ISO 20121 Event Sustainability Management Systems

ISO 20121 is the Event sustainability standard. It focuses on how an organisation continues to run its activities in a commercially successful way whilst contributing towards a stronger and more just society by reducing its impact on the environment.

Due to the high-level interest in sustainable events in recent years, ISO 20121 was created and launched. The launch was planned in coordination with the London Olympics 2012 in the hope that that all businesses and every international organisation would in time implement ISO 20121 and ISO standards as a social responsibility.

Addressing sustainability impacts wasn’t easy but was a necessity and is even more so currently. The aim of ISO 20121 is to give organisations guidance on social responsibility relevant to event sustainability.

ISO 20121 specifies the requirements for an Event Sustainability Management System to improve the sustainability of events. The standard applies to all types and sizes of organisations involved in the events industry – from caterers, lighting and sound engineers, security companies, stage builders and venues to independent event organisers and corporate and public sector event teams.

When you choose to work with Blackmores, our ISO 20121 consultants specialise in helping you to implement and maintain your Event Sustainability Management System. We work with organisations across London, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, and UK-wide as well as overseas where required.

Our ISO Consultancy service follows the following steps:

• Gap Analysis – The first step is to conduct a  gap analysis. This helps to establish your strengths and weaknesses and identify where the alterations need to be. Once we have established this we can make a plan for how to best move forward and how we can work together to achieve your ISO 20121.
• E-learning Portal – We give you access to learn at your own pace with our online courses via the isologyhub. This is a great way for you and your employees to ensure you fully understand the ISO standard within the Events industry. By working together, our ISO consultants can help you build, implement and maintain your Event Management System.
• Introduce Our isologists® – We have a skilled team of ISO 20121 consultants – we call them our isologists. You will have a dedicated isologist to help you implement a Sustainable Event Management System. They will be available to answer any of your questions at any point during your journey.
• Plan and Conduct Internal Audits – We can help you to plan and conduct Internal ISO 20121 Audits to verify your compliance.
• Provide On-Site Support – Your dedicated ISO 20121 consultant will be there to provide on-site support during External Audits carried out by Certification Bodies.
• Request a quote for Certification – As part of our consultancy services, we can send a request for a quote to 3 UKAS-certified Certification Bodies on your behalf. This is done free of charge on request.

If you are looking to work with an ISO 20121 consultant then contact Blackmores today.  We’d be happy to help you.

There are several benefits to achieving the ISO 20121 for your Events organisation. By achieving an ISO 20121 certification and adopting event sustainability management systems within your organisation, you can bring a number of internal benefits to an organisation including:

• Boost employee motivation, attract the best talent and improve retention.
• Enhance reputation and strengthen relationships with key clients, suppliers, partners and other external stakeholders who hold similar values.
• Achieve cost savings with respect to material consumption, waste and energy.
• Reduce carbon emissions over the entire event supply chain.
• Strengthen the position of the organisation within the community.
• Challenges “business as usual” and drives creativity and innovation which in turn can provide organisations with a competitive edge.
• Achieving ISO 20121 Certification means your business will now have a well-documented management system that has been implemented and executed. Having these policies and procedures in place now means that the majority of the responses to tendering questions will be easily accessible.

Publicising your commitment to sustainable events will raise your company’s profile and also lead to better community awareness of environmental activities. It will also demonstrate your commitment to the environment and provide confidence and credibility to your customers and trade partners.

The world is facing a crisis: poverty, hunger, inequality and climate change are just some of the issues we need to address.

In 2015, world leaders came together to create 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) which aim to tackle these issues, to build a better world by 2030.

ISO 20121 can be used to meet the following goals  

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