Copenhagen Risk Navigator Launched to Help Business Events Industry Act on Risk

What was once a relatively predictable operating landscape has become increasingly volatile, shaped by geopolitical fragmentation, climate disruption, rapid technological transformation, and shifting societal expectations. These forces compound one another, creating cascading risks that demand new thinking, stronger partnerships, and more deliberate preparation.

To help the industry respond to this reality, Copenhagen Convention Bureau today launched The Copenhagen Risk Navigator - International Strategies and Tools for Business Events, a first-of-its-kind resource developed together with global consulting firm GainingEdge in close collaboration with the Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) and the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS).

Bettina Reventlow-Mourier, Deputy Convention Director, Copenhagen Convention Bureau:

“With the Copenhagen Risk Navigator, we aim to take risk management in our industry to a new level. Our 2023 Copenhagen Risk Assessment White Paper was the first contribution to this conversation, and the response from the industry confirmed what we suspected: there was, and still is, a strong need for practical guidance and a shared recognition that risk management can no longer remain an afterthought. The Copenhagen Risk Navigator is our answer to that call."

"Our ambition is clear: to contribute to a more resilient, sustainable, and future-ready global business events ecosystem. We hope the Copenhagen Risk Navigator serves as both a practical resource and a catalyst for improved collaboration across our industry. The future of business events will come down to how ready it is to adapt. If the sector focuses on being prepared, agile and building stronger partnerships, it can turn uncertainty into real opportunities.”

From Awareness to Action

Research conducted for the Copenhagen Risk Navigator confirmed what many in the industry already sense: risk management is becoming a leadership-level priority, yet most organisations still lack the practical frameworks to embed it in their strategy and day-to-day work. This gap between awareness and execution is precisely what the Copenhagen Risk Navigator responds to.

Central to the Copenhagen Risk Navigator is a practical toolkit of 14 risk management tools, chosen following updated research on current risk trends and validated by FERMA and RIMS. The tools cover the full event lifecycle, from strategic planning and procurement through to event delivery and post-event review and are organised so that organisations can easily identify the tools that are most relevant at each stage of their planning process. 

Each tool comes with a clear description of what it is designed to solve, how to apply it, what resources it requires, and what good practice looks like at different levels of experience. For organisations new to structured risk management, a Quick-Start Guide provides a five-step plan to begin immediately. For those with existing processes, the toolkit scales to more advanced levels of practice.

What the Copenhagen Risk Navigator makes clear is that resilience grows when organisations move beyond reactive practices and begin to embed risk awareness into their strategies and everyday decisions. It emerges when leadership and teams understand their roles, share accountability, when partners collaborate with intention, and when risk becomes a unifying lens rather than a fragmented responsibility. The tools developed through this project offer a practical foundation for that shift, helping organisations build new habits, strengthen communication, and make risk readiness part of their culture.

Gary LaBranche, Chief Executive Officer, RIMS:

"Risk management is most effective when it is practical, accessible, and built for the realities of the people using it. The Copenhagen Risk Navigator does exactly that for the business events industry. RIMS is proud to have contributed to a resource that gives buyers, suppliers, and destinations a clear and actionable path to stronger risk practices."

Built for the Industry, Available to All

The Copenhagen Risk Navigator is freely available to all business events professionals worldwide. Copenhagen Convention Bureau invites buyers, suppliers, destinations, and industry associations to download the resource and use it as a starting point for stronger, more resilient risk management practices across the industry.

The Copenhagen Risk Navigator has been peer reviewed by a selection of industry experts and has received endorsements from leading global industry organisations, reflecting broad recognition of the need for stronger, more consistent risk management practices across the business events sector. Endorsing organisations include AIPC, AMC Institute, BestCities Global Alliance, Events Industry Council, ESAE, IAPCO, ICCA, IMEX, PCMA, and CityDNA.

Download The Copenhagen Risk Navigator right here