Sustainability is key

Very upbeat vibes are coming out of Copenhagen at the moment. The Danish capital has been having an extremely busy year with tens of thousands of people attending a wide array of congresses.

“During Covid we had a very big focus on postponing congresses rather than cancelling them,” says Bettina Reventlow-Mourier, deputy convention director at the convention bureau, Wonderful Copenhagen. “Our mutual efforts resulted in 56 congresses being moved to later years and those this year have been held very successfully, thanks to the great organisers behind them and aided by the fact that Copenhagen is generally considered a safe and reliable destination that handled the pandemic well.”

Some events were in hybrid format but physical attendances were high. The impressive list so far this year includes EHRA (European Heart Rhythm Association) in April, ESTRO (European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology) in May, EULAR (European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology), EuroPerio (European Federation of Periodontology) and ESPGHAH (European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition) all in June, ICOPA (World Federation of Parasitologists) in August and the IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition in September.

The IWA congress attracted an amazing 8,500 delegates and included a day-long high-level summit held for the first time in IWA history. “It turned out to bring immense value to the congress,” says Helle Katrine Andersen, chairman of IWA Denmark and COO at DANVA (Danish Water and Wastewater Association). “A strong and clear message was sent to politicians across the world that water is key to action on climate and the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).”

The underlying theme was ‘Water for smart liveable cities’, a concept in which Denmark is leading, and one of the activities was swimming in one of Copenhagen’s harbour baths to prove to delegates how clean the water is.

This year promises to be even more exciting when Copenhagen takes on the official title of UNESCO 2023 World Capital of Architecture. The title is linked to the UIA’s triennial International Union of Architects’ World Congress which will take place in Copenhagen in July under the heading ‘Sustainable Futures – Leave No One Behind’. More than 10,000 architects and professionals from the global building and construction industry are expected and it will be a chance to showcase the city’s many urban projects that have been developed or are under construction in line with the UN 2030 SDGs.

The UIA’s president of congress, Natalie Mossin, says: “The global community of architectural associations chose Copenhagen as world congress venue because of the city’s architecture, its safe urban environment and the short distances between everything as well as its progress on sustainability in the built environment. Our congress theme is the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Copenhagen has a lot to show for anyone interested in sustainable cities.”

Besides the world congress and other events associated with the World Capital title throughout the year, many more congresses will be taking place which tie in with Copenhagen’s strong sustainability agenda. They include the WindEurope Annual Meeting and medical congresses such as ECCO (Crohns Colitis), UEGW (United European Gastroenterology Week), ESHRE (European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology) and MDS (Movement Disorder Society).

The city is known for its strategic approach to legacy work and focus on creating long-lasting and sustainable business events solutions. In 2019, the convention bureau launched the Copenhagen Legacy Lab, presenting an opportunity for international associations to realise their vision and objectives through specific activities in connection with their events in the region. This was followed by an update of the Copenhagen Sustainability Guide offering organisers and other local and global stakeholders advice and assistance on how to create events that minimise their carbon footprint and leave a positive and lasting impact.

The venue of choice for the majority of major meetings in Copenhagen is the Bella Center, roughly 10 minutes from both Copenhagen Airport and the city centre. Accommodating up to 30,000 people, it is Scandinavia’s biggest convention and exhibition centre, has its own metro station and is on a bus route. It’s directly linked to the AC Hotel Bella Sky Copenhagen and the Bella Sky Conference & Event, a fully renovated conference centre with 48 meeting rooms and auditorium seating 930 people. They and the centre itself are part of the newly named Bellagroup which also runs the Copenhagen Marriott Hotel and Crown Plaza Copenhagen Towers.

The latest addition is the Bella Arena, or Congress Hall D, which accommodates 7,000 seated guests and 8,600 standing. Column-free and with 12 metre high ceilings, the total area is 14,000 sqm divided into the 7,000 sqm arena and 7,000 sqm foyer. It connects to the existing centre via a large glass atrium and used a new building material produced from upcycled Carlsberg beer kegs.

The Bella Center is one of the most sustainable congress and exhibition venues in the world and offers guidelines for sustainability to organisers to use for their events on site.

“The Covid years were very challenging for our local meetings industry,” says Reventlow-Mourier. “Many hotels, venues and restaurants relied on financial aid from the government. Most of them survived and we have also seen a plethora of new hotel openings including international brands that have opened their first hotel in Copenhagen. We now offer more than 30,000 hotel rooms in Greater Copenhagen.”

New additions include Scandic Spectrum in the city centre, the Scandic Group’s largest hotel to date. Sustainability has played an important role at all 14 Scandic properties in Greater Copenhagen and is integrated into all aspects of Scandic Spectrum.

Looking ahead, Reventlow-Mourier comments, “We are still busy supporting visiting congresses, attracting new for future years and at the same time developing our products to harmonise with the radical changes in both our industry and in the world. We are incredibly aware of the challenges that lie ahead, the realities of our business and also the opportunities for change that our industry at large should embrace and adjust to, both in our business models, in sustainability and in strategic legacy creation, to mention a few.”

Who to contact

Copenhagen Convention Bureau
E: [email protected]
www.copenhagencvb.com