Warwick Events has been committed, over the last 10 years, to making a positive change in the world through its events. It is not something that, up until now, we have shouted from the rooftops or made a fuss about. It has just been the way we do things.
And over the next 10 years, we will continue to deliver exceptional results, solving business and personal challenges of clients but in a wholly sustainable way.
Wanting to understand how important sustainability was to meeting and event buyers, we sent sent out our first survey. And we’d like to thank everyone who took part.
The results are in!
We were suprised to see that almost half of our event buyers either didn’t know if their event partner/agency was sustainable or just took their word for it. What do you think? Shocked?
You can read our five questions and see the responses here plus our brief analysis at the bottom.
What do you know about the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (eg. Climate Action, Zero Hunger, Gender Equality)?
| Am familiar with most of them | 20% |
| Know a couple | 27% |
| Heard of them | 44% |
| Never heard of them | 9% |
Thinking from your company’s perspective, how important do you think is it to your company that they work on social responsibility and sustainability in all areas of the business?
| Very important | 58% |
| Quite important | 36% |
| Not important | 2% |
| Don’t know | 4% |
How important is it to YOU that your company works towards social responsibility and sustainability targets in all areas of the business?
| Very important | 71% |
| Quite important | 27% |
| Not important | 2% |
| Hadn’t considered it before | 0% |
If you were tasked with organising a sustainable event would you look for an event organiser / partner who:
| Reduces, reuses & recycles | 42% |
| & offsets to carbon neutral | 18% |
| & is committed to UN Sustainable Development Goals | 29% |
| I wouldn’t know where to start | 11% |
How do you know if your event organiser / partner is sustainable i.e. claim to create carbon neutral events or are certified B Corporations?
| I don’t know | 24% |
| I take their word for it | 24% |
| Audited supply chain | 13% |
| They are certified | 38% |
Warwick Events Analysis:
We were really encouraged to read that 91% of event buyers surveyed had heard (as a minimum) of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. If you haven’t or would like to know more, click here. At Warwick Events we are working towards all 17 goals. However, we have chosen 10 goals where we feel our efforts will make the biggest difference.
From the results, buyers feel their company could be doing more. Although, it was good news to see that over half of the survey (58%) felt that sustainability was very important to their company. And great that 71% of buyers (employees) think their company should be treating sustainability as very important. Let’s hope these employees help drive the change needed.
With social responsibility and sustainability of very high importance to 71% of buyers, it is interesting to see that only 29% of buyers would choose an event partner who works towards the UN’s sustainability goals. With 48% choosing a partner to support reducing, reusing and recycling there is still an education journey for buyers to learn how their partners can help towards other goals like diversity; gender equality; leaving a positive legacy in the local community; safeguarding cultural heritage and supporting the Modern Slavery Act.
The biggest shock was to read that 48% of buyers either didn’t know if their event partner/agency was sustainable or just took their word for it. That’s almost half of our respondents. There’s lots of potential for events to make a difference: a positive difference.
If all event buyers ask questions and choose who to work with, we can
- help end poor working conditions here and abroad
- look at how our ‘waste’ food can feed the hungry in our towns and choose to only serve MSC certified fish and stop overfishing and so much more
Buyers can create great events for their participants but it doesn’t have to stop there. Your event can make a real difference to the community and the planet.
If you would like to work with a sustainable event partner, talk to us. We can design a sustainable event for you or support you with your event.
