FRANKFURT, Germany — At IMEX in Frankfurt, the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) and the Strategic Alliance of the National Convention Bureaux of Europe (SANCBE) announced Convene 4 Climate. The new event, scheduled for October 2-3 in Barcelona, will target influential leaders in sustainability for its curated programming.
With the goal of moving toward long-term profitability, mitigating climate impact, and generating optimism as a movement, Convene 4 Climate will focus on three themes: Reimagine, Inspire, and Movement.
“Convene 4 Climate is an inaugural event. It is the first time we have intentionally brought together the business events industry and adjacent sectors to meet and collaborate on action in a workshop- and solution-driven environment. Exploring this model in a highly curated audience will enhance the quality of interactions between communities – and most importantly, solutions,” said Sherrif Karamat, CAE, President and CEO of PCMA and CEMA.
Through actionable strategy development, meaningful discussions, workshops and collaborative problem-solving, the new event will aim to foster accountability, deliver transformative solutions and harness the power of technology to address today’s climate change challenges.
“The workshop-based environment will include targeted content to enable exploration of tools, technologies and skills that enable our community and adjacent sectors to make better decisions about the challenges we currently face,” Karamat said. “Participants will include a global audience to ensure discussions welcome diverse perspectives, so we can explore future scenarios, growing knowledge and creative solutions around the intersection of climate technology and the world of business events.”
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When it comes to combating climate change, trade show organizers need to focus on many areas.
“We believe our community can contribute in several areas,” Karamat said. “For example: sustainability by design, integrating sustainability as a key performance indicator of the event to ensure it influences decisions made in all areas of the project. This should guide a design transformation, focusing on reduction and other strategies to minimize environmental impact. And shared responsibility: finding the partners you need to achieve your goals.”
If you are interested in attending the event, you can submit an expression of interest to stay informed about event information.
“We want to ensure that we have a balanced mix of professionals who have a role in sustainability/ESG as well as industry leaders. We also recognized that we need to go beyond the global business events industry and collaborate with adjacent sectors that are making a positive impact/addressing current challenges. We invite everyone to visit the event website and fill out the online form to register their interest. This is how we will provide you with the latest developments of the event, including but not limited to content, registration and collaboration opportunities,” said Karamat.