We need more radical thinking on sustainability
Our industry’s siloed approach to sustainability needs a shake-up.
The two main architects behind Bray Leino Event’s sustainability strategy, Cressida Prout and Chrissie Beck, lead a session on radical thinking at the CN Sustainability Summit.
“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.
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
Crez takes to the stage
“Let’s ask some serious questions,” she says. “How can we bring about the changes we want to see?”
It’s a brainstorm - the audience buy in and things get noisy. The events sector could feed into legislation to set new standards on sustainable practice, someone suggests. Bake impact reporting into project contract requirements, or perhaps mandatory emissions disclosure for agencies. Suggestions fly...
But one theme stands out above all others. Collaboration – on best practice, on sharing policies, procedures, on smarter use of venues and transportation. It’s agreed, we need to get radical by working together.
Collaboration has been our mantra since the early days of our journey to net zero, nobody can deliver the change on their own. Let's work together.
