Beyond Good Intentions: Navigating from Measurement to Power Shifters in Sustainability

Speaking about sustainability, transparency, and meaningful adaptation requires courage. As an industry built on connection, we now connect people for a purpose that goes beyond the event itself, strengthening knowledge, creating long-term value, and delivering measurable outcomes. When we operate this way, our impact becomes a legacy that lasts.

Author: Elena Fis, Sustainability Manager at Kenes Group, (who has seen it all or almost all… including the recycling bins no one used.)

Sustainability Claims in the Events Industry

If you have worked in the meetings industry long enough, you know there are at least two types of sustainability claims: The first is aspirational, often expressed as “we care deeply about the planet and our community;” the second is evidence-based, grounded in measurable outcomes such as, “we reduced waste by 42%, diverted 1.2 tons of materials, measured Scope 3 emissions, and planted 2,445 trees in Tanzania.”

For years, our industry has lived in the comfortable space of good intentions. We meant to be sustainable, we aspired to be responsible, and we hoped our events were greener than the buffet salad. But hope is not a strategy, and aspiration is not impact. Today, sustainability, ESG, and social responsibility are no longer “nice-to-have”. They are the real currency of credibility and trust. At Kenes Group, we are actively navigating sustainability initiatives and strategies, training for our teams and clients, DEI frameworks, carbon footprint calculation, accessibility issues and many more. Because we all clearly see that the world has changed.

This is the Era of “Show me how you do it”

We know well enough that nowadays claims without evidence are uncomfortable and impossible to ignore. Clients and other stakeholders want proof and alignment, attendees want transparency and honesty, and regulators, oh well, they want everything and even more. At Kenes, this transformation did not happen overnight. It emerged through a well-planned three‑year journey of building the right foundations, embedding consistent practices, and integrating the principles of ESG into our strategy. Most importantly, it came from learning how to measure what we once only talked about, turning intention into evidence, and evidence into progress.
 

“ESG provides the structure, legacy delivers the proof.”

Measurement: The Moment Sustainability Grows Up

Measuring sustainability in events can sometimes feel like trying to estimate how many delegates actually recycled their coffee cups instead of tossing them into the nearest bin while rushing to the next session. We think we know, but do we really?

Yet, measurement is where credibility and transparency start:

• In 2023, we measured our first full carbon footprint for a congress;
• In 2024, we scaled it to 3 events, earned ISO 20121:2024 certification, and integrated sustainability into 90% of our congresses;
• In 2025, we doubled that measurement again and launched the Kenes Forest, in partnership with Treebytree. We are restoring degraded landscapes in Tanzania through Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration, working directly with local farmers to regenerate trees that provide food, medicine, and shelter whilst improving soil health and water cycles. To date, 2,445 trees planted have offset 66,800+ kg of CO₂ from employee business travel. This initiative restores ecosystems, empowers communities, and demonstrates that sustainability requires both environmental and social accountability.

Sustainability has also become a spreadsheet, a dashboard, even a set of KPIs that could be audited, challenged, and improved. Sometimes these KPIs showed us things we probably did not want to hear, like the fact that the “eco-friendly” bags were not as eco-friendly as we thought. The lanyards and badges that were made from more sustainable materials, cannot be recycled as local infrastructure does not support it. But that is the beauty of data – It keeps us honest!
 

“What we can do is shift systems, one event at a time.”

ESG and Legacy: From Framework to Lasting Impact

ESG is becoming a structured, measurable way of working that shapes how we plan, operate, and leave impact behind. It strengthens decision-making, elevates accountability, and turns every event into an opportunity to model responsible practices. We are all being asked uncomfortable questions: “Are our suppliers ethical?” “Are our teams diverse?” “Are our governance structures transparent?” “Are our emissions decreasing or just being offset?”

These questions force us to look beyond recycling bins and into the systems that shape our organisations. When done right, ESG becomes a superpower, building trust, reducing risk, attracting partners who want more than box-ticking, and creating conditions for long-term impact.

But ESG “is” the framework – Legacy is what happens when that framework comes to life.

In 2025, our events evolved into regenerative drivers, bringing ideas, relationships, and commitments to life that continued growing long after closing ceremonies. Legacy becomes undeniable when an event stops being a date on a calendar and starts reshaping the world around it: community projects that outlive the ceremony, partnerships that strengthen social responsibility, reforestation initiatives, scholarship funds, shifts in public health awareness, new benchmarks for accessibility, etc.

Legacy has evolved from "nice to have" into strategic expectation. It reflects a deeper transformation in how events are conceived and delivered: ESG provides the structure, legacy delivers the proof.
 

Why This Matters

Sustainability has long become about doing better, intentionally, measurably, and together.

But we all should admit this: No congress organiser can solve climate change; no event can fix global inequality; no sustainability manager can single-handedly transform the whole industry. What we can do is shift systems, one event at a time.

At the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases 2025, we did not just serve a meatless lunch option and hope someone would notice. We turned lunch into an opportunity for behavioural change. Attendees received real-time app notifications inviting them to choose the plant-based meal, not with guilt, but with a friendly reminder that their plate could be a climate action tool. Small nudges, repeated consistently, changed habits.

We influence systems and biases within them. We turn claims into outcomes, and outcomes into measurable impact. When we speak about the future, it means that we look into a verified, transparent, and at the same time ambitious strategising. At Kenes, the next chapter is about the continuous improvement of what we already do and constant growth:

• Continuing education, awareness and engagement;
• ESG integration and governance;
• Regenerative Impact and Legacy;
• Sustainable Event operations;
• DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion);
• Suppliers’ accountability;
• Stakeholders’ engagement;
• Transparent reporting;
• Sustainable Event Goals (SEGs).

Most importantly, we need a lot of courage to speak about sustainability, measurement, disclosure and, essentially, adaptation that drives positive change. Our industry is built on bringing people together, and we bring them together for something bigger and more impactful.

Not just to exchange knowledge, but to empower it sustainably. Not just to host events, but to leave legacies. Not just to make claims, but to demonstrate positive outcomes. If we do this right, the impact of our events will last far longer than we ever can imagine.
 

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