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Sustainable Event Management (ISO 20121) Training Course

Explains ISO 20121 and how to apply it to event planning, suppliers and reporting, as a management system guide with no promise of formal conformity.

ECE · Event & Conference ManagementAll Levels#3139ClassroomEnglish , Arabic
Duration
5 Days
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Free substitution at any time · 30+ days' notice: full refund minus 10%. Cancellation policy

Sectors:Tourism, Hospitality & EventsCategories:Event & Conference Management

Course Overview

The Sustainable Event Management (ISO 20121) Training Course equips event directors, sustainability leads, and government event owners with a working understanding of ISO 20121, the international management system standard for event sustainability, and of how its requirements translate into everyday event planning, procurement, and delivery. Ministries, tourism authorities, venues, and organizers across the Gulf and Africa host conferences, festivals, and sporting occasions with stated sustainability ambitions, yet many teams lack a structured way to turn those ambitions into decisions, owners, and evidence. This course explains the standard; it does not offer a conformity assessment or promise that an organization will meet it. Participants study the structure of the standard, including context, leadership, planning, support, operation, performance evaluation, and improvement within the plan-do-check-act cycle, along with the guiding principles of inclusivity, integrity, stewardship, and transparency. They learn to define a sustainability policy and purpose, map interested parties, and identify and evaluate the environmental, social, and economic issues that a specific event creates. The program then moves into practice: sustainable sourcing and supplier engagement, venue selection, energy, water, waste, and catering decisions, travel and freight emissions estimated with the GHG Protocol, accessibility and inclusion, workforce welfare, and community relations. Participants also consider how ISO 20121 sits alongside ISO 14001 and ISO 45001, how to set objectives and indicators that can be measured, and how to report results honestly and avoid exaggerated claims. The course is delivered through event case studies, issue evaluation exercises, supplier scorecard drafting, internal audit simulations, and a final workshop. Participants leave with an issues register, a stakeholder map, a sustainable sourcing checklist, an indicator set, and a draft event sustainability management plan they can adapt to their own events.

Learning Objectives

  • Explain the purpose, scope, and management system structure of ISO 20121 as it applies to events.
  • Distinguish between the requirements of the standard and the guidance that supports them.
  • Interpret the guiding principles of inclusivity, integrity, stewardship, and transparency in event decisions and partner relations.
  • Define a sustainability policy, purpose statement, and leadership roles for an event organization.
  • Map interested parties across the event life cycle and plan engagement suited to each group's influence and concerns.
  • Identify and evaluate the environmental, social, and economic issues created by a specific event.
  • Set measurable sustainability objectives, targets, and indicators with named owners and data sources.
  • Embed sustainable sourcing criteria in supplier selection, contracts, and on-site supervision.
  • Reduce the footprint of venues, energy, water, waste, catering, travel, and freight through planning choices.
  • Integrate accessibility, inclusion, workforce welfare, and community considerations into event delivery.
  • Design internal audits, management reviews, and corrective action routines for continual improvement.
  • Report sustainability performance transparently to funders, partners, and the public and avoid claims that the evidence cannot support.
  • Prepare the organization to decide whether adopting the standard fits its events, resources, and ambitions.

Who Should Attend

This course is designed for event directors, event and conference managers, sustainability managers, procurement and supplier managers, and operations leads who plan or deliver conferences, exhibitions, festivals, and sporting occasions. It is equally relevant for officials in ministries of tourism, culture, sport, and environment, tourism and events authorities, municipalities, and national organizing committees who commission, fund, or oversee events and want a clear view of what a sustainability management approach asks of them. Professionals in event agencies, venues and convention centers, destination organizations, hospitality and catering suppliers, production and logistics contractors, and corporate communications teams with an events portfolio who help design events, supply their services, or manage their sites will also benefit. It is particularly valuable for teams starting to build a sustainability approach for a recurring event, and for organizations that want to understand ISO 20121 properly before deciding whether and how to adopt it, and what resources, data, and leadership that would take.

Learning Outcomes

  • By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
  • Explain what ISO 20121 requires of an event organization and what it leaves to judgment.
  • Apply the guiding principles of the standard when weighing event decisions.
  • Draft a sustainability policy, purpose statement, and allocation of leadership roles.
  • Map interested parties and plan engagement suited to each one's influence and concerns.
  • Build and maintain an issues register using clear evaluation criteria and named owners for each priority issue.
  • Set measurable objectives and indicators with named owners and realistic data sources.
  • Write sustainability criteria into tenders, supplier contracts, and on-site supervision.
  • Prepare operational controls for energy, water, waste, catering, travel, and freight.
  • Integrate accessibility, workforce welfare, and community relations into delivery plans.
  • Run internal audits and management reviews that lead to corrective action and lasting improvement from one event to the next.
  • Prepare a sustainability report for funders and the public whose claims are supported by evidence.
  • Assemble a draft event sustainability management plan for a real or planned event.

Course Outline

Course Outline:

Day 1

Understanding ISO 20121 and the Sustainable Event

  • What sustainability means for events: environmental, social, and economic dimensions
  • Why events need a management system rather than a list of green initiatives
  • Purpose and scope of ISO 20121 and the kinds of organizations it addresses
  • The structure of the standard: context, leadership, planning, support, operation, evaluation, improvement
  • Guiding principles: inclusivity, integrity, stewardship, and transparency
  • Requirements versus guidance: reading the standard accurately
  • How ISO 20121 relates to ISO 14001, ISO 45001, and existing organizational systems
  • Practical application: participants review a recent event and record where a management system was missing
Day 2

Context, Leadership, and Issue Evaluation

  • Defining the context of the organization and the scope of the event management system
  • Leadership commitment, sustainability policy, purpose statement, and assigned roles
  • Identifying interested parties: funders, attendees, suppliers, workforce, residents, and regulators
  • Engagement methods and handling conflicting expectations between stakeholders
  • Identifying environmental, social, and economic issues across the event life cycle
  • Evaluation criteria, prioritization, and keeping a living issues register
  • Setting objectives, targets, and action plans with named owners
  • Practical application: participants build a stakeholder map and an issues register for a chosen event
Day 3

Sustainable Sourcing and the Event Supply Chain

  • Where supply chain decisions shape most of an event's footprint
  • Writing sustainability criteria into tenders, evaluation, and contracts
  • Engaging venues, caterers, production companies, logistics providers, and local suppliers
  • Materials, temporary structures, reuse, rental, and end-of-event recovery
  • Labor standards, workforce welfare, and fair treatment across contractors
  • Local sourcing and small business participation as an event objective
  • Supervising supplier performance on site and collecting evidence
  • Practical application: participants draft a sourcing checklist and a supplier scorecard for two service categories
Day 4

Operational Controls: Venue, Resources, Travel, and People

  • Venue selection criteria and working with venue operators on shared data
  • Energy, temporary power, cooling, and water management in hot climates
  • Waste hierarchy, food waste, catering choices, and packaging control
  • Attendee travel, freight, and estimating Scope 3 emissions with the GHG Protocol
  • Accessibility and inclusion for participants, staff, and visitors
  • Community relations, noise, traffic, and neighbourhood impact
  • Emergency preparedness and operational readiness within the management system
  • Practical application: participants prepare operational controls for the three highest-priority issues in their register
Day 5

Measuring, Reviewing, and Reporting

  • Choosing indicators and designing practical data collection during live events
  • Internal audits, nonconformities, corrective actions, and management review
  • Reporting transparently to funders, partners, and the public
  • Avoiding exaggerated claims: what evidence supports each public statement
  • Capturing lessons and carrying improvements into the next event cycle
  • Deciding whether and how to adopt the standard: readiness and resources
  • Final workshop: participants present a draft event sustainability management plan for a real or planned event

Upcoming Dates

Selected date

Istanbul · 2 – 6 Aug 2027 · Classroom

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LisbonScheduled
2 – 6 Nov 2026€5,400—
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9 – 13 Nov 2026€5,600—
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MadinahScheduled
16 – 20 Nov 2026€4,200—
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16 – 20 Nov 2026€5,400—
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MakkahScheduled
23 – 27 Nov 2026€4,200€3,780until 2 Nov
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ManamaScheduled
30 Nov – 4 Dec 2026€4,700€4,230until 9 Nov
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30 Nov – 4 Dec 2026€5,300€4,770until 9 Nov
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14 – 18 Dec 2026€5,700€5,130until 23 Nov
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21 – 25 Dec 2026€4,300€3,870until 30 Nov
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SingaporeScheduled
21 – 25 Dec 2026€6,700€6,030until 30 Nov
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AbujaScheduled
28 Dec 2026 – 1 Jan 2027€5,100€4,590until 7 Dec
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AmmanScheduled
3 – 7 Jan 2027€3,100€2,790until 14 Dec
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AccraScheduled
4 – 8 Jan 2027€5,100€4,590until 14 Dec
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AmsterdamScheduled
11 – 15 Jan 2027€5,400€4,860until 21 Dec
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18 – 22 Jan 2027€4,800€4,320until 28 Dec
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24 – 28 Jan 2027€4,000€3,600until 4 Jan
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CairoScheduled
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DohaScheduled
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DubaiScheduled
28 Feb – 4 Mar 2027€4,400€3,960until 8 Feb
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22 – 26 Mar 2027€5,100€4,590until 1 Mar
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IstanbulScheduled
2 – 6 Aug 2027€4,700€4,230until 12 Jul
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Available in: Istanbul · Dubai · London · Doha · Amsterdam

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