Destination Canada’s Business Events team has launched the
latest resource to come from its Canadian Business Events Sustainability Plan,
Canada’s Sustainability Storybook.
This sustainability storybook shares initiatives from
communities which actively host business events and presents turnkey solutions with
the aim of inspiring and challenging business events decision makers, planners,
sustainability professionals and host destinations.
Examples of the initiatives shared within the storybook
include how to upcycle event furniture, how to celebrate rich cultures and
create ‘captivating conference experiences’ through indigenous fashion
showcases, and how to immerse attendees in a neighbourhood atmosphere to
support local artisans.
“I am so proud of our Team Canada partners who are acting as
stewards of sustainability in the business events industry and for providing
these unique, imaginative as well as practical solutions for others to
emulate,” says Virginie De Visscher, executive director, Business Events at
Destination Canada. “Our goal is to constantly keep Canada’s Business Events
Sustainability Plan relevant by sharing tools and resources to our industry
partners and clients.”
When Destination Canada launched its Canadian Business
Events Sustainability Plan in 2022, it was a first-of-its-kind
program aimed at improving the economic, socio-cultural and environmental
sustainability practices of business events.
The plan focuses on international association conferences,
trade exhibitions, workshops, seminars, corporate meetings, and incentive group
events. It was also created by Destination Canada to be shared as a best
practice to help the global business industry achieve its goal of net zero
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, in line with the goals of the Paris
Agreement to limit global warming.
Canada’s Business Events Sustainability Plan and the
storybook are also inspired by Destination Canada’s 2030 strategy – A World of
Opportunity – which aims to ‘transform Canada’s tourism industry with a
regenerative approach that creates sustainable, meaningful experiences for
travellers and tangible economic, sociocultural and environmental benefits for
all’.
“Each sustainability solution in our book is aligned with
the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, as the internationally
recognised shared framework for achieving a better and more sustainable
future,” says De Visscher. “It is a common language that unites us all.”
