CN Sustainability Summit: We need more radical thinking

Our industry’s siloed approach to sustainability needs a shake-up.  

The two main architects behind Bray Leino Event’s sustainability strategy are Cressida Prout and Chrissie Beck. Both will lead a session on radical thinking at the CN Sustainability Summit 2024. Here’s what to expect. 

“I’ve been thinking for a while that we need to get more radical in the solutions we propose,” says Chrissie, founder of the multi-award-winning sustainability consultancy Worlds Better. “This is a great chance to kick off the conversation.”  

Our industry is naturally wasteful. We create epic structures and memorable experiences, then usually tear them down just days or hours later. 

As organisers, venue owners, suppliers, and brands, we can see a path to mitigating the worst excesses of past decades. We’re more conscious of the impact of our choices and better equipped to make sensible decisions at the planning stage – where the greatest project sustainability gains can often be found.

Nobody can fault the effort. For the most part, we’ve become more efficient and better informed. But this traditional approach to sustainability, where we each mind our own small piece of the industry, can only take us so far. 

Just like a body is more than a collection of cells, an ecosystem more than a conglomeration of individual plants and animals – the events world is a vast network of relationships and feedback loops. 

In a future net zero world it cannot exist in its current form. To drive real change in such a complex and interconnected system, we need more radical thinking. 

“Let’s step back and ask some serious questions,” says Cressida Prout, Event Director at Bray Leino Events and Micebook Power Geen 50 Champion. “How can we work together to bring about the changes we want to see? That’s what this session aims to do.” 

Radical thinking requires us to look beyond simply continuing to improve what we have and instead question the fundamentals of a system, attempting to unpick cause-and-effect relationships to uncover previously hidden solutions.

“Radical change seeks to drive major shifts in understanding and actions across a broad range of diverse communities that can lead to shifts at both individual and organizational levels.”
McPhearson, T. et al. Radical changes are needed for transformations to a good Anthropocene - link

It will take a shift to more openness and collaboration, but radical thinking can help us find efficiencies and savings that benefit all and move our sustainability journey to the next level. 

Cressida Prout and Chrissie Beck will be joined on stage by Ian Weller, Chief Events Officer at The Cabinet Office. Catch their session, “We need more Radical Thinking”, at The CN Sustainability Summit on 24 July in London: Find out more 
 
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