Social Sustainability & Partnerships

Social responsibility for an event means building sustainable relations and ensuring everyone has an equal opportunity of access. This includes broad gender and societal representation among participants, panels, keynotes. It also includes working to create a long-term positive impact on local communities. Even though the participants are only at the destination for a short period of time, you still have the opportunity to engage them in local culture prior, during and after the event, as well as encouraging your participants to behave responsibly as being temporary locals. Key questions to ask yourself are:

• Do you actively promote gender equality and diversity in your event/congress program?
   
• Have you thought about how your event contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals? 
   
• Do you make it possible for everybody to participate? Is there easy and equal access to attend e.g. in terms of disabilities, variation in registration fees, transport, venue, arenas, accommodation, communication, etc?
   
• What are local communities experiencing? If your event is taking over major parts of the city or locking down streets, can you then convert this inconvenience by inviting or engaging locals in and around the event?
   
• Are you providing value to local businesses? Can you procure from local suppliers, not only providing value and support for businesses but create more engaging experiences for participants? Can you donate or encourage your participants to do so?

To support your efforts in working with social sustainability and partnerships, we have put together a list of key actions to take. Consider these a starting point. A guide, and not a final checklist. It is meant to get you going in building your own list of actions and in exploring if and how this will help you achieve your established sustainability ambition for your event.

Wonderful Copenhagen Convention Bureau works with a broad variety of stakeholders including suppliers within the meeting and event industry and close collaboration with universities, communities and organisations. Wonderful Copenhagen can support your efforts and ambitions for creating a strong and positive impact by helping you engage with local communities, relevant companies and partners in Copenhagen. In fact: 

• Copenhagen CVB works with a professional network of more than 135 members across the Copenhagen Meetings Industry, Meetingplace. Copenhagen CVB will be pleased to connect with relevant suppliers and partners. Read more about the unique network here.
   
• Copenhagen Convention Bureau has developed the Copenhagen Legacy Lab programme including a tool to help international congresses in creating long-lasting positive impact. Read more here.
   
• Copenhagen Convention Bureau has established two strategic alliances; The Life Science Alliance and the Green Conference Alliance that both comprise of the major stakeholders relevant for contributing to the optimal value proposition and potential partnership for an association congress. The Life Science and Cleantech/Green Conference stakeholders can support with a range of activities for the benefit of the association, its delegates and societies both locally and globally. Read more about clusters and alliances in Copenhagen here. 
   
• Inspiration and ideas from events and congresses in Copenhagen that show best practice examples. Find three inspirational cases here: Roskilde Festival, UIA 2013, C40 World Mayors Summit.
   
• Copenhagen CVB has developed a dialogue tool, The Copenhagen Congress Compass, that will help you start a conversation about how to best implement the Sustainable Development Goals in your event.