The climate crisis is the most urgent challenge of our time. Business events can play a major role in the transformative change that is needed. From scientific conferences to political summits and trade fairs – meetings and gatherings of all types are essential tools for human collaboration and communication. The business events industry therefore has a unique opportunity and responsibility to contribute to the global efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Matthias Schultze, Managing Director at the GCB German Convention Bureau and Co-Chair of SANCBE: “Business events have been focusing on ecological sustainability for many years, but from now on we need to expand our understanding of sustainability, intensify our efforts, and align them with the best available science, existing international goals and frameworks as well as leading industry movements such as the Net Zero Carbon Events Initiative.”

Eric Bakermans, Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions and Co-Chair of SANCBE: “Our new whitepaper is built on many hours of insightful conversations, and it reflects the new roles and purposes we have jointly defined for ourselves as a European alliance. It is a result of our continued, trust-based collaboration, motivated by our shared vision for a sustainable future.”

Areas of Action and Concrete Approaches

Based on the future role and purposes of national convention bureaux as defined in a previous whitepaper by SANCBE (2021), the latest publication addresses four pillars and related areas of action: expertise & resources, advocacy & communication, strategy & standards, facilitation & innovation. These pillars show a number of concrete directions and approaches for national convention bureaux to leverage their role and influence in accelerating the sustainable transition. In terms of global cooperation, the whitepaper does not only provide a framework and inspiration for future strategic initiatives by the European member organisations, but for other, non-European national convention bureaux as well.

Global Forum for National Convention Bureaux

The whitepaper was officially launched on Monday, May 22, 2023, in Frankfurt/Germany during a brand-new and exclusive Global Forum for National Convention Bureaux, initiated by SANCBE and supported by ICCA and the IMEX Group. The forum aims at providing a collaborative industry platform serving to exchange experiences and knowledge transfer between the National Convention Bureaux with the mission to advance the sustainable transformation of business events and create long-lasting impacts in destinations.

A new Whitepaper by Strategic Alliance of the National Convention Bureaux of Europe “How can National Convention Bureaux Leverage Their Influence for Sustainability?” is available for download free of charge through this link.

About the Strategic Alliance of the National Convention Bureaux of Europe

The Strategic Alliance of the National Convention Bureaux of Europe is a network of national destination management and development organisations. As a collaborative industry platform, it concentrates on strengthening Europe’s position as a leading destination for international business events. The purpose of the Alliance is to create a beneficial working relationship amongst the NCVB of Europe in order to sustain and further develop the position of Europe.

The idea of creating synergies and establishing a joint platform for Europe as a destination for business events on the international stage continues to gain traction: Officially launched at IMEX 2014 in Las Vegas with nine founding countries, the Alliance is now a 29-member strong network that has steadily grown over the past couple of years. Poland Convention Bureau - Polish Tourism Organisation is one of the founding members of the Strategic Alliance of the National Convention Bureaux of Europe.

source: press release Strategic Alliance of the National Convention Bureaux of Europe