From BestCities: In 2015, all United Nations Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity across the planet. At its heart are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) urging all countries to implement strategies to improve health and education, reduce inequality, spur economic growth, and tackle climate…
From Skift: Thousands of protestors marched in Barcelona over the weekend against overtourism. Nearly 3,000 people took to the street on Saturday. More than 140 organizations, including neighborhood associations, ecologists and housing activists marched under the slogans, “Enough, let’s put limits on tourism” and “Tourists go home,” reported Catalan News. Some protestors sprayed tourists sitting…
By Gili Back, Corporate Team Building Facilitator & Sustainable Events Manager at TEAM SPIRIT THAILAND: The MICE industry holds immense potential to drive positive change in local communities. When done right, MICE events (and student group travel programs) foster economic growth, cultural exchange, and sustainable development. Here’s why focusing on responsible and sustainable practices in…
From Barcelona City Council: A new package of 48 projects has been approved with a budget of €11.1 million from the tourist accommodation tax. These projects are aimed at strengthening the measures introduced to improve tourism management and boost the sector’s positive impact on the public. Of the 48 projects approved, 29 are direct requests…
From BESydney: As part of Business Event Sydney’s (BESydney) Change Starts Here agenda, it has engaged a Social Impact Specialist to drive the Social Impact strategy from the bidding stage all the way through, with a focus on measurement. Tina Demetriou will be joining the team from 21 November bringing a strong background in event…
From BBC: “ESG” was supposed to be a clear way for companies to explain their business decisions around environmental, social and governance considerations. How did the term go off the rails? In 2015, Paris was buzzing with anticipation as world leaders gathered for the UN’s annual Climate Change Conference (COP21). After weeks of intense debate,…
From Skift Meetings: While serving water from a paper box, using cutlery made from bamboo or digitizing materials impacts the amount of event waste created, the overall challenge of reducing the carbon footprint of events remains. Ultimately, associations can make a more significant impact by supporting organizations committed to sustainability and promoting social responsibility initiatives….
From ICC Sydney: In a demonstration of its commitment to philanthropy and social impact, International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney), managed by ASM Global, has recognised its charity clients at its inaugural appreciation luncheon yesterday. The event follows a bumper year for ICC Sydney where charity and not for profit organisations declared at least A$7.1…
By Maraika Black, Advocacy, Policy, and Public Health Coordinator, European Association for the Study of the Liver: Health conferences have traditionally focused on actors directly involved in the field – specialists, medical experts, general practitioners, researchers, nurses, and allied health professionals. It has long since been a source of prestige and professional mobilisation for delegates…
By Simon Anholt, Independent Government Advisor & Good Country Index Founder: How good is your country? There are so many country rankings today, with dozens of new ones published every year. Rankings of happiness, corruption, justice, mortality, productivity, freedom, emissions, conservation, economic growth and education, to name but a few. Whatever you want to know…
Events have the power to build inclusive communities and better places to live, highlighting the extent to which meetings and conferences can contribute to a destination’s societal impact. This was one theme explored in a webinar hosted by GDS-Index, a sustainability benchmarking and improvement programme for destinations around the world. From Meetings & Conventions Asia…
The 61st International Congress and Convention Association Congress was held last month in Kraków, Poland. The four days of content programming concentrated on three key industry topics: diversity, equity and inclusion, sustainability and legacy. Some of the legacy speakers also contributed to this Iceberg video Feature, here presented together with video of five of the legacy sessions….
The 36th edition of the CityDNA Summer School was hosted in late August. This year the Iceberg partner educational meeting graduated 43 students from Europe and South Africa. As well as video about the Summer School itself from Turin, Italy, this feature looks at participating medical associations and their meetings, sustainability and also hybrid meetings….
Washington may be the oldest, largest and busiest global hub of associations working in different professions, trades and social endeavours. Associations are at the heart of city strategy, both in hosting meetings in the capital, and in locating headquarters there. In this video feature, Destination DC explains how change is being made through business events….
This May the BestCities Global Alliance community of convention destinations welcomed Guadalajara, Mexico, as its twelfth member. The city earned its place through a shared commitment to support meetings that create a positive impact. Guadalajara went through a stringent process to join the Iceberg partner, including a detailed site inspection and tour of the city….
Last year, the IBTM World Trends report found itself looking at new frontiers. How had the meetings and events landscape changed in the wake of the pandemic, what behaviours had been adopted, how were other industries looking at this same landscape? Also, how was the global economy dictating the future welfare of our own market…
During COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative launched its Roadmap. This is designed to aid suppliers, venues, and businesses along their journey to reaching Net Zero by 2050. Net Zero Carbon Events, itself launched at COP26 in August 2021, now has 400 supporting organisations from 55 countries. From Exhibition News…
Gothenburg is the world’s most sustainable events city for a sixth year running as once again the Scandinavian destinations dominated Iceberg partner the Global Destination Sustainability Index. Bergen in Norway clinched second spot, with Copenhagen in third. The 2022 GDS-Index list was announced at the 61st ICCA World Congress in Krakow, Poland. From Association Meetings International…
A series of case studies by the Copenhagen Convention Bureau aims to show what happens when associations prioritise long-term impact in the early planning stages of an event. Using a revised legacy methodology, the Iceberg partner Copenhagen Legacy Lab has been studying five events hosted in the city in 2022. From Association Meetings International…
Sarawak in Malaysia has published the first volume of a new academic journal designed to help the sector “reset and recover” while identifying legacy opportunities. Business Event Sarawak joined with several bodies, including Iceberg partner ICCA, to create the International Journal of Business Events and Legacies IJBEL. Photo: Nicky Tay. From Association Meetings International…
A group of Edinburgh-based event professionals have launched a new tool to measure the societal impact conferences and meetings have in the city. The BEST (Business Events Shaping Tomorrow) tool has been developed to evaluate the positive outcomes from the business events hosted in the capital each year. From Conference News…
Powered by 
