Attending the 2016 European Meetings & Events Conference (EMEC), Feb. 7-9 in Copenhagen? – Don’t forget to pack warm socks and mittens, because (guess what?!) it gets cold in Copenhagen in February. But you’ll get a warm feeling from more than your apparel and the fireplaces in the city’s myriad historic venues—attendees will be involved in activities that give back to the planet and humanity itself. Copenhagen’s DMOs, Wonderful Copenhagen CVB and Business Events Denmark by VisitDenmark are world renowned for their sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
But you can also bring additional warm gloves, hats and socks to take part in a brand-new initiative being rolled out at EMEC 2016. Simply leave those items in Copenhagen when you go home and the all-important warm clothing will be distributed to the needy.
It’s all part of a whole host of important sustainability/CSR activities that will be embedded in the fabric of EMEC 2016, which embraces the famed Danish Meetovation meetings design concept. One of the tenets of Meetovation is that of responsible thinking, which puts the meeting industry in Denmark at the center of moving the world forward in a sustainable and socially responsible fashion.
According to the statement of principles of Meetovation, which was introduced in 2003, ‘The meetings industry is worth millions and has the potential to reach multiple audiences. By integrating sustainability into your events, you have the opportunity to engage both the public and millions of industry professionals on the importance of the environment, communicate the need to change, demonstrate the benefits and highlight innovations.’
In accord with that principle, a key piece of Meetovation is instruction in how to conduct greener and more socially responsible meetings and events. Such instruction will be available at EMEC 2016.
Perhaps the best-known element of the Danish initiative for sustainability/CSR is Wonderful Copenhagen CVB’s #BeeSustain — a hashtag that has achieved a tweet reach of 10 million since it went live in May 2014. It’s a way that environmentally aware and dedicated people—including thousands of meeting planners—share best practices, achievements and environmental news every day – and an initiative that EMEC 2016 delegates can learn much more about at the ‘#BeeSustain Challenge: How To Drive Innovation and Enhance Meeting Quality and ROI Through Sustainability (and have FUN in the process)’ on Tuesday, February 09, 2016 / 09:00 – 10:30.
For Wonderful Copenhagen, BeeSustain is not just the written, spoken and tweeted word. Hence, the DMO decided to form an alliance with the pioneering Copenhagen bee association, Bybi, and adopted 140,000 bees in the city’s Botanical Garden. Bybi is a nonprofit organization whose aim is to increase the number of bees in the Danish capital. It has established an urban honey factory, where homeless people, those on the fringes of the labor market, refugees and children help take care of the 20 million bees.
The ByBi initiative was chosen because bees are fundamental to processes such as plant pollination, which itself is fundamental to the food chain on which all animals on this planet —including humans – survive – and because Copenhagen is already known as the Capital of Sustainable Meetings. The initiative also incorporates a broader story about what Copenhagen and Denmark is all about namely responsible thinking and involvement – two cornerstones of the Danish Meetovation concept. It is innovative and built on science and about maintaining the high quality of life and flavors of a culinary destination. And so, the honey is almost like Copenhagen/Denmark concentrated in a jar!
Source MPI blog
