Fiera Milano and Easyfairs Win the UFI Awards for Partnerships and Sustainability

Allianz MiCo, congress centre © Fiera Milano

UFI has named Fiera Milano and Easyfairs as winners of the UFI Industry Partners and Sustainable Development Awards 2024, respectively.

The aim of the UFI Industry Partners Award is to recognise the best initiatives that showcase the strength of collaboration and synergy among industry partners, which lead to successful exhibitions. The 2024 Award focused on “Synergy in Action: Honouring Collaborative Excellence”, and Fiera Milano, in partnership with Montecolino, has highlighted their joint research and development approach in green stand design in their winning entry.  

The UFI Sustainable Development Award aims to bolster the exhibition industry's success by showcasing outstanding developments that are available to UFI members and the broader industry. It honours those who have implemented innovative and results-oriented initiatives, demonstrating excellence and fostering growth in the sector. The topic for this year’s award was “Best example of sustainability integration into business proposals”, and Easyfairs’ submission covered both the intrinsic sustainability of their model and their overall ESG plan that includes initiatives engaging all stakeholders.

Sebastian Witt, Chair of the Industry Partners Working Group and Jury, said: “The UFI Industry Partners Working Group commits to driving partnership and fostering innovation across the exhibition industry. We had a record number of entries this year which showcase the entire spectrum of our industry working together. Congratulations to Fiera Milano and their partner Montecolino for winning the 2024 UFI Industry Partners Award. With their partnership-driven entry, they have demonstrated effective and positive stakeholder engagement across our diverse industry ecosystem to drive greater collaboration and excellence of exhibitions. The jury also commended the other finalist ADITUS and their partners for the strong submission.”   

Edwin Van der Vennet, Chair of this year’s jury, said: “Congratulations to Easyfairs for their very comprehensive and inspiring case. Their systematic, data-driven and widespread approach to tackling sustainability establishes a culture of sustainability that can serve as an example to many in the industry. The jury also recognised two other finalists for their strong entries: Jaarbeurs and RX France”.

Francesco Conci, Chief Executive Officer at Fiera Milano, comments, “We are honoured to receive the 2024 UFI Industry Partners Award. This recognition highlights our successful partnership with Montecolino, demonstrating how joint efforts in R&D can lead to innovative solutions that significantly reduce the environmental impact of exhibitions while enhancing exhibition success. Winning the Industry Partners Award not only reinforces our corporate purpose of “becoming the best partner for growth”, but also inspires us to continue pioneering services that promote circular economy principles within the industry, perfectly aligning with our Strategic Plan 2024-2027.”  

Nil Sönmez, Chief Sustainability and Customer Experience Officer at Easyfairs, has also welcomed the award: “We are honoured to be recognised by UFI as the recipient of the 2024 Sustainable Development Award. This is a huge vote of confidence for the team members across our organisation who are shaping and implementing countless sustainability initiatives. Their collaborative efforts demonstrate that you can pursue sustainable targets, such as reducing carbon footprint, while improving the unique experiences delivered by face-to-face events.”

In addition to the other "Inndustry Partners" finalist “Building Digital Bridges for Trade Shows: The ADITUS x LinkedIn Community Builder v2.0” from ADITUS (Germany) and its partners, the jury also acknowledged several entries selected as best practices in the first round of the competition: Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (Malaysia), Kuehne + Nagel (Germany), Taiwan International Trade Administration TITA (Taiwan), and VM Consulting & Busan Technology Park (South Korea).  

On the sustainability category, in addition to the entries from the two other finalists – “Accelerating sustainability at our trade shows and events” from Jaarbeurs (The Netherlands), and “Our sustainability strategy in action” from RX France, the jury also acknowledged several entries selected as best practices in the first round of the competition: Aditus (Germany), BITEC (Thailand), Comexposium (France), CQEXPO (China), Fiera Milano in partnership with Venditalia (Italy), IFEMA (Spain), Javits Center (USA), Procédés Chénel International (France), RX Africa (South Africa), Songdo ConvensiA (South Korea), TAITRA (Taiwan) and TIF-HELEXPO (Greece).

All entries listed above are available for download on their website. The UFI Industry Partners Award, part of UFI’s annual Awards, recognises outstanding initiatives in the exhibition industry. These awards celebrate excellence across various categories, including human resources, operations & services, digital innovation, marketing, sustainability, and industry partners.

The 2024 UFI Award winners will present their projects at the 91st UFI Global Congress from 20-23 November 2024 in Cologne, Germany.

Learn more about the UFI Global Congress here