Die Leipziger Messe ist die erste große Messegesellschaft Deutschlands, die sich der Nachhaltigkeit als Prinzip unternehmerisch verantwortlichen Handelns verschrieben hat. Gewürdigt wurde dieses nachhaltige Herangehen jetzt mit der Green-Globe-Zertifizierung, einem weltweit anerkannten Zertifikat der Tourismus- und Veranstaltungsbranche. Zeitgleich startet die Leipziger Messe unter der Marke „Wachsen in Balance“ einen Nachhaltigkeitsprozess im Unternehmen und wird so zum Schrittmacher im deutschen Messewesen. „Als erste große deutsche Messegesellschaft haben wir erfolgreich das Green-Globe-Nachhaltigkeits-Audit durchlaufen. Damit sind wir mit unserem Nachhaltigkeitsmanagement transparent und messbar“, so der Geschäftsführer der Leipziger Messe, Martin Buhl-Wagner.

The European Association of Event Centres (EVVC) and Green Globe Certification are jointly developing a special certification process for sustainability in event houses. This has been agreed upon by Joachim König (EVVC President and Director of the Hannover Congress Centrum), Matthias Schultze (EVVC Vice President and Managing Director World Conference Centre Bonn) and Dr. Peter Zimmer (FUTOUR Tourism Consulting) as representatives of Green Globe in mid-January 2010. “Worldwide, the demand for green meetings, incentives, conferences and events (Green MICE) is rising. With the agreed co-operation, verifiable and practical criteria will be established for the first time in this important industry sector,” said Dr. Peter Zimmer, a long-standing expert in this field and accredited Green Globe auditor.

The EVVC calls for the event industry including all its houses to be reimbursed for a total of 2-3 billion Euros due to the expenses incurred in connection with the Reallocation of radio frequencies (digital dividend). “Our houses, that are for the most part communally sustained and thus dependent on tax payments, are faced with huge subsequent costs,” predicts EVVC President Joachim König. To be able to continue offering the technology of wireless microphones after the reallocation of radio frequencies in convention centers, multipurpose halls, arenas and theaters and many other events facilities from the Adult Education Center to the Staff College it will become necessary to purchase entirely new equipment almost everywhere. The wireless microphones that are being used so far do not work on other frequencies.

The EVVC in the person of Vice-President Matthias Schultze is the German voice in the newly formed DIN Committee “Sustainable Event Management.” At the suggestion of Great Britain and Brazil, this initiative has been founded to establish an international sustainability management. Here, recommendations and guidelines should be developed for the event industry on an internationally comparable level.

During its last meeting in 2009 the EVVC Board unanimously decided the entry into the German Testing organisation for event technology, DPVT. The DPVT emanates from the interest group events industry, igvw who, besides the EVVC also VPLT (The Association for Light, sound and event technology), the DTHG (German Technical Theatre Organisation) and the FAMAB (Association for Direct Business Communications) belong to. Together, all four associations actively want to advance and promote the quality of the event technology.

The future convention-calendar of the EVVC will deal – by concept – with the three segments of CSR even more topic-related and balanced than it is the case by now: