Comments Off on isla launches industry-defining temperature check report
isla has recently released its first industry report, combining insights from TRACE, and the wider membership community.
The report – a temperature check 2022-2023: an exploration of sustainable progress in the UK event industry – is the first of its kind globally, and reflects isla’s mission to support the events industry transition to Net Zero.
This report helps the industry make sense of where event emissions come from and highlights how the industry can harness rich data to support businesses. This is essential knowledge to thrive in a changing climate and an evolving regulatory landscape.
Intent on providing action-focused insights and guidance to align the industry on tackling event decarbonisation, this temperature check considers where we are now and where we need to be.
Key areas in the report include:
Trends in event carbon emissions from TRACE
Practical actions the events industry can take today, to ensure a brighter tomorrow
Why the concepts of climate literacy and carbon instinct are key to business transformation against the backdrop of the climate crisis
How organisations can reframe key challenges on the path to event decarbonisation as opportunities and the rewards these can present to businesses
How the events industry can work together to harness the power of collaborative advantage
The report also exemplifies the best of TRACE in action with case studies from across the sector, including leading event agencies Amplify, Momentum and The Creative Engagement Group.
isla CEO & Founder Anna Abdelnoor said: “The climate crisis is happening now, and action to address it must continue at pace. The industry has been crying out for the insight and guidance it needs to take meaningful action to address climate change. Achieving Net Zero faces a myriad of challenges ranging from a lack of coherent policy to perceived barriers to moving from ‘business as usual’ to businesses fit for the future. This report will act as a beacon for the industry.”
Comments Off on A Case Study: Green Space: Dark Skies Shining the Spotlight on Outdoor Event Sustainability
Leading outdoor arts organisations Walk the Plank, were at the helm of Green Space, Dark Skies, one of ten projects commissioned as part of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK a ground-breaking UK-wide celebration of creativity in 2022, designed to celebrate science, technology, engineering, the arts and maths.
Walk the Plank had four core sustainability targets for the event – which saw thousands of people, from all paths in life, to experience beautiful landscapes across the UK at dusk, between April and September 2022 – which were as follows:
100% renewable energy usage
Zero-waste policy on resource usage
Limit disposable and single-use plastics
Follow the waste hierarchy
In the informative video below, Rebecca Whitman, a freelance consultant and the event’s Sustainability Manager tells TRACE Customer Success Manager Kate Kieran, how the organisation utilised TRACE to help meet the above and also put them on the path to win the Best Sustainability award at the National Outdoor Events Association in the same year.
Download the full Green Space: Dark Skies Sustainability Impact report here.
This video has been extracted from the TRACE monthly lunch & learn series. This is a free, monthly virtual event exclusively for TRACE users, which brings stakeholders from the events ecosystem together to answer common platform questions, update them on new data-driven platform features and gives them the opportunity to share successes and stumbling blocks on the path to event decarbonisation.
Comments Off on Virtual events and the climate crisis: the go-to solution?
The pandemic demonstrated the global virtual event industry’s impressive ability to flex and evolve in response to an unprecedented period of change. It’s small wonder then that virtual events are no longer viewed as the poorer second cousin to live events, and now form an integral part of any successful marketing strategy.
But beyond the obvious benefits to business ranging from lower operating costs to data capture, virtual events also offer the chance for organisations to play their part in tackling the climate crisis. A recent study described transitioning from in-person to virtual events as an ‘effective climate mitigation strategy’, offering substantial decreases in both event carbon footprint (94%) and energy use (90%).
For organisations increasingly using ESG frameworks as the basis of their decision making, the above figures are hard to ignore.
While it would be easy to then conclude that virtual events don’t need the same level of scrutiny on environmental impact as in-person events, the journey towards net zero demands continuous improvement across all event formats.
Research has shown that over 60% of carbon emissions from larger virtual conferences can be attributed to network data transfers (e.g. downloading data from video calls). And yes this can be offset by adopting carbon-friendly habits such as switching from HD to SD and turning off cameras (reducing carbon footprint by 96%), according to the same study, but at what cost to the virtual-event experience?
Among the drawbacks to virtual events cited by respondents to a recent global survey of event organisers and attendees is the fact they feel: less personal (55%) and materials presented are more difficult to engage with (22%). Both of these may be harmed rather than helped by the above carbon-reduction strategies. In addition, without strong engagement high-level conferences are unlikely to inspire the behaviour change so critical to mobilising climate action.
The good news is that increasingly sophisticated virtual event platforms have risen up to meet some of these challenges. They are working hard to capture and keep the attention of audiences as well as fostering connection utilising everything from gamification for the former to one-to-one networking for the latter.
But it’s clear that there is no one-size-fits-all event format, and depending on event objectives hybrid – such as the forthcoming COP28 – or in-person may still offer a better fit.
So how to reconcile a larger carbon footprint if you do opt for, say, a hybrid event? As well as using tools such as TRACE to help you measure and minimise event carbon emissions, whatever your chosen event format, there are a long list of options to explore to boost your event’s sustainability credentials.
Comments Off on A Case Study: Putting the Green in the BBC Green Planet Experience
isla members and London-based immersive entertainment and storytelling studio Factory 42 were at the helm of production for The Green Planet AR Experience, inspired by the BBC TV series and powered by EE 5G.
Winning the Green Event category at the inaugural Campaign Ad Net Zero Awards in 2022 in recognition of their work. This seminal event really exemplified how to sustainability and great storytelling can come together to create a positive impact for both people and planet.
Anna Abdelnoor, CEO and Founder of isla, said: “The team at isla were proud to support our members Factory 42 in delivering sustainability at every stage of this seminal event. The results, and the team’s award win, speak for themselves and we look forward to seeing how we can collaborate on future events.”
In the download and keep case study below you’ll learn how isla tools TRACE and proseed, as well as support from the isla team, helped Factory 42 deliver ambitious sustainability targets across production, waste (where just 4% was sent to landfill!), supply chains and much more.
