The UAE is an open economy that prioritizes sustainable events that enhance the nation’s development economically. It engages in initiatives that provide a high standard of living facilitated by its relative economic diversification policies incorporated. This majorly includes its tendency to embark on a new model of sustainable events regularly. UAE boasts about having high capita per income, large yearly trade surplus, and excellent tax incentives. Many of these public benefits exist in the country because it practices the ethics of a sustainable event. In this article, we’ll discuss some important key factors and principles that are associated with a sustainable event management guide.
Sustainable Event Management
Sustainable event management is a process wherein the conducting and tailoring of certain events aid issues concerned with economic and social factors. It also refers to as event greening. Sustainability in event management is designed to minimize various negative impacts that can affect the standard of living in a community. In other words, it involves construction, organization, and implementation used to enhance the attributes of a business and its environment both economically and socially. The mere gathering of people in a region can affect the living quality of the surroundings. This includes unfavourable impacts on the soil, atmosphere, and other natural resources highly beneficial to humankind. Consequently, the UAE results in solutions that will adequately reduce the influences of its activities within its environment.
By incorporating a sustainable events planner, event organizers around the country have the opportunity not just to minimize potential unfavourable impacts. It also remarkably influences change by leaving a positive legacy for stakeholders as well as inspiring others to live more sustainably. UAE has been able to show that event greening plays a vital role in the dealings of every society. It is beneficial to the nation as different disciplinary approaches and actions greatly enhance its various responsibilities. These responsibilities are:
– Environmental responsibilities
This involves low-emission transportation and general mobility around the country, waste control, management of natural resources like water and air, exclusion of harmful environmental substances, and other sustainable energy events.
– Financial responsibilities
This involves the exclusion of corruption, which generates more savings, rational and transparent public procurement, increased quality in the production of goods, employment opportunities, economic accountability, sustainable growth, etc.
– Social responsibilities
This involves the management of human resources, conducive surroundings for the workplace, regard for human rights, complying with the national labour rights standards, respecting diversity, acknowledging minorities, social equity, promotion of cultural or religious activities, and so on.
Generally, sustainability event management requires consideration of the entire needs and values of the people and societies. It allows different stakeholders to be or remain interested in their dealings with events and businesses. Conducting greener meetings may not be on all event planners’ schedules, but it is factual that it bears significant benefits. It is often as a result of mere oblivion that some persons do not incorporate ethical sustainability methods in events. Fortunately, there are some top critical and common reasons mentioned here as to why sustainable functions are essential.
Why UAE Shows High Regard for Sustainability
Financial benefits
The economic practices involved in sustainable events examples moreover, paradigms concerning UAE makes it cherish the initiative continuously. From the purchase of local products and sensible consumption to the conservation of energy, sustainability provides many financial benefits. The application of this factor in event management allows the enhancement of savings over time. Although there might need to engage in costly research of new systems, sustainability principles are still applicable. That is, applying the principles of event sustainability helps to curb unnecessary expenses used to improve the societal standards. It gives room for long-term financial benefits, primarily in the efficient use of resources.
Positive impacts and recognition
When a business incorporates ethical sustainability in its processes, it gets acknowledged by the people and leaves the right image. There are many involvements concerned with a medium for large-scale enterprises, so, naturally, their processes would influence the community. However, sensible measures taken to control potential negative impacts on the city are recognized, thereby improving reputation. In essence, promoting the fact that one organizes or hosts a sustainable event will raise the profile of the occasion. It will attract more participants that eventually become aware of sustainability problems and potentially engage the attention of the masses.
Social benefits
When carefully planned and implemented, the event has a significant tendency to boosts the social undertakings required of every society. Some of the widespread benefits of sustainable business events include more employment opportunities, local investments, and conducive working environments. More particularly, the involvement can catalyze enhancing environmental and sustainable best practices throughout a nation. It also encourages a better relationship between the organizers and their local communities. The social benefits of sustainability can be broken down into several aspects of modern ecological factors. Accordingly, it defines a broad range of socially acceptable events.
Innovations
A professional event planner who consistently embarks on sustainable events apparently drives the demands required for the occasion. He/she would ask for more sustainable instruments that will trigger also promote the development of innovative strategies and technologies. The need to be creative in any event planning or management allows one to think outside the box occasionally. This notion implies that new techniques impacted on daily event sustainability know-hows give room for better execution of activities. It leads to more efficient use of resources and enhancement of the individual experience. As a result, sustainable events alliance between people, groups, and countries to establish a conscious corporate environment improves over time.
Increase in awareness
Using sustainability in event management is a splendid way and opportunity to create awareness among people in the community. This includes exposure to service providers, local community, wider events community, the general public, and other event participants. Making as many individuals as possible, conscious of the theme of sustainability and sustainable events is relatively advantageous. It allows them to understand what environmentally sustainable events can do to aid a better standard of living. Moreover, this inspires and motivates people to take responsible decisions and employ social and environmental improvements in their activities and organizations.
Sustainable Development Events and Implementation
Running sustainable development forward in the spirit of 2019 is not merely an engagement for the world community and its countries. Precisely, UAE embarks in achieving many of its national and international goals through every company’s contribution. The individual companies contribute to the entire nation’s sustainability through corporate citizenship processes and responsible undertakings. For UAE, it regards it as a mission and obligation incorporated in society. Sustainable design events realize both corporate and performance levels of the companies. The numerous participations and self-commitments in activities and programs that improve the living standards of society are extremely important in terms of credibility.
Strategies
Most implemented events attributed to this practice offer enormous potential for making sustainability concepts tangible in all its applicable dimensions. This refers to social responsibility, ecological balance, political participation, and economic performance as well as underlining corporate values. Through some exact actions, sustainable event management encompasses multiple measures across all the homes and businesses in a region. Several fields of activity, such as the conversation of resources in areas of mobility and building management, can be sustained. It is after proper implementation that one witnesses the impact of its typical event strategy, becoming established as a norm. As a result, many sustainable event management strategies are transferred directly to everyday office life to attain more sustainability amongst companies.
Patterns
In every sustainable model, there are various ways through which sustainability can be applied or implemented. The regular patterns go as plan >> implement >> review, of which the second process is often the most critical. The implementation stage gives rise to the need for achieving sustainability as well as the effects it may cause. A potential plan towards establishing an event greening within society becomes futile if it undergoes incorrect execution.
Below are some standard strategies and solutions for implementing sustainable development goals events in a particular region.
Waste control
- Conducting a recycling awareness campaign in the community can reduce the naivety of improper waste disposal in the city.
- Ceasing from the use of disposable items used recycled and reusable products and minimizing package needs.
- Choosing of display materials without a date for subsequent usage.
- Communicating with the waste management supplier about more efficient recycling options improves waste control.
- Donation of materials to the local community, groups, or schools.
- Minimizing materials provided to participants and used by service providers like caterers and exhibitors before, during, and after the event.
Water usage
- Installation of water-saving devices such as tap aerators can help curb resource availability in the community.
- Individual homes and companies should apply consistent inspection and maintenance of pipes, taps, and other water instruments.
- Agricultural practitioners and even domestic users of water can attend more to the usage of rainwater or greywater harvesting.
- Implementation of water-conscious measures such as discarding bottled water and re-filling glasses mere upon request.
- Selection of venues and accommodation that implement water conservation practices and usage of water-efficient appliances.
Food consumption
- Selection of locally sourced, organic foods over processed foods.
- Giving out edible leftovers to the less privileged helps to reduce unethical food disposal.
- Purchase of fair-trade produce to ensure fair wage payment to producers.
- Attainment of delegate numbers to reduce wastage.
- Minimizing the need to transport food and other products within and without the community.
- Usage of products manufactured with or containing less harmful substances.
- Usage of local suppliers and produce more often.
Energy control
- Consideration of renewable energy sources for carrying out domestic and industrial activities.
- Application of energy monitoring devices to observe and monitor most usage of consumption.
- Creating an awareness campaign or initiative to ensure lights, computers, and other households/industrial appliances are switched off or deactivated regularly.
- Selection of less power-consumption devices like lights that support LED features.
- Selection of precise locations and accommodation that implement energy-efficiency measures.
- Compliance with green building criteria and usage of renewable energy sources.
- Application of energy-saving office practices during the organization and hosting of events.
- Choosing venues that minimize local and long-distance transportation needs for participants and products.
- Provision of public transports information to delegates to decrease the usage of personal vehicles.
- Switching energy supply methods to a renewable tariff
Social and economic impact
- Involvement of local and regional communities as much as possible, which includes recruiting local people, and showcasing successful local projects.
- Assurance of security and social aspects in events.
- Consideration of accessibility issues within the community.
- Awareness of religious or cultural sensitivities.
- Consideration of ethical investments.
- Promotion of local businesses through various events.
- Attainment of better cost savings through efficiencies of sustainable finance events.
Phase Model for Sustainable Development Events 2019
The United Arab Emirates continues to employ the various executions of events that include sustainable characteristics. Accordingly, society becomes easily adaptable across several corporate social responsibility ethics and policies. This includes sustainable tourism events, sustainable brand events, sustainable fashion events, etc., which all contribute to the entire nation’s development. Currently, new models are applied to suit or enhance the effects of sustainability among all communities. In subsequent event organizations, one should systematically introduce the aspects of sustainability right from the start. Based on the phase of event planning and organization, different elements are essential.
Phase 1: Design
At the initial stage of sustainable event organizations, identification of the stakeholders, as well as acknowledgement of potential savings, is relevant. The extent to which the sustainability aspects engages analysis and implementation which address the principles of gender mainstreaming applies significantly. It should also account for the opportunities for participation and full access, including individuals with disabilities. The successful development of targeted goals or some measures if subsequent events provide a more motivating effect on participants. This doesn’t necessarily involve thorough addressing of fields of activity. It instead deals with focusing on implementing aspects that are monitorable and important in each respective context.
Phase 2: Communication and information
External and Internal communication and information in the organizing of events is integral not only with regards to the stakeholders. All data should also be kept in the company’s documentation for proper accountability right from the design phase. Mainly, communication on the sustainability aspect is essential for acceptance of the approach. It is necessary to inform not just the stakeholders but the guests as well about specific sustainable measures. The information shared should be articulate and stated openly, including when compromises where made.
Phase 3: Implementation
When conducting an event, the fair sharing of information to the participants is just one part of its critical elements. The implementation of the discusses information aids how one can integrate a cross-cutting theme of sustainability for an event. This may involve contacting locals to provide expert support for specific situations concerning the concept of sustainability.
Phase 4: Follow-up
At the end of every event, a proper analysis or evaluation should be performed to reflect on the essential and controllable aspects of sustainability. Data attained at this point will help in ensuring comparability with other recurring events. This may include collecting contact details of service providers and stakeholders who made a valuable contribution to sustainability for future events. The satisfaction regarding various sustainability aspects can also be used as a medium to design future events as well.