dedicated logic for onsite meetings at corporate sites and offsite meetings at external destinations. The platform can take corporate travel policies, mobility profiles, and routing constraints into account at whatever level of detail an organisation chooses to share, and it also works without that integration, so a single event team can use it without an enterprise rollout. CO₂ figures follow established industry standards and are quantified through our partnership with atmosfair.

Comparison with existing approaches.

Most climate tools for events address emissions after the structural decisions are made: measuring footprints, offsetting residuals, optimising on-site logistics. Site selection is upstream of all of that. Once the location is set, the reduction potential is bounded. Moving the climate conversation upstream changes what is possible. The economic co-benefits in cost and time also mean that the case for using CONVIEN does not depend on climate idealism.

Where this leads.

If location choice becomes routinely informed by travel data, the industry can keep meeting in person while reducing its largest source of emissions. That is the shift CONVIEN is built to make routine.

The challenge addressed

Primary: Systemic, environmental, and operational.

The Business Events Industry is under pressure from several directions at once. Travel costs are rising, geopolitical conditions are making international travel more complicated, corporate carbon budgets are tightening, and business travel is under growing scrutiny. Together, these pressures are causing organisations to question whether in-person events can still be justified at all, which threatens the human, economic, and innovation value that face-to-face meetings create.

The systemic root cause.

Attendee travel is the largest carbon driver of any business event, but it is determined by a decision made without travel data: where to convene. Venue selection is treated as a logistical or commercial question, not a strategic one. As a result, sustainability work concentrates on the emissions generated on site, while the much larger share from travel remains largely unaddressed.

The behavioural dimension.

Planners rely on habit, familiarity, and preferred suppliers when choosing locations. Evaluating a site against the collective travel footprint, cost, and time of its attendees is not yet standard practice. CONVIEN gives planners the data to do that evaluation.

The operational dimension.

Even organisations committed to sustainability often lack the tooling to act on it at the planning stage. Sustainability teams measure and report; procurement and event teams choose. The two rarely meet at the moment of decision. CONVIEN closes that gap by bringing the data into the workflow where the choice is actually made.

Why this matters now.

The pressures listed at the start of this answer (rising costs, geopolitical complexity, tightening carbon budgets) would otherwise push organisations to travel less, which weakens the industry. Climate-optimal site selection moves the answer in a different direction: by reducing emissions, cost, and travel time at the same time, it makes in-person events more defensible for organisations under pressure on all three fronts. Sustainability and viability stop being in tension.

How it transforms business events

How events are designed.

Traditionally, site selection is the first major planning decision and the one made with the least data. The location is chosen, and the rest of the event is designed around it. CONVIEN inverts this order. Planning starts from the participants: where they are, how they travel, and what bringing them together actually costs in carbon, money, and time. The location stops being an opening assumption and becomes an informed outcome.

How events are delivered.

Because attendee travel is the largest share of an event's footprint, optimising the location for the actual participants reduces both the environmental and the economic burden of running the event. Teams can deliver the same business outcome with fewer emissions, lower travel spend, and less travel time for participants. Sustainability stops being a separate reporting exercise and becomes a byproduct of normal planning. Organisations also gain auditable data on every location decision, which supports internal carbon accounting and external ESG reporting.

How events are experienced.

Participants travel shorter distances, often by lower-emission modes such as rail. They also notice when an event has been organised around them rather than around the organiser's default location: it is a quiet signal that the planning took their time and effort seriously. And the tension that many professionals now feel between attending business events and their own or their employer's climate commitments is reduced.

Measurable impact

CONVIEN has been operating with enterprise clients and event agencies since 2019 and has run several thousand meeting and event projections in that time, through both the self-service platform and the concierge service. The outcomes fall into three categories:

Carbon. Up to 40% reduction in travel-related CO₂ emissions per optimised meeting.

Cost. 25 to 30% savings in direct travel cost.

Time. Comparable reductions in attendee travel time.

Beyond these direct effects, CONVIEN shifts how planning is done. When the climate, cost, and time consequences of every candidate location are visible before the decision is made, location choice changes from a habit to an evidence-based step. That behavioural shift is a precondition for the industry's broader decarbonisation.

Per-event impact varies considerably depending on participant geography, event size, and the alternatives being compared. The Evidence section below gives two specific examples that illustrate the order of magnitude.

Timeframe

CONVIEN has been operating with enterprise clients and event agencies for over five years. The two examples cited in the next section were documented between 2021 and 2024 and reflect specific engagements rather than the totality of the platform's use. Both clients have continued working with CONVIEN since.

Supporting evidence

Example A: Technology sector pilot. A multinational technology company used CONVIEN's platform mode to optimise 219 meetings with 5,652 participants from 1,497 departure locations. Documented results: 1,172 tonnes of CO₂, 1.06 million EUR in travel cost, and 37,660 hours of travel time saved. Following the pilot, the platform was firmly established inside the organisation and rolled out company-wide, including as a Microsoft Outlook integration available to event organisers.

Example B: Pharmaceutical sector sample. A multinational pharmaceutical company used CONVIEN in concierge mode for 14 larger international meetings with 2,800 participants between 2021 and 2024. The analysis used the median method rather than averages, which is less prone to distortion by outliers. Documented per-participant saving potential: 238 kg CO₂, 234 EUR, and 6.16 hours of travel time.

Methodology. The methodology that produces CONVIEN's results sits in our own algorithms, which project the likely travel behaviour of each participant from their origin and propose destinations that are algorithmically optimal across CO₂, travel cost, and travel time. The CO₂ values themselves are quantified using the Atmosfair/VDR emission standard through our partnership with atmosfair, the leading independent German climate-protection organisation.

Industry recognition. Matthias Schultze, Managing Director of the German Convention Bureau (GCB) and Co-Chair of the Strategic Alliance of National Convention Bureaux of Europe (SANCBE), describes CONVIEN as 'a convincing example of innovation in action.' CONVIEN also partners with Meetingselect, one of the leading global meetings and events platforms, which extends our reach into corporate event sourcing workflows worldwide.

Client voices. Sven Roesler, Head of ISP at Siemens: 'For anyone who operates as a homo oeconomicus, this tool is a must-have.' Prof. Dr. Harald Zeiss, Managing Director of INATOUR: 'A critical step in the right direction for the future of sustainable corporate travel practices.'

Scalability & replicability

CONVIEN already operates globally. Scalability comes from four sources:

Event type. The platform handles formats from small two-person meetings up to congresses with 12,000 participants. Documented optimisations include a meeting drawing on 79 different countries of origin.

Geography. Existing deployments cover Europe, North America, South America, and Asia-Pacific. The underlying travel, accommodation, and venue sourcing data comes from global GDS systems.

Industry. Current clients span technology, pharmaceuticals, life sciences research, and event agencies. The logic is industry-agnostic: any organisation that brings people together for events can use it.

Adoption depth. CONVIEN works as a self-service platform, as a concierge service we run on behalf of the client, or as a fully integrated enterprise solution that uses travel policies and mobility profiles. We are also integrated into Microsoft Outlook, which extends climate-aware location decisions directly into small and unmanaged meetings, an area that is usually invisible to corporate sustainability programmes. Meetingselect is an active distribution partner for the platform; data partnerships with Amadeus, HRS, Cytric, AUMA, Travel Fusion, atmosfair, and ClimatePartner provide the underlying travel and emission data.

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2026Finalist

Computing the low carbon event

Voltaage, Paris, France

AI agents that plan and manage how people arrive and how an event is supplied. In real time.

Impact at a glance

5,100+chargers under decision support

2,603cities in France and Italy

5M+citizens served

4,500+charging points validating the models

Travel & logisticsPlanning & measurement

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Francesco Semeraro (opens in a new window)Voltaage

The problem

Most of an event's carbon comes from how people arrive and how it is supplied.

Today those two things are planned on spreadsheets and intuition, and measured only after the event. The footprint is estimated and offset, never computed and reduced at the source.

The solution

We treat the event as a living territory to compute.

Attendee mobility: Model where attendees travel from, predict the modal split, and plan low carbon arrival across transit, shuttle and charging.
Supply & logistics: Plan and route the event's supplies and materials with carbon aware decisions.
Live footprint: Compute the footprint before the event and steer it in real time as conditions change.

The proof

A proven engine, already at city scale: 5,100+ chargers under decision support, 2,603 cities across France and Italy, and 5M+ citizens served.

Models validated against 4,500+ charging points, 168 installations guided, and 2x territory growth for clients. Trusted by regions, cities and institutions including Région Île-de-France, Région Normandie and Città di Torino. Backed by Techstars, SputnikATX VC and EIT Urban Mobility.

The vision

We don't guess. We compute.

Make every event's footprint a number you plan against and reduce, not one you estimate and offset. Let's build the first low carbon lighthouse events together.

About Francesco Semeraro

Francesco Semeraro is co-founder and CEO of Voltaage, whose Agentic GIS decision engine plans and manages infrastructure across 2,603 cities in France and Italy, covering 5,100+ charging points and 5 million citizens.

At Convene 4 Climate he brings that engine to business events, treating an event as a living territory: AI agents model how attendees travel in and how the event is supplied, computing and minimising its carbon footprint in real time, rather than estimating and offsetting it afterwards.

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Trailblazer Award

Leaders who have used their platform to transform the industry.

20262026 winner

JavitsCares

Javits Center, New York City, USA

JavitsCares transforms event move-out into a community-impact model, redirecting surplus food and items left behind by exhibitors to local nonprofit organizations instead of landfills. Rooted in Javits Center’s role as a community partner, it reduces waste, supports New Yorkers facing food insecurity, and extends event benefits beyond the show floor.

Impact at a glance

200,000+ lbsof food and materials donated last year

~2,000meals from rooftop-farm produce in 2025

~25%lower cost for events than landfill disposal

2018year the programme began

Food & circularity

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Joyce Leveston (opens in a new window)Javits Center

Full description

Historically, much of this surplus was discarded. Javits Center asked a different question: What if the legacy of an event extended beyond attendees and exhibitors to directly benefit the surrounding community?

That question led to the creation of JavitsCares, a long-term initiative that embeds social impact and circular economy principles into the daily operations of one of the largest convention centers in North America.

Rather than treating waste diversion as a standalone sustainability program, JavitsCares redesigns operational systems so that surplus food, furnishings and materials are recovered, repurposed and redistributed to organizations serving New Yorkers in need. Through partnerships with community organizations, resources that would otherwise be discarded are transformed into valuable assets that support schools, nonprofits, first responders, vulnerable populations, and public agencies throughout New York City.

Another example demonstrates how deeply JavitsCares has become embedded in daily operations. Following the TCS New York City Marathon, members of the waste team recognized that approximately 35,000 hangers left behind by exhibitors could be recovered instead of discarded. They took the initiative to collect the hangers and divert them to the donation area, illustrating how employees actively identify opportunities to reduce waste and support the community as part of standard operations.

What makes JavitsCares transformative is that it changes the role of a convention center itself. Rather than operating solely as a venue for business events, Javits functions as an active community partner, integrating social responsibility into the event lifecycle and demonstrating that business events can create lasting value for people, communities and the environment.

The challenge addressed

JavitsCares addresses interconnected social, environmental and behavioural challenges within the business events industry: food rescue, material waste, resource inefficiency and the limited connection between large-scale events and the communities in which they take place.

The initiative challenges the traditional "use and discard" model by embedding circular economy principles into venue operations and encouraging event organizers, exhibitors and staff to view leftover items from events as opportunities for community impact rather than sending them to landfills.

How it transforms business events

JavitsCares transforms business events by integrating community impact directly into venue operations. Sustainability and social responsibility are no longer optional add-ons; they are embedded into how events are delivered.

Organizers can host events knowing that surplus items are redistributed responsibly, food recovery systems are in place and the venue's operations contribute positively to the surrounding community. This changes expectations around what successful events look like and demonstrates that business events can create social value alongside economic impact.

Measurable impact

JavitsCares has transformed how resources are managed at one of North America's largest convention centers, diverting significant amounts of food and items from the waste stream while expanding community impact across New York City. Last year, the program donated over 200,000 pounds of materials and food to schools, nonprofits and underserved communities.

Through partnerships with organizations including ReThink Food, Alliance for Positive Change and Covenant House, Javits Center has expanded food rescue initiatives that address food insecurity while reducing waste. In 2025, Javits Center, its in-house culinary team Cultivated, and Rethink Food prepared approximately 2,000 nutritious meals using 1,500 pounds of produce grown at Steel Farm and distributed them to New Yorkers experiencing food insecurity.

The program also provides a cost savings to our customers. At present, events pay approximately 25% less through this donation program than they would to send the same items to landfill. In other words, without this program, clients would incur higher disposal costs while providing essential donations to our community.

Beyond these direct outcomes, JavitsCares has changed operational practices across the venue by embedding reuse, donation and sustainability into standard event procedures, creating a lasting culture of social responsibility that extends beyond individual events.

Timeframe

JavitsCares was established in 2018, with food rescue initiatives formally integrated into operations in 2019. The measurable results outlined above reflect sustained progress achieved over the past seven years, with community partnerships, donation programs and food recovery initiatives expanding annually. The program continues to grow as Javits strengthens its commitment to creating long-term social and environmental impact.

Supporting evidence

Evidence includes Javits Center sustainability reports, JavitsCares operational data with data collected and tracked for every donation pickup event participation rate, community partnership outcomes, media coverage, and third-party reporting. The program has recently expanded to serve additional organizations and expand existing partnerships. Examples include collaborations with ReThink Food, Materials for the Arts, 911CellPhoneBank, and the New York City Department of Sanitation.

Scalability & replicability

The JavitsCares model is highly scalable because it relies on collaboration amongst multiple stakeholders (internal and external), processes, teams and the fact that this program is embedded deep into our culture throughout Javits Center. The approach can be replicated by venues of varying sizes, event organizers and convention centers worldwide by adapting food recovery, item reuse and community partnership programs to local needs.

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2026Finalist

Beyond Theory: Operationalising the “BE Impactful” approach in Britain’s event ecosystem

VisitBritain Business Events, United Kingdom

Beyond Theory: Operationalising the BE Impactful approach in Britain’s event ecosystem is Paul Black’s programme to embed #MEET4IMPACT & BE Impactful Framework into UK business events. By localising this methodology and surrounding it with sustainability and DEI tools, he bridges the gap between impact theory and what destinations, venues and organisers do in practice.

Impact at a glance

~60UK stakeholders trained

90+events across 18 cities in the Growth Programme

£35economic return per £1 invested

8capitals used to map impact

Planning & measurementSkills & ecosystems

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Paul Black (opens in a new window)VisitBritain Business Events

Full description

Beyond Theory: Operationalising the BE Impactful approach in Britain’s event ecosystem is an innovation in application and scaling, not in inventing a new impact methodology. The BE Impactful Framework itself was created by #MEET4IMPACT. Paul Black’s trailblazing contribution has been to recognise its potential early, secure cross-nation buy-in, and translate it into a practical, nationally coordinated programme that works for Britain’s destinations, venues and association partners.

As Head of Business Events for VisitBritain, Paul initiated a formal partnership with #MEET4IMPACT and led an 18-month process to adapt their global framework to the UK context. Rather than rebadging it, he positioned #MEET4IMPACT as the technical authority and focused on what national leadership could uniquely do: convene cities and nations, align the framework with UK policy priorities, and integrate it into bidding, delivery and storytelling.

Under his leadership, the VisitBritain Business Events Impactful Framework became the UK’s way of applying BE Impactful. It retained the core methodology (capitals model, impact logic, measurement principles) but was wrapped in language, examples and templates that made sense for UK destinations, sectors and government stakeholders. Paul then embedded the framework through three main moves.

1. Education and convening – He designed and hosted association conferences and learning programmes where UK DMOs, venues and PCOs were introduced to BE Impactful directly by #MEET4IMPACT and then guided, step-by-step, to use it in real bids and legacy projects. This turned a specialist framework into a shared national "impact language".

2. Integration with sustainability – Recognising that impact without climate action is incomplete, Paul commissioned and championed complementary toolkits with partners such as isla and GDS-Movement (including sustainability guides, pathways for venues, and checklists on energy, food, travel and production) and ensured they dovetailed with the impact work. Partners were encouraged to treat emissions reduction and positive legacy as two sides of the same coin.

3. Integration with DEI – Through a partnership with New Intent, he introduced a DEI framework that plugs into the same logic: understanding stakeholders, identifying inequities, co-designing inclusive outcomes and measuring change. This ensured that the UK's use of BE Impactful was not only about “more” impact, but fairer, more inclusive impact.

What makes this new and transformative for business events is not a single tool, but the system Paul has built around an existing framework. He has shown how a national DMO can:

Spot a strong external methodology and resist the temptation to reinvent it.

Co-brand and localise it in a way that respects its origin while making it usable for a wide range of partners.

Surround it with practical sustainability and DEI resources so that impact is operational, not theoretical.

Use conferences, learning hubs and bid support to normalise impact-led thinking across an entire country.

As a result, UK partners are now using the BE Impactful approach not as a niche “nice-to-have”, but as a core part of how they design, bid for and deliver events – with Paul Black recognised as the person who made it real, relevant and scalable in Britain.

The challenge addressed

This initiative addresses mainly behavioural and systemic challenges, with strong social and environmental dimensions.

Behavioural: Even where impact frameworks exist, most planners and destinations struggle to use them day-to-day. They lack confidence, examples and support, so impact often stays theoretical. Paul's work tackles this by turning the BE Impactful approach into training, templates and coaching that change how teams behave when bidding and planning.

Systemic: The UK events system has traditionally rewarded volume and spend over long-term outcomes. By embedding BE Impactful into national conversations, bid criteria and education, Paul is helping to shift what "success" looks like – towards measured impact aligned with community needs and the SDGs.

Social and environmental: Through the way the approach is implemented – alongside sustainability and DEI frameworks – it also addresses unequal distribution of event benefits and the climate footprint of events, encouraging projects that are lower-carbon and more inclusive in who they serve.

How it transforms business events

This initiative transforms business events by changing how an entire country uses an existing impact framework, and by embedding it alongside sustainability and DEI in everyday practice.

In design: UK destinations and associations are now encouraged to start with BE Impactful questions – who should benefit, what capitals should be strengthened, which SDGs are relevant – rather than adding legacy at the end. Paul's localisation work means teams have UK-relevant worksheets, examples and language to do this confidently.

In delivery: Because the framework is tied to practical sustainability and DEI toolkits, delivery teams can connect impact goals directly to operational decisions – from venue and supplier choices to programme design, delegate journeys and community partnerships. Impact plans are no longer abstract; they are linked to concrete actions and KPIs.

In experience: Delegates experience events framed around purpose and contribution, not just content. Local communities experience events as vehicles for skills, collaboration and investment, because the approach requires early engagement and co-designed outcomes.

In legacy and learning: Post-event, the framework guides reflection and reporting, so hosts can evidence outcomes, learn what worked and refine future bids. Over time this builds a national library of impact stories and data that strengthens the case for business events as part of Britain's climate, innovation and inclusion strategies.

In short, Paul's innovation is to take a respected global framework, honour its origin, and then turn it into a living, evolving practice across Britain's business events ecosystem – transforming not just individual events, but the mindset and metrics of the system they sit within.

Measurable impact

This initiative has delivered measurable behaviour change, system uptake and early quantitative outcomes across Britain's event ecosystem.

1. Scale of capacity-building and adoption

Through the “Shaping the Future of Business Events” legacy and sustainability course, Paul has already trained around 60 UK stakeholders (CVBs, destinations, venues and associations) in applying the BE Impactful approach, focusing specifically on defining impact intention, implementation tactics and measurement.

VisitBritain's Association Conferences (“Impact beyond the plenary” and “Impact is the Future”) have brought together dozens of national and international association clients and UK destinations, with the VisitBritain Business Events Impactful Framework presented and workshopped as the benchmark method for demonstrating event impact.

As a result, UK partners now have a shared national framework for mapping and measuring impact across eight capitals and the SDGs, rather than each destination using its own ad-hoc approach.

2. Changes in planning and bidding behaviour

VisitBritain's Learning and Development Hub now embeds the Impactful Framework, legacy toolkit, SDG pathway, sustainability guides and DEI framework as standard resources for partners, meaning impact, climate and inclusion are expected parts of bid preparation and client conversations, not optional extras.

Feedback from the association courses shows UK CVBs are increasingly including defined impact objectives and indicators in their bids, explicitly linked to the eight capitals and relevant SDGs, where previously success was framed mainly in terms of delegate numbers and expenditure.

3. Operational and environmental practice shifts

Using the sustainability toolkits that Paul commissioned and championed alongside BE Impactful, partners are tracking and improving performance in areas such as:

Menu design and sourcing – targets such as "at least 50% plant-based menu items," local and seasonal sourcing, and avoidance of high-impact ingredients and palm oil, are now standard objectives in the event sustainability guidance.

Local supply chains and travel emissions – objectives like "sourcing 80–100% of production suppliers within 50 miles" and "measuring 80–100% of event transport and crew travel" have been implemented in example projects and used as benchmarks for future events.

Waste and circularity – checklists and KPIs (for example, diverting 75–90% of single-use assets from landfill/incineration, eliminating PVC graphics, and expanding reuse/donation schemes) are now embedded in VisitBritain's production and waste guidance and used by venues featured in the case studies.

4. Inclusion and SDG alignment

The DEI framework and SDG toolkit provide concrete measurement areas (speaker and workforce diversity, access and neurodiversity provisions, fair pay, local community engagement, alignment to specific SDGs), which partners are starting to incorporate into event KPIs and post-event reporting.

By tying legacy projects and impact indicators directly to the SDGs and capitals model, UK destinations can now report more systematically on how events contribute to national priorities (for example, decent work, reduced inequalities, health and wellbeing, climate action).

5. System-level effects

VisitBritain's own communications now describe the Impactful Framework as the benchmark method for UK national and city DMOs to present the impact of events they host, signalling a structural shift in how the industry is expected to measure and evidence value.

The initiative has created a repeatable measurement process (outcomes, refined outcomes, indicators) for events hosted in Britain, supported by #MEET4IMPACT’s tools and, increasingly, digital solutions such as ImpactAIQ, which will enable richer data sets over time.

Taken together, these indicators show that Paul's trailblazing work has moved the BE Impactful approach from concept to measurable practice: more partners trained, more bids and strategies framed around impact and SDGs, and more events tracking concrete sustainability, legacy and inclusion metrics than before.

Timeframe

These results have been achieved between 2022 and 2025, with the strongest uptake since the first VisitBritain Association Conference on "impact beyond the plenary" in 2024. Specifically:

The #MEET4IMPACT partnership and BE Impactful adaptation work for Britain began around 2022–2023, alongside Paul's “Shaping the Future of Business Events” legacy and sustainability course.

The first VisitBritain Association Conference focused on "impact beyond the plenary" took place in 2024, introducing the Impactful Framework and wider toolkit to association clients and UK destinations.

The second Association Conference, “Impact is the Future”, in early 2025, demonstrated broader adoption of the impact-and-sustainability narrative and tools among UK partners.

The Learning and Development Hub, which houses the various impact, SDG, sustainability and DEI resources Paul has championed, has been live and growing since 2024–2025, supporting ongoing scaling.

Supporting evidence

The results are supported by a mix of published case studies, formal toolkits, and third-party industry reporting:

VisitBritain Learning & Development Hub – hosts the Legacy & Impact Toolkit, the VisitBritain Business Events Impactful Framework, SDG pathway, sustainability guides and DEI framework, all explicitly designed to help partners define, measure and report impact and sustainability performance.

Legacy & sustainability course documentation – coverage of Paul's “Shaping the Future of Business Events” course notes that around 60 stakeholders completed training focused on impact measurement and use of the BE Impactful approach, evidencing the scale of system-wide capacity building.

Association conference reports – articles on VisitBritain's Association Conferences (“Impact beyond the plenary” and “Impact is the Future”) confirm that the VisitBritain Business Events Impactful Framework, inspired by #MEET4IMPACT’s BE Impactful Framework, is now presented as the benchmark method for UK DMOs and cities to evidence event impact.

#MEET4IMPACT publications – #MEET4IMPACT’s own materials and impact reports describe the BE Impactful Framework, its capitals model and indicators, and document how destinations use it to track social impact, providing methodological backing for the UK adaptation.

Venue and destination case studies – sustainability and impact case studies in VisitBritain's toolkits (for example ICC Wales, Business Design Centre and others in the "Sustainability in Practice" guide) show concrete metrics such as proportions of local sourcing, waste diversion and energy improvements achieved by venues following the pathway Paul helped commission and promote.

Structured measurement frameworks – the SDG Toolkit and Legacy & Impact Toolkit set out clear outcome–indicator structures (eight capitals, SDG links, suggested KPIs), which partners use as templates for their own monitoring and reporting, giving a consistent evidence base for bids and post-event evaluations.

Together, these reports, toolkits and independent articles demonstrate that the BE Impactful approach is not only theoretically robust but is being systematically applied, taught and measured across Britain's event ecosystem through the programmes Paul has led.

Scalability & replicability

Paul's solution is highly scalable because it is built on a proven global methodology and embedded into systems that already operate at national scale. By formally partnering with #MEET4IMPACT and adapting its BE Impactful Framework for the UK, he created a standard approach that any destination, venue or organiser can use, regardless of size. The framework is now integrated into VisitBritain's Business Events Growth Programme, which has supported more than 90 events across 18 cities since 2018 and delivered an estimated £35 economic return for every £1 invested, showing it can be applied repeatedly and at volume rather than as a one-off pilot. Through training programmes that have already reached around 60 stakeholders and association conferences that bring together dozens of cities and international clients, Paul has turned the approach into a shared language and toolkit for the whole ecosystem, making it easy to replicate in new destinations and sectors, and offering a clear blueprint for other countries to follow.

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2026Finalist

BEFuture

BEFuture consortium, coordinated by Catalunya Convention Bureau, Europe (led from Catalonia, Spain)

The BEFuture European Union project’s overall purpose is to leverage innovation and technology to transform Europe’s Business Events (BE) sector into a resilient, and responsible industry, using the SDGs framework to reduce events’ environmental footprint and to promote a new generation of events with positive, lasting impact and legacy.

Impact at a glance

80SME innovation projects funded

€2.4Minvested in those projects

707companies engaged

82best practices identified

Skills & ecosystems

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Sònia Serracarbassa (opens in a new window)BEFuture consortium, coordinated by Catalunya Convention Bureau

Full description

BEFuture is a European collaborative initiative redefining how business events create value for people, communities, and the planet. More than a sustainability programme, BEFuture represents a systemic transformation of Europe’s Business Events sector placing human impact, innovation, technology, inclusion, and long-term resilience at the centre of industry evolution.

Co-funded by the European Union, BEFuture brings together a multidisciplinary consortium from across Europe to build a new generation of business events that deliver measurable social, environmental, and economic impact. The project is coordinated by Catalunya Convention Bureau and implemented together with Flanders Convention Bureau; VDVO (Germany), Blink (Spain) and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Regional Tourism Board (France) as Business Support Organisations; NHL Stenden University / European Tourism Futures Institute (The Netherlands) and University degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca (Italy) as academic partners; and the communication agency Tipik (Belgium). This combination of destinations, innovation experts, researchers and communication specialists ensures that transformation is designed collaboratively and translated into practical action.

BEFuture was created in response to a defining question for the industry: how can one of Europe’s most influential sectors evolve to respond to climate challenges, digital transformation, social expectations and changing economic realities? Its answer is ambitious yet actionable – to create an ecosystem where innovation, sustainability and people work together to shape the future of business events.

The project is structured around four strategic objectives.

First, BEFuture focuses on building an open innovation ecosystem for Europe’s Business Events industry. Through the development of Europe’s Business Events Strategic Stakeholder Map, the project connected actors across the entire value chain, creating new opportunities for collaboration, knowledge exchange and shared innovation.

Second, BEFuture develops future scenarios and identifies best practices to support industry transformation. Through international multidisciplinary Think Tank workshops, the consortium explored emerging trends and opportunities while identifying 80 state-of-the-art practices across sustainability, digitalisation, innovation and legacy. These insights culminated in the publication of the White Paper “New Scenarios and Business Models for the Future of Business Events”, providing a strategic roadmap for the sectors long-term transition.

Third, the project strengthens SME skills and capacity through a comprehensive Talent Development Programme. Across participating countries, BEFuture delivered local and international training initiatives alongside a series of nine online webinars, equipping professionals and organisations with practical knowledge, future-ready competencies and tools for change.

Finally, BEFuture accelerates innovation across the business events value chain through direct support to entrepreneurs and SMEs. The project financed 80 innovation projects led by SMEs, each receiving between €20,000 and €30,000 to transform ideas into real-world solutions. This investment enabled experimentation, scaled innovative concepts, and created tangible benefits for destinations, communities and industry stakeholders.

At its core, BEFuture recognises that business events are more than gatherings – they are platforms for connection, learning and societal progress. By empowering people, supporting local ecosystems, and creating opportunities for innovation to flourish, the project demonstrates that human impact and industry competitiveness can grow together.

BEFuture is not only preparing the Business Events sector for the future – it is proving that the future can be more inclusive, regenerative and resilient when transformation begins with people.

The challenge addressed

Systemic

How it transforms business events

BEFuture transforms the way business events are designed, delivered, and experienced by creating the tools, capabilities, and innovation pathways needed for long-term sector change.

The transformation starts with knowledge and strategic foresight. Through international Think Tanks and the resulting White Paper, New Scenarios and Business Models for the Future of Business Events, BEFuture identified the key trends, emerging needs, and structural challenges shaping the sector from sustainability and digitalisation to changing participant expectations and legacy creation. More importantly, the White Paper translates these insights into a roadmap of future business models, helping destinations, organisers, and industry stakeholders redesign how business events generate value.

Transformation is then activated through people. Through the Talent Development Programme, BEFuture strengthened the skills and future readiness of SMEs and professionals across Europe through local and international training activities and a series of online webinars. This created new capabilities and accelerated the adoption of innovative and more sustainable practices across the industry.

Finally, BEFuture moved innovation from strategy into implementation through its Acceleration Programme, supporting 80 SME-led projects with targeted funding and mentoring. By enabling real experimentation and deployment of new solutions across the Business Events value chain, the project created tangible examples of how the sector can evolve.

Together, these actions create a complete transformation cycle: understanding future needs, building capacity to respond, and accelerating innovation into practice helping business events become more resilient, inclusive, and impact-driven.

Measurable impact

BEFuture has delivered measurable impact by combining strategic foresight, skills development, and direct innovation investment to accelerate transformation across Europe’s Business Events sector.

The project created a strong international innovation ecosystem through 20 actions and events, engaging 707 different companies across Europe and connecting 151 stakeholders through Europe’s Open Business Events Stakeholder Map.

To support evidence-based transformation, BEFuture identified 82 best practices addressing the sector’s key challenges: Climate Change and Circularity (54), Talent and Inclusion (19), Event Experience (12), and Governance and Impact (22). These insights informed the White Paper New Scenarios and Business Models for the Future of Business Events, which identifies emerging trends and needs while providing a roadmap for future business models.

BEFuture also invested in people and capabilities through its Talent Development Programme, including local and international training activities and 9 expert-led webinars that helped SMEs and professionals adopt more innovative and sustainable approaches.

Most importantly, the project translated ideas into action through its Acceleration Programme. Out of 202 applications received, BEFuture funded 80 SME-led projects with a total investment of €2.4 million. Supported projects addressed the four strategic challenges: Climate Change and Circularity (21 projects), Talent and Inclusion (11), Event Experience (33), and Governance and Impact (15), generating innovation across France, Flanders, Germany, Catalonia, the Netherlands, and Italy.

These results demonstrate that BEFuture goes beyond research creating measurable change by building skills, funding innovation, and enabling long-term transformation across the Business Events ecosystem.

Timeframe

30 months

Supporting evidence

BEFuture’s results are supported by documented research, participation data, and measurable innovation outcomes.

Evidence includes engagement of 707 companies across 13 international project actions and events, and the creation of Europe’s Open Business Events Stakeholder Map with 151 stakeholders connected across the ecosystem.

The project also identified 82 best practices across sustainability, inclusion, event experience, and governance, consolidated into the White Paper New Scenarios and Business Models for the Future of Business Events, which outlines key trends, sector needs, and a roadmap for future business models.

Impact was further validated through the Acceleration Programme, which received 202 applications and funded 80 SME-led projects with a total investment of €2.4 million.

Scalability & replicability

BEFuture was designed from the outset as a scalable and transferable model. Its methodology combines strategic foresight (White Paper and future scenarios), capability building (Talent Development Programme), open collaboration (Stakeholder Map), and direct innovation support (Acceleration Programme), creating a framework that can be replicated across territories and adapted to different market contexts.

The project has already demonstrated scalability by engaging 707 companies across Europe and supporting 80 SME-led innovation projects across six territories. Beyond individual interventions, BEFuture created a shared innovation ecosystem that can continue to connect destinations, event professionals, SMEs, academia and industry stakeholders.

The ambition now is to evolve BEFuture beyond a funded project into an open and international platform that fosters innovation and transformation across the global Events industry.

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Impact Event Award

Events and programmes setting the benchmark across people, planet and profit.

20262026 winner

Autism Europe Congress 2025: Redesigning Events Through Neuro-Inclusive Experience

Fáilte Ireland, with AsIAm and Autism Europe, Dublin, Ireland

Autism Europe Congress 2025 reimagined business events through neuro-inclusive design, co-created with autistic people. It addressed sensory, communication and participation barriers, delivering measurable shifts in attendee confidence, inclusion and behaviour, while creating a scalable model for human-centred event design across the global meetings industry.

Impact at a glance

15+neuro-inclusive design measures

81%said autistic people feel respected and included

44%feel more confident attending future conferences

755+survey responses behind the results

Inclusion & accessibilityPlanning & measurement

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Christine Roche (opens in a new window)Fáilte Ireland, with AsIAm and Autism Europe

Full description

The Autism Europe Congress 2025 (AEC 2025) represents a transformative approach to the human element of business events, redefining how conferences are designed, delivered and experienced through neuro-inclusive principles.

Traditionally, business events are optimised for efficiency and scale rather than human diversity. This creates invisible barriers for neurodivergent individuals, particularly around sensory overload, communication norms and unpredictability. AEC 2025 addressed this systemic challenge by embedding lived experience at the heart of event design.

Led by AsIAm and supported by Fáilte Ireland, Autism Europe and partners, AEC 2025 was co-created with autistic individuals at every stage. A majority-autistic scientific committee, speaker base and consultation process ensured authenticity and relevance. This marked a significant shift from designing for to designing with.

Critically, this approach aligns directly with Ireland’s Business Events Strategy 2030, which positions business events as drivers of economic, social and environmental value. AEC 2025 operationalised this strategy by delivering measurable social impact, strengthening Ireland’s reputation as a leader in inclusive and purpose-driven events, and demonstrating how conferences can support national priorities such as accessibility, employment and societal inclusion.

The event implemented more than 15 neuro-inclusive design interventions, including:

Quiet and sensory-regulation spaces

Communication preference indicators for delegates

Flapplause as an alternative to loud applause

Predictability through detailed pre-event information and visual guides

Flexible lighting and sound environments

Tailored speaker communication and support

These interventions addressed core human needs: safety, dignity, autonomy and belonging. Importantly, they also influenced behavioural norms across the entire attendee base, creating a more empathetic and adaptable event culture.

AEC 2025 extended beyond the venue through Fáilte Ireland’s Association Conference Impact and Legacy Framework which was guided by a Theory of Change. It integrated three pathways: inclusive event design, employment advocacy and public understanding. This ensured that the event delivered long-term societal value, not just a short-term delegate experience.

The transformation was measurable. Delegates reported increased confidence, reduced masking behaviours and a stronger sense of inclusion. Staff and volunteers underwent specialised training, leading to systemic improvements in how human needs were understood and supported in live environments.

Crucially, AEC 2025 codified its learnings into the “Championing Inclusive Event Design” case study, enabling replication across future events. This shifts neuro-inclusive design from a one-off innovation to a scalable industry standard.

What makes AEC 2025 transformative is its reframing of success: from attendance and satisfaction metrics to human impact outcomes. It demonstrates that when events are designed around diverse human needs, they not only become more inclusive but also foster deeper engagement, behavioural change and societal progress.

The challenge addressed

AEC 2025 addresses a systemic and behavioural challenge within business events: the exclusion of neurodivergent individuals due to standardised, non-inclusive design.

Traditional event formats often overlook sensory sensitivities, communication differences and the need for predictability, creating barriers to participation, wellbeing and engagement. This results in underrepresentation, reduced accessibility and limited diversity of thought.

The initiative tackles both:

Social challenges: exclusion, stigma and underrepresentation of neurodivergent individuals

Behavioural challenges: entrenched norms around networking, communication and event participation

Operational challenges: lack of frameworks for integrating inclusion into event design

How it transforms business events

AEC 2025 transforms business events by shifting from standardised design to human-centred, neuro-inclusive design.

It embeds lived experience into decision-making, ensuring events are co-created rather than top-down. This fundamentally changes:

Design: prioritising sensory-aware environments, predictability and accessibility

Delivery: training staff and enabling adaptive, flexible responses to individual needs

Experience: fostering psychological safety, reducing pressure to conform, and enabling authentic participation

It also reshapes attendee behaviour. Practices like communication badges and silent applause normalised alternative ways of interacting, creating a more inclusive cultural environment for all participants - not just neurodivergent attendees.

Measurable impact

AEC 2025 delivered strong measurable outcomes:

71% of delegates recognised that sensory and accessibility adjustments were actively considered

81% reported that autistic individuals feel respected and included at such events

44% felt more confident attending future conferences (behavioural change)

94% of speakers felt inclusion efforts were genuine and aligned with their needs

100% of trained staff and volunteers found inclusion training effective

15+ inclusive design measures implemented

Additional societal impact:

90%+ of fringe event attendees improved understanding of autism

95% felt more confident addressing misinformation

100% intended to apply learnings in their daily lives

These results demonstrate both immediate experience improvements and longer-term mindset and behaviour shifts.

Timeframe

The results were achieved across an 18-month cycle:

Pre-event research and co-design phase

Event delivery (September 2025, 3-day congress)

Post-event evaluation and impact measurement (immediately after and in the months following)

Supporting evidence

Comprehensive impact report based on 755+ survey responses across delegates, speakers, staff and public participants

Pre- and post-event surveys measuring behavioural and perception shifts

Qualitative testimonials from delegates, speakers and staff

Case study: “Championing Inclusive Event Design”

Engagement metrics from public campaigns and fringe events

Scalability & replicability

Highly scalable.

The approach has already been designed for replication through:

A documented case study and toolkit

Standardised inclusive design measures adaptable to different event types

Transferable training modules for staff and organisers

It can be applied across:

Conferences of all sizes

Corporate, association and public sector events

Multiple geographies and cultural contexts

Replication has already been committed to by the next AEC host (Bilbao 2028).

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2026Finalist

Reducing Impact Before It Happens

Bella Center Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

How Bella Center Copenhagen is turning local insight into global action with a free and open pre-event impact planning tool to reduce emissions and inspire the events industry.

Impact at a glance

25–30%of event CO₂e comes from food and beverage

~20%from energy

~19%from purchased goods

42.3%of venue energy from its own solar park

Planning & measurementFood & circularityEnergy & buildings

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Kaspar Mørk Arianto (opens in a new window)Bella Center Copenhagen

Full description

Bella Center Copenhagen's Event Impact Guidelines represent a fundamental shift in how sustainability is integrated into the planning and delivery of business events.

For several years, Bella Center Copenhagen has provided large-scale clients with complimentary Event Climate Reports and, more recently, Event Impact Reports. These reports offer detailed insights into the environmental, social, and legacy impacts of events after they have taken place. While this has strengthened transparency and accountability, it also revealed a challenge: by the time the data is available, many of the most important decisions have already been made.

The Event Impact Guidelines were developed to address this gap.

Launched in 2026, the guidelines transform years of operational experience, ESG reporting, and impact measurement into a practical pre-event planning tool. Instead of focusing solely on retrospective reporting, the initiative enables organizers to actively reduce impact before an event takes place.

What makes the innovation transformative is the shift from measurement to decision-making.

The guidelines provide event organizers with concrete, actionable recommendations across the areas that have the greatest influence on event impact, including food and beverage, energy, waste, procurement, logistics, transportation, social impact, and legacy. Rather than presenting sustainability as a separate workstream, the tool embeds impact considerations directly into the planning process and commercial dialogue between venue and client.

A second defining feature is that the recommendations are built on Bella Center Copenhagen's own operational data. Instead of relying on generic industry averages, the guidance is based on locally grounded measurements across energy consumption, food systems, waste streams, procurement categories, and supplier networks. This allows organizers to make decisions based on real-world data and practical solutions that reflect actual event operations.

The initiative also introduces a collaborative framework built around shared responsibility. Every recommendation is presented through two perspectives: "What you can consider" and "What we offer". This creates a partnership model in which organizers, suppliers, exhibitors, and venue teams work together toward common sustainability goals rather than treating sustainability as the responsibility of a single stakeholder.

Equally important, the guidelines are provided free of charge and made publicly available online. Bella Center Copenhagen deliberately chose to share the methodology and recommendations openly, positioning sustainability knowledge as a resource for the wider business events industry rather than a competitive advantage.

The initiative is further strengthened by Bellagroup's (parent company of Bella Center Copenhagen) recent B Corp certification, positioning Bella Center Copenhagen among the first major congress and exhibition venues globally to become B Corp Certified and reinforcing the organization's commitment to transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Ultimately, the innovation is not the guidelines themselves. It is the new way of working they enable. By moving sustainability conversations from post-event reporting to pre-event planning, Bella Center Copenhagen is helping organizers make better decisions, reduce impact before it occurs, and create more responsible and resilient events. This represents a scalable model that can be adopted by venues and organizers worldwide.

The challenge addressed

The challenge we are addressing is primarily systemic, behavioral, and operational.

Across the business events industry, sustainability efforts have traditionally focused on measuring impacts after an event has taken place. While post-event reporting improves transparency and accountability, it often comes too late to influence the decisions that drive the majority of an event's environmental impact.

We identified a gap between sustainability data and sustainability action. Event organizers increasingly request detailed ESG insights, but many lack practical tools that translate complex impact data into concrete decisions during the planning phase.

At the same time, sustainability responsibility is often fragmented across venues, organizers, suppliers, exhibitors, and service providers. This creates a systemic challenge where no single stakeholder has full ownership of outcomes.

Our Event Impact Guidelines were developed to address this challenge by moving sustainability discussions upstream and embedding them directly into event planning. The guidelines combine locally grounded operational data with practical recommendations and shared accountability, enabling organizers to make better decisions before impacts occur.

Ultimately, the initiative aims to shift behavior, strengthen collaboration across the value chain, and transform sustainability from a reporting exercise into an operational decision-making tool that drives measurable environmental improvements.

How it transforms business events

Our solution transforms business events by embedding sustainability directly into the design and planning process, rather than treating it as something that is measured after delivery.

Traditionally, organizers receive sustainability insights once an event has concluded. Our Event Impact Guidelines move those insights upstream, enabling organizers to make informed decisions before contracts are signed, menus selected, suppliers chosen, or logistics finalized.

This changes how events are designed by introducing impact considerations at every stage of planning. Organizers can priorities lower-carbon food and beverage options, reduce waste through circular solutions, optimize energy use, and make more sustainable procurement and transportation choices from the outset.

The solution also transforms how events are delivered. Rather than placing responsibility solely on organizers or venues, it creates a collaborative framework where clients, venue teams, suppliers, exhibitors, and partners share accountability for outcomes. Each recommendation combines practical actions for organizers with concrete solutions provided by the venue, ensuring that sustainable choices are both accessible and achievable.

Finally, the initiative transforms the event experience itself. Sustainability becomes visible, tangible, and actionable for participants through measures such as responsible catering, waste reduction initiatives, circular resource management, donation programs, and transparent impact communication.

By shifting the industry from retrospective reporting to proactive planning, the solution enables business events to become more informed, collaborative, and impactful, while reducing environmental impacts before they occur.

Measurable impact

Our Event Impact Reports have transformed sustainability from an aspiration into a measurable management tool for our event teams and our customers and organizers.

In 2025, Bella Center Copenhagen completed 47 event impact reports for large-scale events, providing organizers with detailed insights into the environmental footprint of their events and empowering data-driven decision-making.

The reports identified that large events accounted for 1,480.7 tons CO₂e, representing approximately 27% of Bella Center Copenhagen's total emissions in 2025. By breaking emissions down into categories such as purchased goods and services, food and beverage consumption, and waste generation, both we and our customers gained a clear understanding of where their greatest impacts originated and where improvement efforts should be focused.

The initiative has contributed to broader organizational progress, including:

A 24% reduction in CO₂e emissions per guest at Bella Center Copenhagen in 2025 compared to the year before.

A 10% reduction in group-level CO₂e emissions per guest compared with the previous year.

A 10% reduction in energy consumption per guest across Bellagroup compared to the year before.

Improved event planning practices through benchmarking and practical recommendations tailored to future events.

Beyond carbon measurement, the reports have influenced behavioral change among organizers by shifting conversations from general sustainability ambitions toward concrete, evidence-based actions. Clients increasingly request data and use the findings to prioritize low-impact choices relating to catering, exhibition materials, logistics, and waste management.

Timeframe

The reported results were achieved over the 2025 calendar year, following the introduction and scaling of Bella Center Copenhagen's Event Impact Reports. The initiative built on work launched in 2024 with the introduction of Event Climate Reports and was further expanded in 2025 through the broader Event Impact Report framework.

The Event Impact Guidelines, launched in 2026, represent the next phase of the initiative by moving these insights upstream into the planning process. While their long-term impact is still being measured, they build directly on the learnings, data, and measurable outcomes achieved through the reporting program in 2024 and 2025.

Supporting evidence

Evidence includes:

47 completed Event Impact Reports in 2025, produced by Bella Center Copenhagen's ESG team using both internal and external datasets.

Integration of event data into Bellagroup's annual ESG reporting processes, enabling benchmarking across event formats and years.

Practical recommendations embedded within each report, supporting continuous improvement for organizers.

Bellagroup's wider sustainability credentials, including:

Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) validation of near- and long-term climate targets;

B Corp certification, recognising high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability;

An established ISO management system supporting governance and operational consistency.

Feedback from organizers has demonstrated the value of the reports in making sustainability tangible and actionable. As described in the 2025 ESG report, clients frequently identify the reports as "eye-opening," enabling them to understand how decisions around food, exhibition design, energy use, and logistics influence their event footprint.

Scalability & replicability

The Event Impact Report model is highly scalable. Because it is based on a structured methodology and standardized data collection processes, it can be adapted across:

Different event formats, including congresses, conferences, exhibitions, and cultural events;

Multiple venues and destinations;

Other sectors within hospitality and business events seeking to improve sustainability performance.

The reports were introduced in 2024 and, by 2025, had evolved to address not only climate impacts but also broader environmental, social, and legacy considerations. Importantly, the service is currently offered free of charge for all large events at Bella Center Copenhagen, supporting widespread uptake and accessibility.

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2026Finalist

À la Carte food recovery program

Ottawa Tourism, with La Tablée des Chefs, Ottawa, Canada

À la Carte is Canada’s first destination-led food recovery program, rescuing 22,000+ meals monthly from landfill and redirecting them to those facing food insecurity. Within two years, Ottawa Tourism, their delivery partner La Tablée des Chefs, and 23 industry partners have recovered 476,000 meals and saved 483t CO2e from landfill.

Impact at a glance

476,533meals recovered

483 tCO₂e avoided

125M litresof water saved

23industry partners

Food & circularity

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Kelly Haussler (opens in a new window)Ottawa Tourism, with La Tablée des Chefs

Full description

À la Carte is Canada’s first destination-led food recovery program, launched in May 2024 through a partnership between Ottawa Tourism and La Tablée des Chefs. It addresses a persistent challenge in business events: the disconnect between high-volume food service and the community need. Too often, safe, high-quality surplus food is discarded due to operational, liability, and behavioural barriers.

À la Carte operates through a multi-stakeholder ecosystem. Hospitality partners contribute surplus food, while La Tablée des Chefs manages logistics, food safety compliance, and redistribution to community organizations. A destination-wide dashboard tracks key impact metrics, translating recovered meals into tangible outcomes including greenhouse gas reductions, water conservation, and waste diversion.

At its core, the program shifts how surplus food is perceived and managed across the event ecosystem. For hospitality staff, standardized workflows and training normalize participation and reduce friction in operations. For event planners, the program offers a simple, measurable way to align events with social and environmental objectives. For attendees, visible storytelling through on-site signage, impact metrics, and media integration connects their event experience directly to community outcomes, fostering awareness and behavioural change.

A key strength of the program is how it embeds food recovery into event operations rather than treating it as an afterthought. Standardizing processes, in-kitchen training, and coordinated collection logistics remove barriers and enable consistent participation across hotels, convention centres, arenas, and event venues. Equally important is the role of the DMO as a convener – leveraging a trusted non-profit delivery partner and mobilizing industry participation to achieve the scale needed for meaningful impact from the outset.

In its first year, the program recovered over 160,000 meals and avoided 201 tonnes of CO₂e emissions. With 23 industry partners now participating, À la Carte has recovered more than 476,000 meals in just two years. These meals have been redirected to those facing food insecurity across the community, while also preventing 483t CO2e and saving over 125M litres of water (equivalent to 50 Olympic-sized swimming pools). These metrics are integrated into event reporting, allowing organizers to demonstrate measurable social and environmental impact.

Beyond operational innovation, À la Carte introduces business value for participating hospitality members. Free marketing materials educate delegates and support event venues in communicating their contributions, while helping caterers differentiate themselves based on verified food recovery practices.

Designed for replication, À la Carte is now serving as a national model, inspiring adoption in multiple Canadian cities and beyond. Through thought leadership, partnerships, and a scalable framework, À la Carte demonstrates how reimagining one element of event operations - food - can create lasting shifts in behaviour, equity, and community impact.

The challenge addressed

Socially, by feeding people with quality surplus food from the events and conventions industry and helping shelters and soup kitchens reduce their operational costs to buy food.

Environmentally, by keeping out valuable food from being discarded saving GHG and water.

Systemic, by connecting "food waste producers" with community organizations in need of valuable food in times of high inflation and food prices.

How it transforms business events

À la Carte fundamentally reframes food service in business events as a shared social responsibility rather than a logistical afterthought.

Design & Delivery:

Food recovery is embedded as a default through participating venues, giving planners a turnkey solution that removes complexity and builds impact in from the outset. Standardized processes, training, and coordinated logistics ensure consistent delivery across venues, while a destination-wide dashboard enables real-time tracking and reporting.

Experience:

Attendees are directly connected to community impact through visible storytelling tools such as signage, QR codes, and digital assets that highlight meals recovered and organizations supported. At scale, this has been demonstrated through major events like the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championships, where over 18,500 meals were recovered and redistributed, increasing awareness and engagement.

Impact:

By reframing surplus food as a valuable resource, À la Carte shifts behaviour across organizers, staff, and attendees. It embeds measurable social impact into event delivery, transforming business events into platforms for collective action, sustainability, and community benefit.

Measurable impact

Meals saved 476,533

Waste avoided (kg) 126,600 , i. e. 13 full garbage truck loads

Tons of greenhouse gas emissions avoided (CO2e) 483 t i. e. 147 cars off the road for a year

Water avoided: 33,138,771 gallons/125M litres i. e. 50 Olympics swimming pools

Please note that our KPI do not refer to the amount of food donated to not encourage food waste. Our KPI are

a) At least one quarterly donation by each participant: 87% as of June 2026

b) Continuous increase in the number of participants: 23 participants as of June 2026

Timeframe

Exactly 24 months, since the launch on May 31st, 2024

Supporting evidence

Donation recipients track the donations received in a platform which gets quality checked by La Tablée des Chefs and Ottawa Tourism at least quarterly. The quantities tracked are based on standardized containers (aluminium pans, bread bags and soup containers).

Scalability & replicability

The partnership model is very scalable with Destination Organizations being the catalyst to drive change rather than an individual chef facing left-overs. The solution is particularly easy to adopt and grow in jurisdictions where laws exist similar to Ontario's Good Samaritan Act which protects the food donor from liability. This is the case in the USA in its entirety due to a federal law (Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act (1996)) but also in Argentina, Brazil, Italy, or Israel to name a few others.

The solution is particularly practical for convention and meeting venue orientated spaces like conference and event centres, hotels with meeting rooms or casinos, and sport arenas. For meeting venues without a kitchen, such as museums or attractions, their caterers can also become food recovery partners. For restaurants in general this model is usually not useful due to insufficient volume.

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Additional entries

Further ideas submitted to the 2026 awards.

2026

Scaling Sustainable Event Innovation at Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre

Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Singapore

Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre, which hosted over 2,000 events in 2025, is Singapore’s first fully offset events venue that advocates sustainability as the baseline. Through cutting-edge technologies, resource-efficient operations and the expertise of its 100+ certified sustainable event professionals, it enables clients to deliver scalable, experience-led sustainability.

Impact at a glance

74%food waste diversion rate (2025)

824,000+ kWhannual energy savings from smart HVAC

~100,000 litresof cooking oil turned into SAF and renewable diesel each year

3.3 kgCO₂e per delegate at Ecosperity Week 2025

Food & circularityEnergy & buildings

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Full description

At Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre, sustainability underpins how events are designed, delivered and evaluated. Through the Sands ECO360 Meetings programme, sustainability is embedded from the earliest stages of event planning. Clients are supported by over 100+ MICE and Sales professionals trained in global sustainability events management, providing strategic counsel on reducing environmental impact while maintaining luxury standards and seamless delivery expected of a world-class venue. This includes guidance on sustainable menus, waste minimisation, and event impact measurement.

Rather than presenting sustainability as a constraint, Marina Bay Sands reframes it as an enabler of better events. Solutions are designed to be practical, scalable and client-ready, allowing organisers to integrate sustainability without operational complexity.

Across events:

At PCMA Convening APAC 2026 and The Meetings Show Asia Pacific 2026, sustainability was embedded into everyday experiences. Leveraging a modular growing capsule featuring fresh herbs that doubled as interactive displays, a curated tea blend activation enabled delegates to engage directly with locally grown herbs, transforming sustainability into a tangible, multi-sensory experience. This concept was adapted with boba tea for an on-site tertiary students’ engagement in June 2026.

At TOKEN2049 Singapore 2025, the world’s largest crypto event with 25,000 attendees from over 160 countries, holistic sustainability was operationalised at scale across all five floors of the venue. Responsible ingredients were incorporated into food, including Singapore’s heritage cuisine, while bold experiential design saw a wellness zone with sound meditation classes and high-energy programming such as a rock-climbing wall, two pickleball courts and a zipline soaring across the exhibition floor. These demonstrated how sustainability can be integrated into large-scale, high-intensity environments without compromising experience.

Food waste diversion focused on supporting communities in need and circularity. Since 2016, Marina Bay Sands has donated over 35,000 kg of unserved, safe food to those in need to The Food Bank Singapore’s network of 370+ beneficiary partners. Cutting edge processor WasteMaster enables the reduction of waste volume by up to 80 per cent. The team partners with off-site processing facilities and suppliers, converting food waste into biofuels, and fish and insect feed for local aquaculture. In 2025, the resort diverted 74 per cent of its food waste.

Approximately 100,000 litres of used cooking oil, including from banqueting, are converted into sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel annually. Renewable diesel is then reintroduced to power back-up generators on-site, closing the loop on energy use.

Recycled chopsticks are transformed into QR code cubes and dietary tags. Lecterns are crafted from upcycled magazines and recycled PET bottles. Table numbers are repurposed from cork collected across the integrated resort’s restaurants.

Human sustainability is equally prioritised. At PCMA Convening APAC, wellness activations such as Sound Gong were part of conference programming, while restorative spaces for meditation and rest were integrated into event design, enhancing delegate engagement and cognitive performance.

This model of thinking demonstrates that sustainability can be scalable, commercially viable, and experience-led, solidifying Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre as a platform for systemic change across the business events industry.

The challenge addressed

Marina Bay Sands’ initiatives address a systemic challenge where sustainability in business events is often fragmented rather than embedded into event design. Across large-scale events such as TOKEN2049 Singapore and The Meetings Show Asia Pacific, organisers must balance scale, experience, and environmental responsibility. At the same time, platforms like Ecosperity Week 2025 highlight the need for events to drive real-world outcomes beyond discussion, as the annual conference convenes policymakers, investors and corporates for critical climate dialogue and partnership-building.

Key challenges are:

Fragmented implementation across operations, experience and outcomes

Limited delegate engagement with sustainability initiatives

Difficulty scaling sustainable practices in high-volume events

Misalignment between sustainability goals and commercial delivery

Marina Bay Sands addresses this by embedding sustainability into end-to-end delivery and designing engaging experiences.

In addition to a robust team of over 100 MICE and Sales Team Members trained in sustainability events management, Marina Bay Sands’ dedicated sustainability team works closely with clients to provide counsel to companies looking to embed specific sustainability objectives into events without any additional cost. This commitment is further translated into practical transparency tools and communication options, including an Impact Statement for event footprint analysis, which has been available upon request for over a decade. Sustainability factsheets and event storytelling are also integrated into menus and signages.

How it transforms business events

Marina Bay Sands transforms business events through a systems-level, cross-functional approach, where sustainability is embedded across design and departments – from MICE and Banqueting to Sustainability and Facilities. Sustainability continues to be guided by the global Sands ECO360 strategy, covering key pillars including climate, energy, water, waste, sourcing, biodiversity, and culture. Goals are set annually, reviewed quarterly, and advanced through cross-functional collaboration.

For example, Ecosperity Week 2025 demonstrated how sustainability can be embedded from the outset, supporting a broader platform for climate dialogue and cross-sector collaboration to extend impact beyond the event itself. Key operational measures included:

Removal of chair covers to reduce water and energy usage

Use of reusable tumblers across all meeting rooms

Digital signage to minimise printed materials

Prioritisation of local and regional food sourcing

Deployment of fair trade coffee and tea within VIP areas

Clients can also explore various sustainable culinary offerings reflecting Marina Bay Sands’ premium hospitality, encouraging lower-impact choices while enabling delegates to feast with peace of mind:

A regional sourcing policy underpins offerings that focus on Southeast Asian nations alongside Australian and Singaporean produce.

In 2025, Marina Bay Sands achieved the highest level of recognition under the Singapore Food Agency’s Farm-to-Table Recognition Programme, underscoring the property’s leadership in sustainable sourcing and supporting local farms. To qualify, establishments must source at least 15% of local produce across three or more food categories.

An on-site herb garden on the roof with ingredients like rosemary, basil, and mint are incorporated into signature dishes and beverages prepared by the Banquets Team.

The venue’s culinary proposition includes close to 100% certified humane cage-free eggs sourced from a local supplier, alongside responsibly sourced seafood.

Plant-based options offer lower-impact alternatives for organisers seeking to reduce menu-related greenhouse gas emissions and water use.

Sustainable beverage options include Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance certified coffee and tea, biodynamic or regionally sourced wines, and locally crafted beers.

Circularity is also extended to tradeshows like Vinexpo Asia 2025. More than 39,000 glass bottles (19,500 kg) and 30kg of cork were sorted and collected by Marina Bay Sands’ Stewarding team and the organiser. A third-party company, Refind, was identified to repurpose these into artworks, while the remaining were sent to a glass recycling facility in Malaysia to be crushed, melted down and moulded into new glass products. These initiatives are innovative examples of supporting circular solutions in a high-volume exhibition setting.

When it comes to wellness, initiatives like incorporating Sound Gong at PCMA Convening APAC’s programme is not a one-off, but part of a broader meeting add-on called THRIVE. Clients can tap into two categories of wellness classes to help delegates enhance awareness and build resilience, providing the perfect reset between meetings and events.

THRIVE Physically focuses on soothing Sound Meditation to shift one’s consciousness, Revitalising Stretch harmonises breath and movement, and Soul Flow is a dynamic session that explores the flow of energy within your body.

THRIVE Intellectually is a series of evidence-based theory workshops led by a certified Positive Psychology Practitioner. Clients can explore topics for group sessions, from Self-Regulating and Harmonious Communication to Energy Forecasting, featuring practical exercises designed to help clients manage burnout and enhance productivity.

On building infrastructure, Marina Bay Sands improves energy efficiency at its Expo & Convention Centre through advanced cooling, lighting, and building controls.

Air-conditioning is supplied through Singapore’s District Cooling System and managed through a centralised, control platform that aligns operations with event schedules so that cooling runs only when spaces are in use.

Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) enhancements enable real-time fan-speed adjustments in response to cooling demand, improving system efficiency while maintaining guest comfort. These measures have improved airside efficiency and delivered annual energy savings of more than 824,000 kWh, reinforcing Marina Bay Sands’ commitment to continuous improvement and operational excellence.

In parallel, the venue continues to expand LED lighting, introduce lower-power systems, and deploy motion sensors to reduce unnecessary energy use.

Together, this approach ensures that sustainability is not fragmented, but seamlessly integrated across both front-of-house experiences and back-of-house systems. It shifts business events from transactional gatherings to outcome-driven platforms that deliver environmental, human, and economic impact at scale.

Measurable impact

Marina Bay Sands’ systems-led approach delivers measurable impact across planet, people, and purpose, demonstrating that sustainability can be scaled across high-volume events while maintaining experience and commercial outcomes.

PLANET (Environmental Sustainability)

Sustainability is embedded across building management and operations, enabling consistent environmental performance across the integrated resort:

Achieved a 28% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions against the 2018 baseline through efficiency projects and renewable energy certificates.

Avoided 13 million kWh of energy through efficiency initiatives.

74% food waste diversion rate, supported by circularity principles and food donation diversion.

Energy optimisation through smart building systems delivers over 824,000 kWh in annual energy savings.

13 million litres of water saved through water-efficiency measures.

Continuous strong focus on local and regional sourcing and on partnering with suppliers who champion responsible farming practices, achieving a record 54 per cent of seafood from responsible sources in 2025 across the resort. It reaffirms Marina Bay Sands’ dedication to marine conservation and commitment to serve sustainable seafood at scale.

Two on-site herbs produce approximately 16kg of herbs for harvesting monthly – which are incorporated into the Expo & Convention Centre’s event menus to offer guests the freshest, chemical-free ingredients while reducing carbon emissions from transportation.

Sustainable F&B design, including plant-forward menus and portion optimisation, reduces waste generation.

Specifically for events like Ecosperity Week 2025, where a post-event impact report was generated:

Total carbon footprint: 21 tCO₂e

Emissions intensity: 3.3 kgCO₂e per delegate

Event diversion rate: 68%

Over 30,000 kWh of electricity usage managed across event operations

It demonstrated the successful integration of sustainability into a large-scale conference, supported by measurable performance outcomes. These initiatives reflect a high level of operational integration and client collaboration.

PEOPLE (Human Sustainability & Engagement)

Events are designed to enhance delegate wellbeing, inclusivity, and participation:

At PCMA Convening APAC, wellness-led programming (e.g. mass Sound Gong, restorative sessions, quiet zones) improved delegate focus and experience across multi-day programmes.

At TOKEN2049 Singapore, large-scale delegate experiences emphasised wellbeing, movement, and cognitive balance, reinforcing the importance of human sustainability at scale in high-intensity environments.

The integrated resort extends sustainability beyond environmental performance by delivering meaningful community outcomes and more inclusive event experiences. This includes inclusive design, from wheelchair-friendly areas, braille lift buttons and wheelchair-accessible toilets, to nursing rooms and strong public transport connectivity, supporting both accessibility and lower-emission attendee mobility.

PURPOSE (Economic & Industry Impact)

Events consistently deliver strong commercial and strategic outcomes:

The Meetings Show Asia Pacific convened over 2,000 delegates and 600+ buyers from 80+ countries, generating thousands of business meetings and partnerships

Ecosperity Week 2025 drove regional climate dialogue, cross-sector collaboration, and capital mobilisation – and Marina Bay Sands’ venue capabilities complemented the conference experience

PCMA Convening APAC 2026 facilitated knowledge exchange and industry transformation insights, reinforcing Asia Pacific’s leadership in business events

Across all events, success is defined not just by attendance, but by quality of engagement, partnerships formed, and long-term outcomes

These outcomes demonstrate consistent delivery of sustainability outcomes across diverse event formats.

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2026

Drops by FGA

Fly Green Alliance, Global

A fintech funding and campaign platform to share the cost of non fossil flying with the world, created by Fly Green Alliance.

Impact at a glance

Since 2019advocating for and developing the SAF market

Travel & logistics

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Full description

Drops builds and collects funds through multiple contribution streams and seamlessly manages the full waste to wing process working with airlines and fuel suppliers to build and manage accelerating production of non fossil fuel for environmental and energy security purposes. We believe in a truly global approach involving all travellers, events and destinations and that it is possible to make net zero aviation when we focus and manage our drops and cash flows to achieve our global goal.

Fly Green Alliance have been working on advocacy and market development since 2019, and have actively contributed to building the non fossil fuel industry, global net zero agendas and policy change.

Fly Green Alliance are frequently invited to contribute to UN and European Commission roundtables, and to feedback to UK Department of Transport and US Department of Energy as well as other key groups steering energy transition change.

Drops uses a new business model and 360 approach to developing the SAF market, we support the market to build supply and then we bring drops of funds from business events, hospitality, destinations and match it with airline funds to purchase SAF which grows the number of SAF producers and the overall global supply, bringing funds also to nations and airlines who are finding it challenging to meet environmental commitments. Drops is a collective approach to ensure no nation, no airline or traveller is left behind.

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