Each month we shine the light on an Event Greening Forum member who is doing great work in the field of sustainability. However, this month we are changing things up a bit. Instead of profiling an individual from one of our member companies, we are profiling a green event that one of our member companies created: The BARSA Aviation Summit 2019, by the Board of Airline Representatives South Africa.
OVERVIEW
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Event: BARSA Aviation Summit 2019
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Client: Board of Airline Representatives South Africa (BARSA)
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Organiser: Creative Directions
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Venue: Inanda Club in Sandton, Johannesburg
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Date: 28 February 2019
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Number of delegates: 176
BACKGROUND
June Crawford, the CEO of BARSA, says, “At BARSA, we believe that it is our responsibility to protect our national heritage and resources, and sustainable event management is a large part of that. We take the relevant steps in the process of integrating environmental and social responsibility issues into our event planning for the benefit of future generations.”
BARSA successfully introduced sustainable event measures, also known as event greening, to its 2018 Summit. The Summit was certified as a Green Event, after achieving a total performance score of 78%. However, ongoing improvements and learning from this event meant that the 2019 Summit’s performance score jumped up to 83.4%.
Part of the organisation’s success has been due to its collaborative approach to event greening, rather than trying to do it alone. For example, BARSA joined the Event Greening Forum (EGF) to tap into the organisation’s sustainable event management resources and network – including contracting an EGF member, event organisers Creative Directions, to help achieve its green vision for the Summit.
Crawford adds; “We encourage our partners, business associates, guests and visitors to support our efforts, and select products and service providers that share our environmental vision.”
We encourage our partners, business associates, guests and visitors to support our efforts, and select products and service providers that share our environmental vision.
EVENT GREENING STRATEGIES
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The following are some of the practices that the BARSA Aviation Summit 2019 implemented to improve its environmental and social impacts.
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An Environmental Vision Statement for the Summit was prepared and adopted – an essential and often overlooked step in managing a sustainable event.
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Led lamps were used to light the venue.
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A system was in place to keep doors closed so that the air conditioning could maintain the venue’s temperature without drawing on excessive amounts of energy.
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Recycling bins were placed throughout the venue, which resulted in high recovery rates.
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Leftover, unserved food was donated to the Resthaven Ministries which operates homes for babies, children and the elderly.
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Treated water was bottled in glass, and a system was in place to ensure the full recovery and recycling of the glass waste.
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All solid and liquid waste was disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner without the use of harmful chemicals.
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Plans have been made for the branded banners to be upcycled into bags.
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All suppliers were asked to minimise and manage their transport needs, in order to help reduce the event’s overall emissions.
78% of the event’s waste was diverted from landfill.
THE RESULTS
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In total, 78% of the event’s total waste was diverted from landfill (168 kg of waste).
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Both the 2018 and 2019 Summit achieved a 100% performance score for local content and community involvement, as part of its Green Event certification assessment.
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Other areas where the BARSA Aviation Summit 2019 performed well in the Green Event certification assessment include:
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Administration and planning – 93.6%
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Food and beverage – 90.0%
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Resource management – 80.9%
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