Insight: Issue 84 (23 March)

Climate Change & Sustainability back on the agenda

As the first glimmer of Spring finally appears on these fair isles, we welcome once again the veritable shard of dazzling sunlight that is this week’s Cameron Insight. In this week’s bulletin we have: SEC sets 2030 net zero target; Eco-conferencing in Glasgow; How to improve your event with near-field technology; and how technology has transformed warfare in Ukraine. Let’s do this Event Profs….

SEC sets 2030 net zero target

The Scottish Event Campus (SEC), which consists of the SEC Centre, the OVO Hydro and the SEC Armadillo, said it aims to become net zero by 2030.

This announcement follows on from Glasgow’s hosting of COP26 and its involvement as a founding partner of the NetZeroCarbon Events pledge which launched during the conference.

The SEC is working towards A Greener Festival’s Greener Arena certification – an initiative aimed at helping events, festivals and venues become more sustainable and reduce their impact on the environment.

For the past 15 years the SEC has also contributed to a number of climate change initiatives, including supporting the growth of 170,000 trees in the Caledonian Forest and hiring an environment and waste manager to fulfil the venue’s aim to be more sustainable.

The SEC chief executive Peter Duthie said, “We recognise how significant a challenge this is, but we are determined to reach this goal. We have the vision and an excellent team, deep in planning mode, to get us there.”

The climate emergency seems to have fallen off the news agenda recently, for obvious reasons. However, alarming signs such as Antarctica recording temperatures 40C hotter than normal show us that unless we act now, a global disaster is inevitable. Here’s hoping other venues follow in the SEC’s steps.

Eco-conferencing in Glasgow

In more great news for Glasgow, the city now ranks fourth on the Global Destination Sustainability Index of sustainable tourism and event cities.

During COP26, Glasgow joined EarthCheck, the sustainable city benchmarking scheme, a UK first to further bolster the city’s tangible commitment to addressing environmental regeneration and improvement.

In 2021, the Glasgow Convention Bureau launched the Go Greener toolkit to help conference organisers and delegates be as sustainable at conferences as they are at home. The toolkit aligns to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and offers meeting planners an opportunity to look at all aspects of conference delivery in the destination to target key areas to reduce carbon emissions and, in doing so, limit the conference footprint.

Recent research has shown that sustainability and eco-credentials matter to the conference world. In research recently published by the International Conference and Convention Association (ICCA), the Global Associations Meeting Protocol found that sustainability, equity, and inclusion came out as most important for association leaders who responded to the survey.

As stated in these bulletins before, the meetings and events industry has an important part to play in acknowledging and tackling the climate emergency with, and for, our conference clients and delegates.

Improve your event with near-field tech

From Apple Pay and event registrations though Smartphones, to Networking and QR Codes, near-field technology is now ubiquitous and is the ultimate connectivity technology that makes your smartphone, payment cards, tablet, watch, and similar devices even smarter.

It is now an essential feature for in-person events, proving its effectiveness throughout the years as this article from Event Industry News highlights.

Ultimately, collecting data and keeping it safe can be a challenging task. NFC technology makes it easier, taking the whole event experience into the next chapter. Some standard, traditional tasks, such as buying or scanning tickets, counting seats, verifying identities, and finding new connections during events, can become smoother with Near-Field Communication…..and that’s definitely a great thing for both delegates and EventProfs alike.

Find out more about how to improve your next event with near-field technology.

Tinder traps & TikTok: How technology has transformed warfare in Ukraine

And finally….modern warfare in the 21st century. Commercial drones, Airbnb donations, TikTok chronicles, deepfake propaganda, and trolling Russian soldiers through Tinder – New Atlas have compiled five recent stories of technology changing the face of modern warfare – for good…..and bad (we’re looking at you Deepfake Zelensky).

As always – #EventsWithUkraine