A sustainable event with Association of Colleges 

The AoC Annual Conference and Exhibition, which took place on 16^th & 17^th November 2021 at the ICC Birmingham, is the must-attend further education event of the year, bringing together 1,200 delegates representing colleges of further education and business partners.

“Every organisation and industry needs to be doing more when it comes to sustainability and the events industry is no exception,” said Katie Hartigan, Events and Exhibition Manager for the Association of Colleges. “We are so pleased to have teamed up with Conference Care and the ICC Birmingham to monitor and manage the environmental impact from our event and to offset our carbon footprint. It is an excellent step in the right direction for sustainable events and the process could not have been easier. We look forward to continuing this work and using the information to reduce our footprint year on year.”

Partnering with Carbon Consultancy by Conference Care 

The Association of Colleges brought Carbon Consultancy by Conference Care on board for their flagship event, the Annual Conference and Exhibition 2021.

“We all need to come together to play our part in embedding sustainable choices into the events industry,” says Pauline Beattie, Sales Director Carbon Consultancy and Conference Care. 

“This is a great example of working together to measure and reduce the carbon impact of the annual conference by making different choices to influence delegate behaviours.  It’s a great start point to measure the year on year carbon reductions we can make to the conference.”

The consultancy takes a five-step approach with event planners: Measure – Aim – Reduce – Assess – Offset. 

AoC objectives: 

• To understand the carbon impact of the event
• To highlight the sustainable options for the longer term
• To create awareness to their members, stakeholders and colleagues about sustainability
• To offset any remaining CO2e tonnage and deliver a carbon neutral event

Choosing a venue

If committing to sustainable events, it is crucial for the organiser to select a venue which has the same ethos. In choosing the ICC Birmingham, AoC aligned itself with a venue partner at the forefront of sustainability in meetings and events. 

The venue has created ICC sustain, which is at the centre of their initiatives and alongside Carbon Consultancy, are proud to hold the ISO 14001: 2004 accreditation for environmental management systems. 

Positive impact on sustainability

For this conference, the AOC enlisted Immersive AV Ltd to build a fully sustainable stage set and registration desks, ensuring that there were no waste materials left at the end of the event. Once the event had finished, the set and registration desks were broken down and will be re-used in  

future set design.  

The ICC along with their in-house caterer Amadeus, have created a partnership with food waste pioneers Winnow and the charitable scheme Olio “Food Waste Heroes” 

Amadeus is the first catering company in the events sector to partner with food waste pioneers Winnow, using the technology to reduce food waste at the ICC by a third. Research suggests that the reduction in waste would lead to an annual saving of more than 16 tonnes of food, the equivalent of 40,800 meals a year.  

In terms of other waste management, the ICC’s waste is treated, so that glass, cardboard and paper is separated and recycled. Waste that cannot be recycled or re-used is incinerated to use for energy via a Birmingham City Council run scheme. 

With catering second in terms of carbon impact, we analysed the detail of the data captured from delegates dietary preferences. A total of 43% of the responders opted for a vegetarian/vegan/fish choice for lunch and 35% chose the same for dinner. This is significantly higher than previous averages publicised in the events industry, suggesting that delegates are open to change.  

Key outcomes 

• Carbon Consultancy by Conference Care calculated for the AoC Annual Conference and Exhibition 2021 that the final carbon emissions of the event equated to 125 tCO2e.This total was offset as part of the sustainable event strategy.

• With regards to the conference itself, the carpet was donated to specialist recycling organisation Event Cycle UK.

• For delegate transport, 69% of attendees travelled by train, 40% of drivers opted to car share and 13% of drivers had electric or hybrid cars.

• The speaker plinths, which were built specifically for this event, have been donated to a local theatre for use in their productions.

• The flower centre pieces for the conference, exhibition and dinner were all eco-friendly and at the conclusion of the event, the flowers were given to attendees to take home.

• The ICC also supported the conference with in-venue education, tours and sessions for apprentices who were attending the event itself.

What sustainability legacies have resulted from your event?

AoC sponsors, exhibitors, partners and colleges of further education were all part of the data collection process for this conference so are now more aware of how to make more sustainable choices when it comes to planning their own events programmes.

The ICC have collected data from the event which they will use to adapt their conference and events proposition for new customers. A tangible example of this is illustrating to customers the difference a menu choice has in carbon footprint and educating customers to make more informed choices. 

The ICC are also building stronger links with local and sustainable suppliers in order to minimise the carbon footprint attached to events.

Contacts

Carbon Consultancy by Conference Care: https://www.conferencecare.com/

Association of Colleges: https://www.aoc.co.uk/