Conference Matters 143

INTERVIEW

World Forum The Hague

Ready to host your next event!

ving. “For example, you can share a ride. And you can roster your people better if you know which time slots will be the busiest. Asking in advance how many participants plan to eat and what they want to eat helps reduce catering waste significantly. They can also order a meal, but must pay for anything additional. For example, you can spend the extra income on a donation, which will increase the acceptance rate. The most important thing is that you always explain why you’re asking or doing something, so that you can include participants in your objectives.” “Even when it comes to conference information and promotional material on the stands, it makes sense to ask in advance how participants prefer to receive their information.” Work-life balance A final theme Lombarts and Wilthagen want to address is work-life balance, part of the ‘s’ in ESG. Organisers and planners are high up on the list of stressful professions, and to keep the profes sion and the sector attractive for the new gene ration, a targeted policy is an absolute necessity. “Suppose absenteeism at your company is 10 percent, while the sector average is 4.9 percent. Then you really have some explaining to do,” says Lombarts. “It’s essential to understand how things work within your business. You need to be able to measure work-life balance, record how you can monitor this, and explain what you’ll do to improve it as a company.” The same goes for governance. Make an inven tory of your impact on the outside world and how you can contribute to society and your immedi ate environment. “You also do this together with your most important stakeholders,” Wilthagen and Lombarts conclude.

Elvira Wilthagen 'Ultimately, ESG is about developing structures and identifying opportunities and risks'

Angelique Lombarts 'First, there's chain liability, which means that companies obliged to report can request information from their suppliers' ESG policy'

World Forum The Hague is the premier international conference center located in The Netherlands. While having the capacity to welcome up to 5,000 guests, World Forum offers a personalized approach for both large-scale conferences and smaller business meetings or events. The perfect venue for your event!

Paper tiger? “Ultimately, ESG is about developing structures and identifying opportunities and risks,” says Wilthagen. “It’s all about better business opera tions. At the beginning, I also found it difficult to fully understand the ESG instruments, but now I see that they’re very cleverly put together.” Regardless of how logical and intelligent ESG is, the possibility of a new paper tiger, or in this case, a digital one, looms. “Maybe it feels that way in the first few years,” Wilthagen answers. “But once it’s set up, it’s not too bad.” She compares it to the introduction of HACCP, which she had to deal with as a general mana ger in the hotel industry. “At first it was quite a hassle, but then the checklists and useful tools arrived. Now it’s automatic in the sector.” Code of conduct If a company wants to get started with ESG, drawing up or updating its Code of Conduct is an excellent first step. To their surprise, the foun ders of ELAN discovered that many companies don’t do this. “You could say that it’s at the core of your busi ness operations. What do we stand for? How do we treat each other? You need to have a shared awareness of that,” says Lombarts. “And it’s low-hanging fruit,” adds Wilthagen. “You can use online examples from similar compa

nies as a basis. You’ll still need to check with employees about any changes or additions to your code of conduct. You have to do it together. However, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel, which applies to many things. There are many ways to record certain things.” Important conference themes For the conference industry, transport, catering and printing are important themes that should be at the top of the agenda. Such themes address how participants get to the conference as well as how to prevent food waste and unnecessary printing, the pair say. Scope 3 CO 2 emissions, or indirect emissions, often include these aspects, which are caused by the business activities of other busines ses, such as airlines. However, organisers can influence the situation, which is why a policy should be implemented. According to Lombarts and Wilthagen, it starts with a preliminary inventory of the participants, how they’re travelling and what time they’re arri

One of the largest auditoria of The Netherlands

Exhibition space

Exclusive use of the building & custom branding

Would you like more information? We’re happy to tell you all about it!

Visit: www.worldforum.nl Email: info@worldforum.nl Phone: +31 (0)70 306 63 66

'If you act now as chain partners, you can greatly influence the final sector-specific interpretation'

Attending from November 19 - 21? Meet our colleague Tamara at The Netherlands stand, booth F55.

18