GDS-Forum and Impact Day 2026: Better Together for Regenerative Cities and Destinations

From 16 to 18 June, destination leaders, sustainability practitioners, policymakers, and changemakers from around the world will gather in Szczecin, Poland, for GDS-Forum and Impact Day 2026.

In a fragmented world, collaboration is no longer optional. GDS-Forum and Impact Day 2026 places active co-creation between generations, communities, and cities at the centre of destination transformation.

Hosted by the Global Destination Sustainability Movement (GDS-Movement) in collaboration with #MEET4IMPACT, the City of Szczecin, the Szczecin Convention Bureau, the Polish Tourism Organisation, and the Poland Convention Bureau, the event positions the visitor economy as a strategic driver of long-term urban, social, and environmental transformation.

A catalytic gathering for cities in transition

GDS-Forum and Impact Day is not a traditional conference. It is intentionally designed as a strategic catalyst, creating the conditions for alignment, shared purpose, and collective action across sectors. 

At its core lies a clear impact ambition: to enable destinations and cities to use tourism and business events as credible tools for sustainability, regeneration, and public value. The programme is built around participatory workshops, systems dialogue, peer exchange, and applied learning, replacing passive attendance with active contribution and shared accountability.

Guy Bigwood, CEO of the Global Destination Sustainability Movement, said: “GDS-Forum and Impact Day exist to help destinations and leaders move from intent to impact. Our focus is transformation through accountability, action, and radical collaboration. ‘Better Together’ reflects a simple truth: none of us can meet today’s challenges alone, but together we can accelerate real, measurable change.”
 

The 2026 theme: “Better Together”

“Better Together” reflects the reality that today’s challenges cannot be solved by individual organisations, sectors, or generations acting alone. It calls for deeper collaboration across public and private sectors, between residents and industry, and among experienced leaders and emerging talent.

Through open dialogue and mindful co-creation, participants move from shared understanding to practical action through an iterative three-day process, turning regenerative ambition into outcomes that can scale and endure.

“Poland is shaping a new narrative for business events; one that is deeply personal, interactive, and emotionally engaging. Through destinations like Szczecin, we want to show how Polish cities are regenerating and transforming, creating experiences that deliver real value for participants, communities and places alike. Hosting the GDS-Forum and Impact Day is an open invitation to the world: come to Poland, co-create with us, and be part of a future where events truly matter,” Aneta Ksiazek, Head of Poland Convention Bureau, added.
 

From alignment to action: an impact-led design

The impact strategy for GDS-Forum and Impact Day is structured around one foundational pathway and four operational impact pathways.

At its foundation are stakeholder alignment and impact governance, ensuring that city priorities, destination strategies, and event activities are aligned, legitimate, and mutually reinforcing.

The four operational pathways focus on:

• Building capacity for sustainable and regenerative tourism and events so ambition translates into consistent practice;
• Youth leadership and future talent, positioning young people as active contributors to city transformation;
• Destination positioning and attraction, aligning international visibility with real sustainability performance;
• Leveraging the visitor economy for city transformation, ensuring tourism and events actively support urban regeneration, identity, and residents’ quality of life

The design and impact framework of GDS-Forum and Impact Day 2026 aligns with European Union policy priorities on sustainable tourism, destination resilience, and climate transition, reinforcing tourism and events as legitimate instruments of public value and long-term urban transformation.
 

From left to right: Michał Przepiera, Deputy Mayor of City of Szczecin, Geneviève Leclerc, Co-Founder of #MEET4IMPACT, Guy Bigwood, CEO of the GDS-Movement, Ireneusz Nowak, CEO of Żegluga Szczecińska Turystyka Wydarzenia

Designed for impact

“Better Together” is also reflected in how the event itself is delivered. GDS-Forum and Impact Day 2026 is co-created through close collaboration between GDS-Movement, #MEET4IMPACT, the City of Szczecin, the Szczecin Convention Bureau, the Polish Tourism Organisation, and the Poland Convention Bureau. Together, they bring global sustainability thought leadership, deep expertise in impact and legacy, and a host city and country actively using events as a lever for long-term urban and community transformation.

This partnership embodies the belief that meaningful change in tourism and events does not happen in isolation, but through cities, organisers, and impact practitioners working together around shared, intentional goals. The global community of tourism, event, and association professionals is invited to Szczecin to help build the city’s growing regenerative capacity and ambitions, while strengthening impact across destinations worldwide.

Geneviève Leclerc, CEO & Co-Founder of #MEET4IMPACT, added: “Impact Day is about centring people - especially young people - in how we design the future of events. With the theme, ‘Where the Future Grows’, we’re creating space for youth-led ideas, local engagement, and practical impact that lasts long after the event ends.”
 

Szczecin: a host city that welcomes radical collaboration

Just two hours from Berlin, Szczecin is a post-industrial city in active reinvention. Shaped by water, industry, and decades of change, the city is transforming its industrial legacy into a regenerative future guided by its Floating Garden vision — a water-based metropolis integrating natural and built environments. By hosting GDS-Forum and Impact Day 2026, Szczecin positions itself as a living laboratory for how cities can align tourism, events, ecology, culture, and civic life to support long-term transformation.

Leopold Korytkowski, Director of Tourism and Events in Żegluga Szczecińska Turystyka i Wydarzenia, commented: “Hosting GDS-Forum and Impact Day 2026 is an opportunity to help build the regenerative capacity and ambition of Szczecin’s visitor economy, while contributing to the global transformation of tourism and events. We are proud to welcome a community that is ready to collaborate, innovate, and lead with purpose.”

Applications for the 2026 GDS-Awards open soon

The GDS-Awards Ceremony, taking place on 17 June 2026, will recognise cities, destinations, and individuals demonstrating leadership in regeneration, innovation, and impact, through three application-based awards.

The ceremony will announce:

• The GDS-Movement and #MEET4IMPACT Impact Award, which acknowledges and celebrates a destination management organisation committed to legacy and impact through business events;
• The GDS-Movement Innovation Award, which recognises and showcases a destination using innovative solutions to drive sustainability performance;
• The new GDS-Movement Changemaker Award, which recognises an individual professional who has made an outstanding contribution to advancing regeneration within a destination.

Individual or joint event registration is now available, with limited capacity to ensure meaningful participation and deep collaboration. Registration is now open.
 

Published by Meeting Media Company, the publisher of Headquarters Magazine (HQ) – a leading international publication based in Brussels, serving the global MICE industry and association community.