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Companies, institutions and attendees increasingly value the environmental commitment of the brands that organise or sponsor events. However, implementing sustainable actions is not enough; knowing how to communicate them effectively, ethically, and strategically is essential.
Without a clear narrative, even the most ambitious efforts may go unnoticed. Communicating your environmental commitment not only amplifies its impact, but also builds trust, generates engagement, and positions your event as a benchmark for environmental responsibility.
The Key: Storytelling with Purpose
Storytelling is a powerful tool because it connects people to ideas through emotions and personal stories. When applied to sustainability, it shifts the focus from presenting cold facts to sharing stories with heart: how the idea to reduce plastic use came about, what obstacles were overcome, who led the change, and what impact was achieved.
At a professional event, storytelling allows all parties—organisers, attendees, suppliers, and sponsors—to engage in a shared cause in a memorable way.
Components of a Good Environmental Commitment Story
Good storytelling to communicate environmental commitment should include:
- Context: What motivated the adoption of sustainable practices? What is the purpose behind them?
- Real protagonists: Who were the real movers?
- Conflicts and overcoming them: What difficulties were encountered in implementing sustainability?
- Tangible results: What was achieved and what was learned?
- Vision for the future: How do we move forward?
Practical example
Instead of a generic message like:
“Our events reduce their environmental footprint.”
Tell a story like:
“At our last conference, we discovered that catering generated 45% of the event’s waste. We worked with local producers to redesign the menu and managed to reduce that figure by half—an improvement driven by our own attendees through a pre-event survey.”
This approach humanises environmental commitment and fosters a sense of shared responsibility.
Transparency as a Basis for Credibility
One of the great challenges today is to communicate without falling into greenwashing or appearing sustainable without real substance. Transparency is key. Being transparent means:
- Sharing actual data, even if it’s not perfect. If the full carbon footprint hasn’t yet been offset, explain why and outline future plans.
- Showing both achievements and challenges. Acknowledging difficulties builds more trust than presenting an idealised image.
- Providing access to verifiable sources: sustainability reports, certifications, environmental impact studies, etc.
Channels to Exercise Transparency
- Event microsite with a section dedicated to environmental commitment. Tools that allow you to create event websites are very useful for this purpose as you can update in real time the progress you are making on your environmental commitment.
- Downloadable impact reports after the event.
- Informative signage at the venue detailing the sustainable measures taken.
- Social media and newsletter updates before and after the event.
Transparency makes environmental commitment a visible and verifiable asset, key to building credibility with all audiences.
Integrating Sustainable Communication Throughout the Event Cycle
To ensure environmental commitment is consistently communicated, it should be embedded at every stage of the event:
Pre-event
- Strategic definition: Include sustainability goals in the event brief.
- Purposeful teasers: Pre-event campaigns explaining sustainable actions and inviting engagement (e.g. carbon footprint calculators, mobility challenges).
- Mindful supplier selection: Choose partners based on documented sustainability criteria.
You can find more information on this topic in our blog post Key Criteria for Choosing Eco-Conscious Event Suppliers
During the Event
- Informative experiences: Use all available media to explain sustainable actions.
- Environmental gamification: Reward behaviours such as bringing a reusable bottle or using public transport.
- Volunteering and training: Equip staff to communicate sustainability messages clearly and consistently.
Post-event
- Sustainability report with measurable outcomes: water saved, waste avoided, emissions offset.
- Testimonials: Short videos of organisers and attendees reflecting on the sustainability experience.
- Surveys: Gather feedback on the perception of environmental commitment to improve future editions.
Measuring and Certifying to Communicate More Effectively
Compelling communication requires data and evidence. You can’t tell a strong story without a solid quantitative foundation. Key actions include:
- Calculating the event’s carbon footprint using recognised tools.
- Measuring variables such as energy use, waste, transport logistics, and catering impact.
- Obtaining certifications such as ISO 20121 (sustainable event management), EMAS, Biosphere, or Eventsost.
- Benchmarking against previous events to show progress.
Including these metrics strengthens your narrative and provides a roadmap for future improvements.
Conclusion: Communicating your environmental commitment is also acting
Environmental commitment at events should not remain hidden in logistics. The key is to transform these actions into honest, motivating and verifiable stories.
By applying storytelling techniques and adopting transparency as a guiding principle, events become awareness-raising platforms that inspire other brands, attendees and suppliers to follow suit.
Sustainability is increasingly valued and scrutinized so communicating your environmental commitment well is as important as delivering on it.
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