June 17, 2019 Challenge Accepted
With great impact comes great responsibility. Europe’s largest trade show sees it as its duty to accept and realize the challenge of protecting the great outdoors for future generations.
This summer, the international trade show OutDoor has moved from Friedrichshafen to Munich. Behind OutDoor stands the European Outdoor Group (EOG), and the location and organizer was chosen after a long and thorough process. This time when the new trade show takes place, now renamed OutDoor by ISPO, it will also have a much larger focus on sustainability. Markus Hefter, Exhibition Group Director at OutDoor by ISPO and ISPO Munich, explains:
“Sustainability is one of the main topics the European Outdoor Group is working on. Thus, it was required in their competitive bidding for their OutDoor show to have a plan on how to deal with this topic. And the members of our OutDoor by ISPO Advisory Board confirmed what we’ve already known: “Sustainability is a must” was one of the key findings during our first meeting in 2018.”
The awareness of what is at stake is growing in many industries, but within outdoor, the connection between business and nature is – or at least should be – obvious. As Kim Scholze, Community Manager Outdoor at OutDoor by ISPO, describes it:
“Being outdoor means experiencing and rediscovering our longstanding connection to nature as human beings. When the planet and humanity is at riskcaused by business, consumption and ignorance – we cannot close our eyes. And here, OutDoor by ISPO can play a vital role, says Scholze:
“As an international event with huge impact on the outdoor mindset, it is our duty to realize and accept these challenges. It is because of this logic that we have integrated sustainability as a cornerstone in our concept for OutDoor by ISPO right from the beginning.”
From insights to action
An important step is of course to look at the environmental impact of the trade show itself. The team behind OutDoor by ISPO has developed a new Code of conduct. This includes a call to action in the form of pledges to different stakeholders, like show organizers, exhibitors, visitors, booth builders, caterers and suppliers. One goal is to make the trade show climate positive, and many of the stakeholders have already made their own pledges.
The mid and long term agenda is also set, with a clear vision including goals and a general roadmap to develop fact-based solutions on emissions, water and waste management. These goals include measurements and transparent monitoring.
“As an international platform for the industry, we must live up to our responsibility and lead by example. That’s why we developed our Code of Conduct and – together with our partners – already have implement quite a few concrete measures during the ISPO show itself. It marks the starting point on the way to reach our vision of a sustainable and socially responsible outdoor industry,” says Hefter.
Challenge to exhibitors
- Use less material, provide proper plans for carpet, electricity, lighting.
- Use regional food suppliers and offer less but higher quality.
- Use climate-neutral travel options, e.g. through offsetting for staff travel.
- Bring your own mug or bottle – valid for all exhibitor staff members.
- Avoid offering single-use plastic bottled drinks during the show, as well as single-use plastic food or drink items on the stand such as cups, glasses, cutlery,
crockery, food wraps, straws, stirrers, single portions of milk, sugar, sweets etc. - Use eco-friendly cleaning products.
- Use fewer marketing materials/giveaways, but if needed use ecofriendly options. Avoid printing.
- Reuse booth structure, donate if not needed.
- Donate usable items like products, office products etc.More info here.
