Sustainable Events Guide
© EPFL – Adrien Buttier
Introduction
The Sustainable Events Guide spells out a series of voluntary measures you can take to promote diversity, foster inclusion and minimise the environmental impact of your event.
To reach the targets set out in EPFL’s Climate & Sustainability Strategy, our entire community will need to make a concerted effort to adopt socially and environmentally responsible practices. This pertains to everything we do at EPFL – and event planning is no exception! The events held by our schools and colleges, student clubs and partner organizations, whether on or off campus, must be sustainable. That means taking steps to sharply reduce our events’ environmental impact, of course, but also making our venues are accessible and ensuring the safety and security of everyone in attendance. The goal isn’t to point the finger at “polluting” EPFL events, but rather to give organizers the tools and resources they need to address the many facets of sustainability.
Guidelines particularly relevant to large events are indicated with a ♫.
9 tips for making your event sustainable
The main measures at a glance
General measures and partnerships
Diversity and equal opportunity
Travel and accommodation
Here are some local resources that can help you:
- KIT manif: A Vaud website with essential information for planning a sustainable event, covering both environmental and social aspects.
- Manifestation-verte.ch: A Swiss website with tips on holding sustainable cultural and sporting events.
- FestiPlus: Vaud guidelines for prevention at events.
Other useful resources:
- The University of Neuchatel’s Sustainable Events Guide
Because we’re stronger together, this guide was developed through a team effort led by Mediacom and the SV Sustainability Office, with the valuable input of a working group comprising members of: AGEPoly, EPFL’s waste management facility, the travel and procurement unit of EPFL Sustainability, the Entrepreneur Club, Ingénieur·e·s Du Monde, La Convergence, PlanQueer, Polyquity, the EPFL print center, EPFL food services, Unipoly, the Equality Office and head of communications within EPFL’s Vice Presidency for Responsible Transformation, and the Zero Emission Group.
Contact
Have a question? What to share some other resources with the EPFL community? Send us an email at [email protected].
This guide will be updated regularly to make sure it stays complete and useful. Your feedback on how it can be improved will benefit the entire EPFL community.