iPres 2022 Sustainability Policy
Our vision for iPres 2022 is to organize an event of the highest quality which minimizes our carbon footprint, minimizes waste and leaves a positive legacy for our environment.
The climate emergency is one of the biggest issues facing our world today. As a conference and as a community we have a social responsibility to be more sustainable. This policy outlines the first steps towards running a sustainable conference, although we recognize we have much more to do.
Our vision for iPres 2022 is to organize an event of the highest quality which minimizes our carbon footprint, minimizes waste and leaves a positive legacy for our environment.
As a conference which offers both in-person, as well as an online program, we hope to welcome many participants to Glasgow following many months of remote event participation throughout the pandemic. As travel and consumption of food and materials are the greatest contributors to our environmental footprint, it is important that we demonstrate how we will reduce this impact for iPres 2022 and, ultimately, how we can be more sustainable in all future community events
Our commitment
Travel
Offering an online program as part of the iPres 2022 conference offers the opportunity to participate without traveling, however we still expect to welcome a large number of in-person attendees.
Therefore, we will:
- Encourage travel to the conference by train, bus or ferry where possible – Glasgow has good transport links from around the UK
- Encourage those for whom air travel is unavoidable to choose ‘green options’
- Choose airlines with modern, fuel-efficient fleets. Skyscanner’s greener choices search tool highlights flights with lower emissions.
- Travel with your own reusable items such as a water bottle, travel mug, cutlery and headphones.
- Avoid ultra-long-haul and short hops with multiple connections, and always fly economy. Stretching out in business and first class might be more comfortable, but the carbon footprint of this extra space can be up to six times higher than those in economy.
- Where public transport is not available to our Venue Visit hosts, encourage the provision of group transport options.
Hospitality
Our venue is central to Glasgow and only a few hundred meters from Glasgow Queen Street rail station, so we encourage delegates to travel around the city by public transport, on foot or by bike. In addition, we will:
- Recommend hotels and social program venues which are also within walking distance to the Conference Venue
Our venue has ‘Cycle Friendly status with Distinction’ awarded by Cycling Scotland and offers:
- Bike racks & storage
- Electric Vehicles for hire
Catering
Our venue uses a catering company which is itself working towards minimizing its environmental impact. Nourish Catering is a member of the Glasgow Food Procurement Partnership – for which recycling and waste reduction is one of its key aims. They offer:
- Food which carries Fair Trade status
- Onsite water bottling
- Real cutlery and crockery
- Keep Cups available to buy
Nourish also:
- Recycles plastics from its retail outlets
- Actively seeks to influence suppliers to use reusable crates for deliveries
- Offers locally sourced food using fresh, seasonal ingredients
- Can provide a food map and menus highlighting Scottish suppliers
In addition, to lower the environmental impact of our catering for iPres 2022 we will:
- Ensure there are more vegan and vegetarian options at mealtimes
- Avoid over-catering to minimize waste
- Encourage our caterer to develop a food waste policy (if not already in place)
In the venue
Our venue, the Technology & Innovation Centre, has a robust sustainability policy of its own which commits to using and making available:
- Energy and resource efficient construction materials
- Solar PV array on roof powers the lifts and saves 48 tonnes of CO2 per annum
- Efficient and innovative District Heating scheme
- Daylighting control for energy efficient lighting systems
- Energy zoning make effective use of heating and cooling
- Plentiful recycling bins around the venue
- Energy efficiency taps and hand driers fitted in place of hand towels to reduce waste
In order to minimize waste, we will also:
- Make use of technology, including a conference app and digital screens instead of printed materials
- Promote iPres 2022 using digital platforms, websites, and online materials
- Significantly reduce, or eliminate where possible, the amount of printed material, disposables and single-use conference ‘giveaways’
- Where we produce signage or large scale printed materials for around the venue, we will do this locally to avoid transport costs and favor those which are PVC free, recyclable, and use eco-solvent or latex inks.
- Use recycled paper when printed material is necessary
- Collect evaluation and feedback online
- Encourage attendees to bring their own water bottles and writing materials
- Encourage exhibiting sponsors to do the same
Carbon Offsetting
While we will make every effort to minimize the emissions and waste created by the iPres 2022, we understand that it will be difficult to eliminate them altogether.
Travel will be the largest contributor to the carbon emissions associated with the conference, therefore during the registration process, we will ask delegates whether they intend to travel to Glasgow to join the conference and if so, their intended mode of travel. Using this information, we will be able estimate the carbon footprint of our travel and will investigate ways to offset it.
