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Béatrice Eastham, Director of Green Événements

"Companies are beginning to understand that respecting the environment and demonstrating this respect through their events has several benefits."

With the environment becoming an ever-more important issue all over the world, BWMN spoke to Béatrice Eastham, Director of Green Événements, a French-based company who organise and advise on creating sustainable events, to find out how this issue has affected the MICE industry.

BWMN: How exactly does one make an event ‘green’?

Béatrice Eastham: Quite simply, by optimising the entire process of the creation and the organisation of the event. It must be made as efficient as possible in order that it wastes as little as possible and has more positive consequences for the environment.

This can be achieved by taking a systematic approach to the sustainability of an event. Right from the conception phase, you must consider the event as a whole, and how it is going to affect the environment. It is also essential to know the venues and agencies of a destination very well, in order to get the most out of them and maximise efficiency.

BWMN: What would you say to a meeting planner who would like to make their events sustainable, but who was concerned at the potential expense involved?

Béatrice Eastham: The potential expense comes from only spending more time identifying issues related to sustainability and finding suitable partners, who are equipped to deliver an environmentally-friendly event. By definition, a sustainable event uses fewer resources, and is therefore cheaper. If you have access to the right expertise, you can actually save a lot of money.

BWMN: Are green events becoming more and more popular?

Béatrice Eastham: Absolutely. Companies are beginning to understand that respecting the environment and demonstrating this respect through their events has three payoffs: most obviously, it benefits the environment, it benefits the participants of the event, who feel better about themselves for being eco-friendly, and finally it benefits the company in financial terms, since they avoid paying for unnecessary wastage and travel.

BWMN: Are your clients largely French, or are there a lot of meeting planners who come from abroad to organise sustainable events in France?

Béatrice Eastham: Foreign meeting planners from abroad represent a growing proportion of our clientele. We very much enjoy collaborating with customers from abroad and helping them to discover the sustainable side of France! We also have the advantage of having two bilingual English speakers among our employers, which makes communicating with them very easy.

www.green-evenements.com