The most sustainable event of the year took place at IFEMA

Some information about Forética. This non-for-profit organization promotes the integration of social, environmental and transparency aspects and good governance in the strategy and management of companies and organizations. In addition, “we are the partner in Spain of CSR Europe and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development”, comments the organization.

Attendees. The profile of attendees of the event are journalists and professionals from large and medium-sized companies that operate in Spain and work in areas of sustainability, investment, transparency and good governance, communication, etc. Some of the driving companies were IKEA, Manpower Group, P&G, Ecoembes, Bankia, ILUNION, Vía Célere and MSD.

Staging. “We equipped the room with a large LED screen of 10 x 4 meters, and a long platform with a walkway to bring the speakers closer to the public,” said Marta. The goal was for the room to have a powerful set in which not to discard many materials. The LED screen dressed the room a lot, and instead of using a back stage to give brand visibility, they made various backgrounds to be used depending on each moment of the event. “The room was not carpeted, because it is a very difficult material to recycle, so we just put carpet on the platform,” underlines the agency.

Highlighted moment. It was not on the agenda, since it was a surprise, but two members of Youth for Climate of Spain attended to talk about the importance of acting through climate change (they are from the same group as Greta Thunberg, at Spain level).

Communication of the event. The event was broadcast via streaming on the Forética YouTube channel, and had a great impact on Twitter, becoming trending topic in both Spain and Madrid. The hashtag was #sustainabilitycsrspain2019.

Sustainable event throughout the event. Sustainable suppliers were hired to set an example: from the furniture, catering and even the scenery of the event were companies and associations with sustainable DNA:

• Sustainable moment during the event. For the 20th anniversary of Forética, the organisers planted a forest with 100 trees in the Community of Madrid after the event, so “we thought it was very symbolic to give a pack of seeds so that each assistant could plant some flowers at home or in the office”, stresses the organization.
• Catering. Under the philosophy of not wasting any food, the food was optimized so that nothing was left over, and of course zero plastic was used. “We use recycled materials, cardboard cups and water was served in glass jars,” says Forética.
• Carbon footprint measurement. Once the event was over, they sent an emailing post event where they asked how Ifema attendees had traveled to measure carbon consumption.
• Interactive game. During the networking moments, attendees were able to play “The sustainability test”, a corner where they could discover how much they know about the subject.

 What does IFEMA represent for Forética? It is essential that the venue of an event is easily accessible by public transport and allows access for people with reduced mobility. In addition, “Ifema is one of the flagship venues for events in Spain, and we wanted it to be in Ifema in this special edition in which Forética celebrates its 20th birthday. The Ifema team has been very decisive and has tried to support us in every way possible to facilitate our work”, underline from Forética.