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Key stakeholders within the Danish Meetings Industry have teamed up with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ensure that the logistics of the EU Presidency in 2012 will be as sustainable as possible and result in ISO20121 certification of the Government event management system.
Denmark will host the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2012. As a result, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs will organise over 100 meetings of various sizes, attracting more than 15.000 participants visiting Copenhagen and the city of Horsens.
Key private and public stakeholders affiliated with the Danish Meetings Industry have united and created an ambitious national sustainability project named the “Danish Sustainable Events Initiative” (DSEI) to ensure that Danish sustainability leadership in action is advanced, showcased and shared.
The vision of DSEI is to use the Danish EU Presidency to inspire businesses to greater collaboration, innovation and sustainable development. The project aims to increase the competitive positioning of Denmark as an undisputed leader in cost-efficient sustainable events and clean technology solutions.
Partners of the DSEI are: The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, VisitDenmark, Wonderful Copenhagen CVB, MCI Copenhagen, SAS – Scandinavian Airlines, Bella Center, Climate Consortium Denmark, HORESTA (The Danish Hotel & Restaurant Association), VisitAarhus, VisitAalborg, Syddansk Turisme and the City of Copenhagen.
Jonathan Cohen, International Sales Manager – Business Tourism for VisitDenmark, gives the details: “The Danish Sustainable Events Initiative will include technology showcases and the implementation of the MPI Sustainability Measurement System (SEMT) on a national level. We will also produce an event sustainability report following the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) framework and develop a web portal containing relevant information including videos, case studies and interviews with sustainability leaders.”
Since staging the COP15 event in Copenhagen in December 2009 and the succeeding launch of the “Copenhagen Sustainable Meetings Protocol”, the number of sustainable and certified businesses within the Danish Meetings Industry has literally boomed.
Steen Jakobsen, Convention Director for Wonderful Copenhagen CVB and member of the Board of Directors at Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC), explains: “We are convinced that the DSEI will help strengthen the competitive positioning of Copenhagen as the “Capital of Sustainable Meetings”, and Denmark as a superb sustainable meetings destination, even further. With over 60% of the capitals’ hotel rooms third party eco-certified, sustainability is already an integral part of the Danish meetings industry. With this project we will develop Copenhagen’s “sustainable” position further.”
Guy Bigwood, MCI Sustainability Director and advisor to DSEI and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, supplements: “This project is visionary in both its scope and ambition. No other project exists to the scale globally. It will become an international reference in how to integrate sustainability on a mainstream level.”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
