Venues should
switch to 100 per cent renewable energy as soon as possible and measure carbon
emissions.
That was
the message from sustainability experts on a panel at Hire Space’s Venue Talk event
at London town house 41 Portland Place.
Panellists
Mark Bannister of Toucan Agency, Carina Jandt of Event Cycle, and Duncan Reid of
Reset Connect tackled the issues around sustainability within the events industry,
and gave advice to venues on how they can enhance the sustainability of their
spaces and events.
All
three strongly recommended venues switch to 100 per cent renewable energy as
soon as possible, and that they measure their carbon emissions. They also said venues
must find ways to reduce their energy usage, such as installing solar panels,
dimmer switches and separating their venue hire pricing from their electricity
pricing to encourage organisers to take greater responsibility when planning
events.
Duncan
Reid also suggested switching to a Power Purchase Agreement, where you can buy
electricity as a cheaper fixed rate long-term, as well as writing to local MPs
and pointing out the challenges venues and businesses will face due to paying
high energy prices.
The
panel discussed repurposing event materials so nothing goes to waste. The speakers
recommended that organisers and venues identify charities or organisations in
the local community that could use surplus event materials, including food
waste.
Bannister said: "We found during the
organisation of COP26 that by literally placing sustainability at the top of
every meeting agenda, positive change happened. Hire Space together with the
venues represented in the room are clearly keen to do the same and help our
industry steer a course towards Net Zero."
The
Venue Talk event brought together more than 50 venue managers across London to
explore event booking trends, sustainability in venues, and provide insights
into working effectively with corporate planners. It focused on education and
demonstrated how the industry is fighting back to succeed in this
still-challenging landscape.
Peter
Heath, MD of Venue Performance, reported that booking levels in 2022 are superseding
2019 levels, while another session saw Anna Fox from the EMA executive council,
and Victoria Potter, head of events at Permira, discuss how venues and
corporate event planners can work together effectively.
Fox and
Potter were positive about the future of events - describing them as
increasingly important to businesses’ communication strategies - while sounding
a note of caution about the potential for an uncertain few months.
Following
the discussions, guests enjoyed drinks, nibbles and bowl food courtesy of
in-house caterer CH&CO on 41 Portland Place’s sunny roof terrace.
Edward
Poland, co-founder of Hire Space, said: “It was brilliant to see a key section
of the industry come together to learn and network, in what was a positive and
upbeat evening for the industry. Huge thanks to the team at 41 Portland Place
for their hospitality and allowing us to run the evening in such an inspiring
setting.”
