Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC), a non-profit professional meetings association dedicated to promoting sustainable meetings, has reached an agreement with iCompli, a division of BPA Worldwide, a global third-party assurance provider, to develop a certification program for the event industry’s sustainability standards.
The standards, known as the APEX/ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Event Standards, were released to address environmental and social sustainability in the meeting and event industry.
“Certification drives adoption of industry standards,” said Tamara Kennedy, executive director, GMIC. “We saw a real need in the industry for a certification program that industry participants could achieve and be recognized for their sustainability performance. We wanted an audit partner who not only knew our industry but was willing to work with us to develop an affordable yet rigorous process. iCompli met those requirements.”
Under terms of the agreement, GMIC and iCompli will work together to promote adoption and certification of the ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Meetings Standards. GMIC will develop a registry of certified organizations and establish a practitioner group of industry experts to clarify certification issues and propose improvements to the standards. For its part, iCompli will develop certification protocols for each of the standards and all necessary forms and documents to support the certification process.
The ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Meetings Standards are a series of nine formal, voluntary standards developed by the meetings, conventions, exhibitions and events industry to provide event planners and suppliers with specifications for producing events in a more sustainable manner. The standards specify specific performance criteria for staff management, communications, waste management, energy, air quality, water, procurement and community partners.
“We are delighted to be working with GMIC to develop a certification program for the ASTM Standards,” said Glenn Hansen, president and CEO, BPA Worldwide. “Sustainability is a critical issue in the events industry. Adoption of the ASTM Standards, and certification by an independent third party, will advance environmental and social sustainability and raise the level of performance of everyone in the industry.”
iCompli recently completed the first certifications under the ASTM Standards for the Colorado Convention Center, VISIT DENVER and Image Audiovisuals.
