One step further: UFI sustainability award
For more than 10 years, a UFI working group has been concerned with sustainable exhibiting. Now the winner 2019 was awarded.
The jury selected Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre Management HML's "Think before Plastic" campaign as the winner based on its innovative and holistic approach and its impact on exhibiting companies. The judges evaluated two additional finalists for their submissions: Informa (US) for their "2018 Greenbuild International Conference & Expo" initiative and Unimev (France) for their "Cleo - event performance calculator." Commenting on the awards, Philippe Echivard, President of the UFI Sustainable Development Committee, said, "The fact that a trade show venue, an organizer and an industry association make up the three finalists shows that all segments of the trade show industry are working actively and efficiently."
The awards followed shortly after the publication of the first UFI report, "The Exhibition Industry and the UN SDGs: Connecting People, Multiplying Impact," on Global Exhibition Day on June 5, 2019 (Expodata reported). The report examines initiatives and projects in exhibiting industries worldwide that contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It was launched by the UFI Sustainable Development Working Group. The working group and the award have been in existence for more than 10 years, and UFI was one of the first associations in the meetings industry to take up the topic.
UFI has defined five leading areas of best practices for the exhibition industry:
- Announcement of sustainability goals
- Preference for local suppliers
- the collective avoidance of waste
- Define environmental terms
- Education about clean and affordable energy
At 86th UFI World Congress in Bangkok from November 6 to 9, 2019, three finalists will be presented by the UFI. From Switzerland, Palexpo (pictured above: Motor Show at Palexpo) and MCH Group are UFI members. Palexpo was a finalist for "Best Sustainability Strategy" in 2012.
