The following are the competencies that all event professionals should strive to hold to be enable them to implement best practice in sustainable event management.

CONCEPTS:

Sustainable Development Principles

• Understand the principles of sustainable development including inclusivity, transparency, stewardship and integrity.
• Understand and apply the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Apply the principles and goals for sustainable development to event planning and delivery.

Environmental Sustainability

• Understand environmental sustainability concepts within the context of event production including: Resource utilization; Resource conservation; Materials choice; Releases to Land Air or Water; Emissions Reduction

Economic Sustainability

• Understand economic sustainability within the context of event production including: Local Economy; Direct Economic Impacts; Indirect Economic Impacts; Legacy; Innovation

Social Sustainability

• Understand social sustainability concepts within the context of event production including: Fair trade and profit sharing; Equity; Role of Labour Standards; Health and Safety; Social Justice; Local Community; Cultural; Heritage and Religious Sensitivity

OPERATIONS:

Resource recovery and waste management:
Understand and apply the concepts of resource recovery and waste management

• Understand and identify waste issues
• Waste impacts of procurement choices
• Waste prevention techniques
• Waste segregation technique.
• Event attendee engagement in waste initiatives
• At event waste initiatives
• Waste processing technologies
• Waste auditing techniques
• Waste measurement and reporting
• Climate impact of waste

Energy supply at events
Understand the concepts of energy supply and operations at events in order to have effective discussions with the venue or energy contractors on energy efficiency and renewable energy supply

• Energy conservation techniques and initiatives
• Energy efficiency
• Renewable energy supply
• Energy supply innovation for events
• Efficient mobile power
• Smart power planning
• Climate impact of GHG emissions from energy
• Energy measurement and reporting

Travel and Transport
Understand the operations of travel and transport on event management and the climate change impacts

• Sustainable transport options
• Reduce production transport impacts
• Reduce attendee travel impacts
• Encourage sustainable transport uptake by attendees
• Transport measurement and reporting

Water and amenities
Understand and identify water issues related to event management and the local region

• Water scarcity and supply issues locally
• Water conservation techniques
• Waterways protection
• Water measurement and reporting

Biodiversity and Nature Preservation
Understand the issues related to local site protection and broader environmental protection

• Environmental impact assessments
• Impacts that may occur onsite due to event activities
• Spills and incidents response planning and reporting
• Indirect impacts which may occur away from the event site due to event activities
• Issues that may occur during manufacture, use and disposal of product and materials

Community and Society
Understand how to ensure community inclusion, and avoiding disruption to neighbourhood amenity within event planning and operations

• Impacts which may positively or negatively affect local communities
• Practices to ensure an inclusive event
• Issues regarding first nation, traditional owners, religious, cultural or heritage concerns

PLANNING:

Management System
Know how to establish the management framework.

• Create procedures, processes and documentation for the implementation of a management system for event sustainability.
• Undertake an internal audit of management system

Policy

• Create an Event Sustainability Management Policy

Stakeholders
Understand how to identify and engage stakeholders in event sustainability.

• Identify stakeholders/interested parties.
• Establish the needs and expectations of stakeholders/interested parties.
• Effective engagement, inclusion and participation techniques

Communication & Engagement
Develop techniques to communicate sustainability concepts related to the event, including fostering participation.

• Create effective ways to communicate event sustainability objectives, messages and actions
• Use communications and demonstration to convey sustainability concepts

Issues
Understand event sustainability issues and how to identify and prioritise them for action (Materiality Assessment)

• Establish processes to identify event sustainability issues
• Establish criteria evaluate significance and relevance of sustainability issues
• Establish criteria to prioritise issues management

Legal and Regulatory Requirements
Understand and identify the relevant requirements which relate to sustainability issues and impacts

• Identify relevant legal or other regulations, in the geographic area the that the event is undertaken in
• Ensure procedures and processes are in place to adhere to relevant legal or regulatory requirements
• Awareness of and considerations for implementing best practice in the event industry internationally where legal or other regulatory requirements are not in place locally

Destination, Venue, Accommodation
Understand the influence of the destination and venues on sustainability outcomes for the event

• Assess destination’s sustainability credentials and potential for supporting sustainable event production
• Assess venue sustainability credentials
• Assess accommodation sustainability credentials
• Create event-specific sustainability initiatives at venue and accommodation

SUPPLY CHAIN:

Sourcing and Supply Chain Management
Understand the various sustainability impacts and issues in the event supply chain (materials, products etc).

• Establish criteria to evaluate significance and relevance of sustainable sourcing issues
• Create information for supplier tender or other documentation about sustainability requirements
• Make sustainable sourcing assessments
• Create Sustainable Sourcing Policy

OUTCOMES:

Measurement and Reporting
Understand how to measure performance against goals and targets.

• Setting performance objectives and targets
• Setting performance indicators
• Monitoring, measurement, analysis and reporting of performance

Legacy and Innovation
Understand role of legacy in event planning, policy and outcomes.

• Understand role of legacy in event planning, policy and outcomes
• Role of events to encourage innovation in supply chain and production solutions, and the economic legacy of such