VENUE SUSTAINABILITY AWARD

15Hatfields

15Hatfields tells an infectious story of an unrelenting commitment to sustainability. Since opening its doors in 2008, sustainability has been at the heart of every business decision. Every effort has been made to ensure the Grade II-listed building is as environmentally responsible as possible. From the architectural features to the materials used to furnish its flexible contemporary event spaces, every element has a unique sustainable story that’s just waiting to be heard.

While truly impressive strides have been achieved in numerous areas such as minimising waste and eradicating single-use plastic, the team has taken a leading role educating planners and the wider industry that events don’t need to cost the earth. Cost savings that have been achieved by the inspirational team have been gifted back to owner – the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health’s charity – to assist its wider public and environmental health work.

Despite the successes to date, the team continues to innovate and support its clients, investing in the latest hybrid conferencing technology and launching the first online daily delegate rate.  It also has its eyes firmly set on the future, assigning its latest sustainability initiatives to the key pertinent parts of the UN’s Development and Sustainability Goals.

Barbican

The Barbican is a world leading conference and international arts venues. Located in the City of London, it is capable of holding meetings from 10-2,000 delegates in its fully equipped concert hall, theatres, conference suites and boardrooms.

The Barbican recognises the impact that our operations and activities can have on not just the environment but also people and we are committed to reducing these impacts by setting and achieving clearly defined objectives and targets to achieve continual improvement.

Due to the nature and scale of the Barbican we recognise that we have a leadership role to play in both the meetings and arts sectors and are therefore develop our systems with the ambition of being recognised as exemplars of best practice in CSR.

The Barbican has an opportunity to demonstrate best practice to millions visiting the centre every year, whether it is for the arts or conferences.  We see it as our duty to demonstrate best practice when it comes to sustainability and the environment.  Our work is ongoing and all encompassing, allowing us to continually demonstrate success.

Etele Plaza – Etele Cinema – BrandFestival – Strategic summit

BrandFestival is one of the most important strategy conferences and regular professional summits in Central Europe. The event is fully organised by the advertising agency group Republic Group.

The 2-day conference stands for sustainable development in a unique way, since the zero waste philosophy is given special attention in both its content and image. By strengthening the “zero waste” concept, the event strives to reduce its ecological footprint to the largest extent possible. Therefore, it is given special attention in both the content and image of the event.

In today’s business world, one of the most dominant trends is the responsible thinking of brands. Similarly, the organisers of the event believe that sustainability is important. The commitment of the brand festival to the zero waste philosophy reflects this. The CO2 footprint of the event was determined with the carbon footprint calculator of CarbonFootprint and ClimeNews. And, in order to neutralise it, we announced the “1 tree for 1 ticket” principle. Under this, we planted a tree after every ticket sold in collaboration with Pilisi Parkerdő Zrt. This is not merely a constant symbol of building the future, but it is also highly relevant ecologically. With this, BrandFestival has created a unique initiative in the events market.

According to current scientific data, a 10-year old tree can neutralise approx. 25 kg of CO2 in a year. An average Hungarian emits 4,200–5,000 kg of CO2/year (in more developed countries this can be double the Hungarian figure), meaning that the annual carbon-dioxide emission of a Hungarian can be offset with approx. 200 trees.

ICC Belfast

ICC Belfast together with sister venues, Waterfront Hall and Ulster Hall, are three world-class venues that drive economic activity and enhance the night-time economy of Belfast, a resurgent city steeped in heritage and culture. The venue has gone from strength to strength since it first opened in 1997 as a beacon of peace. In 2016 a £26.5M redevelopment significantly expanded the capabilities of the convention centre, which then became fully hybrid-by-design in 2021. The success of the venue is wholly predicated on its people and its eight organisational values underpin the vision which is to create a world-class stage where people make great things happen. Environment is one of these core values and the entire team is cognisant that as custodians of these iconic venues, protecting the environment is crucial.

To this end, the venue has created a sustainability policy encompassing 11 commitments that are aligned to eight of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These efforts have not gone unnoticed and earlier this year ICC Belfast achieved a Silver Green Meetings Award as a direct result of the measures that have been implemented to make the organisation greener, healthier, and more sustainable for the many successful years ahead.

Lime Venue Portfolio

Lime Venue Portfolio (LVP) know food, we know that it represents one of the most influential battlegrounds in meetings, conference and events fighting against climate change. From the most senior levels of leadership, LVP, alongside our member venues and sister brands, have been engaged in a coordinated, knowledge-led campaign around food and sustainability.

We built a campaign that prized knowledge and intelligence first. We made all of our findings open source and available industry-wide (even our competitors). We created a marketing campaign that raised awareness of the issue first, and our business second. We supported it with our own values and ethics within our business; we walked the walk as well. We gave our clients something they really needed and went above and beyond for them.

Olympia London

Olympia London believes operating sustainably is essential for its continued success Everyone in our industry is on a significant journey to true sustainability, and therefore we continually review the company’s ESG strategy and activities to make positive change and make commitments. In 2017 Olympia London launched its ESG strategy – The Grand Plan This strategy is core to our operations, decision-making and culture It is driven by working group that is centrally funded and made up of 20 staff from all areas and levels of the business, including board representation Our Grand Plan is not just about ‘green’ initiatives. It’s ultimate goal is to leave a positive impact through all that we do, focusing on: Community, Environment, and engagement. Olympia London was one of the first UK venues to commit to the global event industry’s net zero pledge during COP26 last year and inputted into the draft pledge Being able to commit to this early is a result of the years of embedding sustainably at our company’s core through our ‘Grand Plan’ ESG strategy The commitment is to reach net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 at the latest and reduce GHG emissions by 50% by 2030.

Spaces at The Spine

Spaces at The Spine is Liverpool’s newest destination for events, offering world-class dynamic spaces for conferences, workshops and dining, as well as event production services to accommodate virtual and hybrid events. The venue is housed within The Spine, the new northern home of the Royal College of Physicians.

Located in the heart of Paddington Village, Knowledge Quarter, The Spine is the healthiest building in the North West and one of the healthiest in the UK. The venue was launched in September 2021.

Sustainability is at the very core of the venue’s operation and day-to-day business, and sustainability strategies are an integral part of the venue’s design. The Spine has been designed to be one of the healthiest buildings in the world and is on track to achieve WELL Platinum and BREEAM Excellence. Its impressive internal biophilic sky garden with oxygen-producing plants reconnects people with nature and creates a healthier and happier environment that has been proven to reduce stress.

The Spaces at The Spine offer supports 10 concepts of the WELL Standard (Air, Water, Nourishment, Light, Movement, Thermal Comfort, Sound, Materials, Mind and Community), making it a dynamic, forward-thinking venue of the future and a beacon of excellence in Liverpool.

Wyboston Lakes Resort

Wyboston Lakes Resort has all the credentials to be the Best Conference Venue. After spending a total of £10m on its properties, its venues meet the needs and expectations of current and future generations of event planners and delegates. From inspiring creative style and design of its spaces and its technology to its food and beverage facilities, it sets a new higher standard.

With the flexibility and range of the rooms it is ideal for all types and formats of events including conferences for up to 600. It hosts meetings and events for national and international corporate and association clients. With 400 bedrooms it is well equipped for both residential and non-residential conferences.

A ‘nothing is too much trouble attitude to service is often acclaimed by customers and delegates. For hybrid events, the venue has partnered with Maddison Media to deliver meetings in this format successfully. Its water park and outdoor space provide superb team-building activities.

The venue has continued its commitment to sustainability, finding every possible opportunity to be more environmentally friendly, using renewable energy, cutting waste and removing single-use plastics. Wyboston Lakes Resort is truly a venue designed for events now and in the future