Participant events
No matter how small your event, you can take small cost-effective steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and inspire others to take climate change action. The profiles for participant events provide information about the actions taken by the event organisers and the efficiencies gained. The footprint data enable you to benchmark the performance of similar events.
Profiles for participant events
| Event name | Date | Delegates | Footprint (tCO2e) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building Skilled Communities - Institute of Technology and Polytechnics National Conference (ITPNZ) 2008 | 13- 14 August 2008 | 200 | 46 |
| Tourism Industry Conference (TIANZ) 2008 | 4-5 August 2008 | 226 | 77 |
| AIESEC National Conference | 2-6 July 2008 | 54 | 9 |
| State Services Senior Leaders Development Conference | 19 June 2008 | 508 | 19 |
| Hubbards Carbon Crusade (Hamilton event) | 5 June 2008 | na | 3 |
| Step Up Canterbury - Sustainability Expo | 5 June 2008 | na | 6 |
| Hillary Institute Symposium and Dinner | 5 June 2008 | 120 | 11 |
| New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Forum. Towards Sustainability: A roadmap to success | 28 May 2008 | 33 | 4 |
| 21-23 May 2008 | 98 | 193 | |
Auckland Writers & Readers Festival |
15-18 May 2008 |
na | 276 |
| 2 May 2008 | 211 | 27 | |
| EECA Biofuels & Electric Vehicle Conference 2008 | 2 April 2008 | 200 | 56 |
| The organisation and promotion of Earth Hour 2008 | 29 March 2008 | na | 3 |
| Sustainable Consumption Symposium 2008 | 12-13 Mar 2008 | 102 | 8 |
| UCSA 0 Week Gigs 2008 | 21-29 Feb 2008 | na | 15 |
| Primary Industry Summit 2007 | 28-29 Nov 2007 | 324 | 113 |
| Future Fleet 2007 | 23 Nov 2007 26 Nov 2007 28 Nov 2007 30 Nov 2007 |
368 | 13 |
| Teaching for Sustainability Conference 2007 | 21-23 Nov 2007 | 150 | 30 |
| EECA Energywise Awards 2007 | 9 Nov 2007 | 400 | 70 |
| Optimising the Energy of Volunteering Conference 2007 | 8-9 Nov 2007 | 130 | 20 |
| 29 Sep 2007 6 Oct 2007 |
na | 9 | |
| Tourism Industry Conference 2007 | 29-30 Aug 2007 | 283 | 65 |
| Aug 2007 | na | 9 |
* estimated
www.carboncrusade.com
Hubbards Carbon Crusade (Hamilton event) 2008
The Hubbards Carbon Crusade promotes healthy lungs by combining running/walking a 4km course, with planting a tree at the halfway point around the course. 600 schoolkids and members of the public will take part in the Crusade, planting up to 1000 trees at Waiwhakareke (Horseshoe Lake), on the outskirts of Hamilton.
www.carboncrusade.com
Carbon Crusade 2007
The Hubbards Carbon Crusade was a national series of off-road running and walking events held in Auckland on 29 September 2007 and Wellington on 6 October 2007. Each participant was supplied with bottled water and four fertiliser tablets. Participants carried these items in their backpack to the planting area, about half-way round a 13-15 km course. At each planting site there were pre-dug holes and native trees to plant. 'Our involvement in the carboNZero programme was a no-brainer. To ensure that the net environmental contribution from holding the Hubbards Carbon Crusade series was a positive one, we needed to minimise and offset any carbon emissions resulting from hosting the events. By minimising and offsetting any emissions from travel, the trees planted can now make a positive difference. A number of areas were identified in the 2007 Hubbards Carbon Crusade series, where we could reduce our carbon footprint. These are being planned now as we work towards the 2008 Hubbards Carbon Crusade. Examples include using event locations closer to major cities to reduce vehicle travel, eliminating the use of bottled water and fertiliser tablets. We also opted for a low emission 1.9L diesel Suzuki Vitara, and switched to carboNZero-certified Meridian Energy for our electricity supply. Other measures such as working from a home office and remaining a one-car family ensure travel is minimised.'
www.govis.org.nz
GOVIS Inc 2008
GOVIS Inc aims to foster liaison between Government agencies and facilitate inter Governmental agency co-operation. GOVIS runs a high profile biennial conference designed to promote communication of ideas and knowledge sharing between their members and other conference participants. Their 2008 mini-conference was a departure from this biennial conference tradition. It was smaller and facilitated the participation of other organisations to run parallel programmes for their members. There was a strong focus on sustainability in all programme streams and after looking for a way to 'walk the sustainability talk' at the conference we chose the carboNZero participant event programme to offset the conference's carbon footprint. We also took a number of actions to minimise our greenhouse gas emissions. We chose the Wellington Town Hall as our conference venue because it is within walking distance for most conference attendees. The Town Hall also has an effective sustainability policy and action plan in place. The conference organisers worked closely with the Town Hall on sustainable catering and waste minimisation. We dispensed with conference give-aways and limited our printed conference materials to name badges and a mini pocket programme in keeping with the conference theme. Both were printed on recyclable materials and we made provision for these materials to be recycled at the end of the conference. Pre-conference information, communication and registration were achieved online. By participating in the carboNZero programme, GOVIS inc has shown its commitment to taking real action towards a sustainable future.
www.eeca.govt.nz/renewable-energy/biofuels
EECA Biofuels & Electric Vehicle Conference 2008
The EECA Biofuels and Electric Vehicles Conference is New Zealand’s principal industry conference on biofuels and was a great opportunity for the industry to discuss the current, and future state of biofuels for New Zealand. 2008 was the fourth year of the conference and with the importance of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions growing by the day, making the conference cabron neutral was an important part of our planning. We took various steps to ensure we were minimissing our emissions as best as possible. We held the conference at a venue that had been a finalist in EECA’s ENERGYWISE Awards for the Commercial/Services Award. They had proven that they had an effective energy management programme in place. Our conference material was printed on sustainable material and as much of the pre-conference information as possible was communicated electronically to cut down on unnecessary printing and wastage. Through our involvement with the carboNZero programme, EECA has shown that we are committed to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and reducing our energy use through some simple planning – something that we want to see New Zealanders follow in the footsteps of.
www.eeca.govt.nz/news/awards
EECA Energywise Awards 2007
EECA's ENERGYWISETM Awards celebrate innovation, leadership and achievement in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors. The Awards became a participant of the carboNZero programme in 2007. That meant that all the emissions associated with the organisation, running and wind-up of the event including much of the delegate travel were measured. Action was taken to minimise emissions during the awards ceremony and offset the remaining unavoidable emissions by purchasing approved carbon credits through the carboNZero programme. Most of the pre-event collateral was produced electronically, and native plant seeds were handed out to all guests at the end of the evening. A shuttle service ferrying guests to and from the event was organised in association with Land Transport New Zealand also to improve travel management on the night. EECA's mission is to encourage the rest of New Zealand to develop and act with the same genuine desire and commitment to change.
www.georgefm.co.nz
George FM SmartCar Promotion 2007
George FM, an Auckland-based radio station, created a radio promotion in late 2007 where the lucky winner received a brand new Mercedes SmartCar, an environmentally friendly car with a low carbon footprint. 'We decided since we were giving away an eco-friendly car, we'd do it in an eco-friendly manner. We resolved to make this a carbon-free radio promotion. To achieve this, we decided as follows:
- We'd recycle the billboards promoting the competition into bags, which we gave away. We used no flyers or handbills. We printed limited street posters on recycled paper, stuck them up with a non-oil glue, and recycled them at the end of the promotion.
- We calculated all the emissions produced by activities associated with the promotion, and for the emissions that we could not reduce further we purchased carbon credits through carboNZero programme to offset these.'
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Forum. Towards Sustainability: A roadmap to success
Sustainability is important to us at New Zealand Trade & Enterprise and how we run our events is not overlooked. For this particular workshop, we were happy to work with Flow Events along with the carboNZero programme to measure, manage and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, therefore fulfilling one of our aims by reducing the environmental impact of our events. Some actions taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions included:
- Engaging the services of event managers Flow Events and together we established steps to minimise and neutralise carbon emissions related to the event.
- Establishing a sustainability statement for the event - the statement covered our goals, criteria and outcomes.
- Minimising the use of paper during the planning and holding of the conference - hardcopy documents were double-sided and mostly on recycled or sustainable paper; registration and pre-event evaluation of delegates was online.
- Minimising the use of other resources – our conference programmes were printed on stock sourced from a certified and sustainable mill, our conference nametags were returned for recycling, recycling bins were placed around the venue.
- Minimising the travel associated with the conference - we chose a venue that is near public transportation, and was within easy walking-distance for members of the conference and planning committee. All accommodation options were within 10 minutes' walk to the venue.
- Minimising waste associated with catering - the venue we chose for our conference has a comprehensive environmental plan which ensures any waste is disposed of in an intelligent manner. We also closely estimated the food amount through a careful head-count to minimise waste.
Participating in the carboNZero programme added a new and interesting dimension to our conference. This enthused the conference committee and our delegates, whom we offered an opportunity to offset a portion of the greenhouse gas emissions with their registration fee (approx 20% of delegates chose to contribute in this way). We celebrated our efforts to be environmentally aware on the day of the event and attracted some very positive feedback and recognition.
www.volunteeringnz.org.nz
Optimising the Energy of Volunteering Conference 2007
'At Volunteering New Zealand we understand that a successful conference does not mean you have to use a lot of resources and end up with a tremendous amount of waste. We were delighted to work with Flow Events along with the carboNZero programme to measure, manage and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, therefore fulfilling one of our aims by reducing the environmental impact of our conference. Some actions taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions included:
- Engaging the services of Flow Events, an event management company that specialises in environmentally sustainable conferences and events. Together we established steps to minimise and neutralise carbon emissions related to the event.
- Establishing a sustainability statement for the conference – the statement covered our goals, criteria and outcomes.
- Minimising the use of paper during the planning and holding of the conference - hardcopy documents were double-sided and mostly on recycled or sustainable paper; registration was online etc.
- Minimising the use of other resources - eco-friendly non-woven conference satchels were used as conference bags and recycling bins were placed around the venue.
- Minimising the travel associated with the conference - we chose a venue that is near public transportation, and was within easy walking-distance for members of the conference and planning committee. All accommodation options were within 10 minutes' walk to the venue.
- Minimising waste associated with catering - the venue we chose for our conference has a comprehensive environmental plan which ensures any waste is disposed of in an intelligent manner. We also closely estimated the food amount through a careful head-count to minimise waste.
Participating in the carboNZero programme added a new and interesting dimension to our conference. This enthused the conference committee and our delegates, whom we offered an opportunity to offset a portion of the greenhouse gas emissions with their registration fee (over 25% of delegates chose to contribute in this way). We celebrated our efforts to be environmentally aware on our website and attracted some very positive feedback and recognition.'
PURE LUXURY New Zealand 2008
PURE LUXURY New Zealand 2008 is an exclusive, business-to-business showcase bringing together 45 of New Zealand’s best luxury travel, accommodation and activity providers with a similar number of top international travel and tourism Buyers. It will be held on 21-23 May in Queenstown. 'To demonstrate New Zealand’s commitment to good environmental management to our international delegates, PURE LUXURY New Zealand 2008 is a participant in the carboNZero programme. This will involve measuring, reducing and offsetting emissions produced by holding the event, including emissions associated with delegate travel, and electricity at the venue.' PURE LUXURY New Zealand 2008 is managed by the Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA) as agent of the Tourism Industry New Zealand Trust and in partnership with Air New Zealand, Qantas and Tourism New Zealand.
Step Up Canterbury - Sustainability Expo 2008
Step Up Canterbury (expo and auction) was held on 5 June 2008 to commemorate the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) initiative – World Environment Day. The event organisers, 360 Degree Events Ltd and Environment Canterbury adopted a low impact motto and decided that one of the key objectives would be to participate in the carboNZeroCert TM programme. This means they measured, managed (reduced) and offset the events greenhouse gas emissions. Post event reports and surveys of attendees and exhibitors confirm that this event achieved all of these objectives. Other objectives included:
- Rewarding those using sustainable transport methods and encourage those commuting by private vehicle to off-set emissions or swap to alternate methods.
- Showcase sustainable solutions and increase awareness of how easy it can be to change our behaviour and be more sustainable in our daily lives.
- Provide an interface for communication between end-users and retailers.
- Advocate partnerships between government and the business community.
- Attract people who would not normally attend an environmental event and provide them with information in an entertaining but educational manner—break the mould of standard seminars and exhibitions.
$45,000 worth of items were donated for the auction, ranging from eco light bulbs, reusable nappies to heat pumps. The public used “funny money” which they “earned” by asking exhibitors questions on their products. Prime Minister Helen Clark was the celebrity auctioneer. The expo saw many local businesses and organisations, including the carboNZero programme, promoting means towards a more sustainable living including a section on sustainable transport.
Environment Canterbury was proud to participate in the carboNZero programme as it fulfilled the aim to set an example to other event organisers that events of this scale can be performed in a sustainable manner.
www.nztourismconference.co.nz
Tourism Industry Conference 2007
The Tourism Industry Conference is the most important annual forum for the tourism industry. The conference is managed by the Tourisim Industry Association (TIA) with support from key industry partners including the Ministry of Tourism and Tourism New Zealand, and brings together partners in the tourism industry: tourism operators, industry associations and government representatives. Each year the conference attracts approximately 300-400 delegates from all sectors of the industry. The 2007 conference was held at the SKYCITY Convention Centre, Auckland on 29-30 August; The theme was Make Time for Action – Putting the Strategy into Practice. 'Our participation in the carboNZero programme aimed to lead by example and reflect the principles of the New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2015, which sets out a vision that the tourism sector will take a leading role in protecting and enhancing the environment. The previous three conferences also participated in the carboNZero programme. We measured all the emissions associated with the management, running and wind-up of the event, including much of the delegate travel. We also offset the remaining unavoidable emissions by purchasing approved carbon credits through the carboNZero programme.'
