More local produce, less waste. More inclusiveness and social, less energy consumption. All considerations that come into play when booking a sustainable meeting venue. Choosing a sustainable venue can sometimes be quite complicated. Because which venue is truly sustainable? What if there is no suitable sustainable meeting venue? What are the alternatives? This article provides guidance for finding and booking a sustainable meeting venue.
"Corporate social responsibility or sustainability is not a trend, but a new paradigm, a given." So states Erik van Dijk, managing director of GreenKey. Green Key is the international hallmark for both tourist sites and business locations. A relevant hallmark that encourages the industry to do more about sustainability. Because we can no longer ignore it. The state of nature and the environment concerns us all. Traditionally, the hotel and meeting industry is a sector where many raw materials are consumed and wasted. Think of the food waste in the breakfast room. Or the washing of unused or barely used towels every day. But buildings also play a role. Of course it is inspiring to meet in an old castle, but how is such a large and often poorly insulated building heated?
Fortunately, the industry figured out many years ago that this has to be different. And it can also be done differently. For instance, for many years hotels have been asking whether a towel really needs washing. Hotels also take much more account of food waste and buy sustainable(er) products. When it comes to heating, heat storage and air conditioning, a lot is now possible and modern techniques are used. An example of how locations deal with energy supply is Van Der Valk Hotel The Hague - Nootdorp. For example, they use waste heat from energy generation to heat the hotel. And organic waste from the kitchen is used as raw material for bioenergy plants. The Court Garden Hotel uses only green energy, and aims to generate its own green energy in the near future.
By booking a sustainable venue, everyone is doing their bit for a sustainable future.
A sustainable venue is one that tries to avoid waste by using resources sparingly. From energy consumption to the chocolate sprinkles at breakfast. A socially responsible choice is made for each supplier. When a venue is sustainable, and to what extent, can be seen by the GreenKey seal of approval, among others. But note that not every location that is sustainable has this certificate (or a similar one). This is because venues committed to a more sustainable society do not automatically receive a sustainability certificate. They have to apply for this themselves. Therefore, when booking a sustainable venue, do not rely one hundred percent on these certificates. Do your own research into the measures a location takes to reduce its ecological foodprint.
When a site has a GreenKey certificate, it is certain that a site is doing more in terms of sustainability than the minimum required by law. The 12 topics GreenKey uses when issuing a certificate are:
How much a location does for a more sustainable society is indicated in a bronze, silver or gold label. The Green Key standardisation is linked to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals 2015-2030. In the Netherlands, there are more than 700 locations with a Green Key certificate.
As mentioned earlier, not every venue committed to a sustainable society has Green Key certification. But even a non-certified venue can do a lot about sustainability. There are several ways to find out what a venue is contributing to in terms of corporate social responsibility.
Researchers at Belgrade Business School have conducted research on, among other things, the role of communication in corporate social responsibility in the hotel industry. This research shows that hotels communicate about corporate social responsibility in six different places on their websites. Most hotels inform website visitors about CSR efforts on the about us/ about us page. This information can also often be found on the vacancy page, a dedicated CSR page or in the media kit or newsletter. Hotels that do a lot about sustainability often have CSR reports as PDF downloads on the website. These reports describe the CSR goals and their achievement.
The short answer to this question is: no. Even the most sustainable hotel in the Netherlands (van der Valk Leeuwarden) is not 100% climate neutral. Also Court Garden Hotel in The Hague claims to be on its way to being carbon neutral, but so far it is not. Many hotels and meeting venues are doing what they can to reduce the ecological footprint, but neutralising 100% is not (yet) possible.
Sustainable sites can be found throughout the Netherlands. There are more than 700 GreenKey locations spread across all 12 provinces. According to our own venue database, most GreenKey venues are in South Holland. But percentage-wise, Worldmeetings.com has the most GreenKey locations in Gelderland.
So the conclusion is that sustainable meeting venues can be found all over the Netherlands. The most sustainable is then to choose a location close to the railway station. Or a location that can be reached by bicycle. Good for the environment, and good for fitness.
As written above, there are plenty of options for booking a sustainable venue. But more is possible.
Meeting in-house is one of the most logical considerations that can be made when no suitable sustainable meeting venue is available. "That may sound crazy coming from the director of a meeting venue intermediary. But holding meetings internally is the best tip I can give to companies that value sustainable meetings. Many companies look to external venues for their meetings. But it is still more sustainable to just use in-house office spaces for meetings. This sounds obvious, but many organisations forget this option," said Bob Pieterson, managing director Worldmeetings.com.
Internal meetings are therefore the most sustainable option in most cases. Internal meetings save on petrol costs. This is obvious. There is also no need for separate catering; employees can simply bring their own brought lunch. Perhaps in a reusable lunch box or sandwich bag. But there are more advantages to in-house meetings:
Despite the fact that external meetings are generally more environmentally damaging, there can also be some decisive advantages. In addition, the environmental burden can be offset by choosing a venue close to a railway station, and/or with a Green Key certificate.The advantages of external meetings are:
The golden tip when making the choice of internal or external meetings is to consider what kind of meeting it is. Is the meeting low on urgency? Is the immediate added value for the company not immediately obvious? Then an internal meeting venue is quite suitable. Meeting internally does not mean that the meeting has to be mundane or boring. Meetings can be given cachet by adding a game element, for example. Or take a walk around the neighbourhood and meet standing up instead of behind the familiar round table. This way, it is possible to have a sustainable meeting that is both internal and inspiring.
Some meetings require an external meeting venue. If so, choose a Green Key location and make sure employees can reach the meeting venue by public transport. Is the external meeting also meant to be a team-building activity? Then choose a sustainable event organiser and go plastic collecting on the beach or plastic fishing from the canal.
With more than 700 Green Key venues, technical applications and the right trade-offs, there are plenty of options for sustainable meetings. What are important sustainability issues, and what is the best choice, is debatable. But a well-established fact is that having a sustainable meeting venue (or meeting in-house yourself) is better than doing nothing about sustainability at all. Therefore, when booking a meeting, follow the following roadmap. This will ensure that the meeting is as sustainable as possible.
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