The Events Industry Council’s (EIC) Centre for Sustainability & Social Impact has launched an enhanced version of its Sustainable Event Standards, a set of eight standards designed to assess events and industry suppliers in support of environmental and social responsibility.

“As an industry, we are making some progress in the areas of environmental action and social impact, but the reality is we need to do much more,” says Mariela McIlwraith, CMP-Fellow, CMM, MBA, chief sustainability officer of EIC’s Centre for Sustainability and Social Impact. “The standards form a comprehensive framework and provide specific guidance in the areas of organizational management, marketing, communication and engagement, climate action, materials and circularity, supply chain management and social impact.

“We know that for many organizations, getting started in sustainability and social impact can seem daunting. To address this, we’ve introduced a new Foundations Level certificate that provides the guidance needed to develop the policies and plans needed to start the journey. The EIC Sustainable Event Standards are the next step, and through third-party auditing, they provide credibility and transparency for our industry’s stakeholders.”

Originally created in 2019 to replace the APEX/ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Meeting Standards, the Sustainable Event Standards provide guidance and metrics for event professionals at all stages of their sustainability journey. They also contain the necessary support to implement and measure sustainable practices.

The updates to the 2022 Sustainable Events Standards include:

• Foundations Level: A new Foundations Level replaces the “Industry Wide Criteria” and has a greater emphasis on education, tools and resources to support adoption.
• Improved Ease of Use and Expanded Criteria: Criteria, assessment and guidance have been updated for greater flexibility for regional adaptation, and have been expanded in areas of diversity, equity and inclusion, accessibility and climate action. Points values were also adjusted to reflect materiality and investment.
• Integrated Property Standard: A new integrated property standard was introduced to incorporate elements of the accommodation, venue and food and beverage standard for properties that offer all three services.
• New Certification Cadence: A new certification model for industry suppliers that now includes a comprehensive audit in the first and fourth years and surveillance audits for a smaller number of criteria for the second and third years was introduced for suppliers. A streamlined process for events using the same suppliers was also added.

The launch of the enhanced Sustainable Event Standards is supported by the national tourist board of Colombia, ProColombia, and global entertainment company, MGM Resorts International.