Sustainable Events: A Standard is being set
This is a PowerPoint for use by the ISO
20121 mirror committee to explain the
development of ISO 20121 to others
during the public comment period
Scope of Presentation
• Who are BSI and ISO
• What are standards?
• Why create one for the event sector?
• The journey of BS8901
• The journey of ISO 20121
• The vision for the future
Who is BSI ?
• BSI is the British Standards Institution
• BSI is the UK’s National Standards Body, they
operate under a Royal Charter and a
Memorandum of Understanding with Government
• Tailor this third point to explain your own national
standard body and include their logo
Who is ISO ?
• International Organization for Standardization
• All national bodies invited to take part in an ISO
development
• Standards are developed by consensus
• A volunteer chair is assigned: For ISO 20121 the chair is
Fiona Pelham who was also BS8901 chair
• Secretariats are assigned: For ISO 20121 the secretariats
are BSI (UK) and ABNT (Brazil)
National Mirror Committee
• This slide can be tailored to explain your national
mirror committee information including key
representatives
• 3 representatives attend ISO 20121 working
group meetings
ISO 20121
• Secretariat: UK and Brazil
• Participating Countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium,
Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia Denmark, France, Germany, Italy,
Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland USA
• Observing Countries: Armenia, Czech Republic, Finland, Lithuania,
Morocco, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Thailand
• Liaison Bodies: AIPC (International Association of Convention Centres),
EFAPCO (European Federation of the Association of Professional
Congress Organizers), GMIC (Green Meeting Industry Council),
HORTREC (Hotels, Restaurants and Cafes in Europe), MPI (Meeting
Professionals International), UFI (The Global Association of the
Exhibition Industry), GRI (The Global Reporting Initiative- liaison tbc)
Who was on the committee to develop BS8901
and ISO 20121?
Event industry experts
Sustainability experts
Standard Makers
Standards Users
International Presence
Event Associations
People new to standards
What are standards?
• Standards are a voluntary agreed way of doing
things
• Standards are written in a specific way so their
requirements can be understood by standard
bodies around the world
• ISO Standards have special attributes, as certain
rules to ensure transparency, integrity and fairness
must be followed
Why create a standard for the event sector?
• London 2012 inspired the creation of BS8901
• BS 8901 started work in early 2006 :
– Wide stakeholder engagement via workshops
– Review of existing international event sustainability
guidelines
– Trials of the standard
– The creation of a second draft to deal with gaps
identified launched in 2009
The journey of BS 8901
The journey of ISO 20121
• In January 2010 the first of five international meetings took
place for the working group for ISO 20121
• 3 representatives from each country’s mirror committee
were able to attend and represent national comments
• Significant time was spent working on the guidance
section as the working group were keen to provide support
for the industry
• The working group began to implement the standard and
provide feedback based on their own experience
Future Timelines
• DIS ballot initiated (5 months) 2011-04-11
• Voting summary circulated 2011-09-11
• DIS comments resolution meeting (São Paulo, Brazil) 2011-11-07
• Full report circulated: DIS approved for registration as FDIS 2012-01-06
• FDIS registered for formal approval 2012-01-06
• FDIS ballot initiated: 2 months. Proof sent to Secretariat 2012-02-01
• FDIS approved for publication 2012-04-02
• International Standard published 2012-06-01
Future Vision
• Guidance is likely to be
created to explain the
standard by different
countries, associations
or individuals
Future Vision
ISO 20121 will provide
opportunities:
• To consider
sustainability at every
decision point
• To raise the profile of
the event sector
• For every small step to
make a big difference
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