SUSTAINABILITY AT AEO

Sustainability in event planning and management has become an increasingly critical focus in today's world, driven by a growing global awareness of environmental issues and the urgent need to reduce carbon footprints.

As an association committed to effecting change and minimising our environmental impact, we have implemented several initiatives to lead a more sustainable future.

Carbon management services: By partnering with a carbon management company, we have gained insight into our current environmental impact, allowing us to establish ambitious carbon reduction targets of 5% annually. Additionally, this collaboration has resulted in the creation of seven comprehensive guides aimed at assisting industry professionals in reducing their carbon footprint.

Members can see the guides in the member zone.

Read the guides

Sustainability commitments: We have developed a set of sustainability commitments designed to provide event professionals with a framework for achieving a consistent baseline of sustainability performance. These commitments offer clear guidance and enable our members to monitor and compare their progress towards sustainable practices.

Members can see the guides in the member zone.

Read the commitments

Cross association sustainability group: This group provides an opportunity for venues, organisers and suppliers to come together and share new ideas, innovative developments, and practical solutions to the challenges we all face on sustainability, to reduce the event industry’s impact on the environment.

Find out more

AEO sustainability group: Our association has established a dedicated sustainability group within the AEO to contribute to broader industry sustainability initiatives from an organiser's perspective. This collaborative platform allows organisers from diverse sectors to share best practices and drive sustainable development across the events industry.

Find out more

Spotlight case studies: Our sustainability group actively collects and showcases case studies to illustrate how members are implementing the principles outlined in our sustainability commitments.

Spotlight case studies

Supplier selection:

We prioritise partnerships with suppliers who demonstrate transparency and strong commitments to sustainability, actively seeking out suppliers aligned with our values.
Our AV and production partner uses sustainable aluminium sets, which are reusable (last 15-20yrs) and 100% recyclable - they are and lighter/more compact to transport, having moved from wooden frames.
We avoid date stamping artwork, so it can be reused
Where possible they use electric vehicles and appoint crews that live closer to our chosen venues
We work with venues with stringent policies on food wastage and are able to share knowledge of the carbon footprint of menu choices, who try to use more seasonal and locally produced foods where possible for a lower carbon impact

Event practices:

We implement measures such as:

encouraging the use of public transport
tracking attendees' travel routes
prioritising lower carbon food choices where possible
advising attendees to bring reusable water bottles to refill onsite
recycling lanyards to minimise our footprint.

Find out more about events

AEO has signed and committed to achieving net zero carbon events: https://www.netzerocarbonevents.org/the-pledge/

While we acknowledge that our journey towards sustainability is ongoing, we are committed to progress over perfection. As part of our efforts, we are reviewing viable options on how we (and members) can address our carbon impact whilst on our journey to net zero.