Sustainable Meetings

The City of Tampere intends to be a pioneer in hosting sustainable events and has been actively greening events by, for example, advising event organizers to make events and the city more sustainable.

When a large group of people travel together for an event or meeting, they will inevitably use lots of resources. Therefore, we encourage all conference organisers and delegates to make sustainable choices.

In Tampere, the work for sustainable events started in 1992, when Tampere Hall, as one of the first conference centers in the world, launched sustainability programs and policies. In 2014, Tampere Hall became the first ever congress center to obtain the Nordic Ecolabel. Our vision is that Tampere will be widely known as one of the world’s best cities for organizing sustainable congresses and events.

Tampere Convention Bureau is here to help you make your congress more sustainable!

 A sustainable congress or event incorporates environmental considerations to minimize its negative impact on the environment. Here are a few practical tips for any conference organizer.

• Communicate without paper. Encourage presenters not to use handouts but instead deliver material online during or after the conference. If something needs to be printed, make sure it is printed on recycled paper and on both sides.
• Encourage exhibitors to bring a realistic amount of promotional material. Ask them to take extra materials back home for later use.
• Distribute brochures and giveaways (pens, pins, notepads and the like) only to those with a genuine interest or need and encourage delegates to only take what they need. Make sure all products are sustainably and ethically sourced and avoid heavily packaged products.
• Avoid purchases that cannot be used again after the event and reuse items from previous events.
• Educate conference delegates about the event’s sustainability policy and local recycling practices. Post clear signs on containers for easy sorting of reusable materials.
• Provide a drop-off point for name-badges and unwanted brochures and promotional items. Reuse name-badge holders in future events.
• Choose venues and hotels within a walking distance of each other. Whenever transportation is needed, inform delegates about public transportation.
• Choose local suppliers to avoid unnecessary transportation.
• Make sure lights and audiovisual equipment in the meeting rooms are turned off whenever the rooms are not in use.
• Serve tap water instead of bottled water. Finnish tap water is clean and safe to drink, make sure the congress delegates are aware of this, and mark places where water bottles can be refilled.
• For lunches and dinners, favor regional season products and vegetarian options.
• Avoid using disposable cups, plates, forks, knives or spoons.
• Take accessibility into consideration when planning your event
• Choose venues and accommodation that have an environmental certificate
• Take sustainability into consideration when planning receptions and the social programme
• Look into offsetting carbon emissions
• Avoid individually wrapped products