Event Planning

❑ Appoint an environmental manager to ensure green compliance with your event
❑ Is there an emergency plan? For example, when flights cannot land and are redirected
❑ Consider meeting by phone or video conference to plan the event
❑ Consider whether parts of the conference/meeting can be hybrid
❑ Do all speakers need to be present and live on stage? The speaker’s footprint can be heavy
❑ Remember that online and digital also have an imprint
❑ Order green meeting products, including writing pads with FSC label
❑ Use signage that can be reused in future events if not digital signage
❑ Provide reusable nametags
❑ Have a label printer at registration to avoid printing nametags in advance or get participants/exhibitors to print their own in advance
❑ Avoid specific event names and year in signage, communication and lanyards /nametags
❑ Collect name tags and lanyards after the event

❑ Remember UNORDINARY MEETINGS in the planning process
❑ Avoid give-aways or have something made in either recycled material or give something of quality that is durable and preferably "usable“
❑ Giveaways should be local produce or locally produced
❑ Provide hosts with a list of local gift ideas and suppliers
❑ Are there fixed dates for the event? Can the event be organized so it ‘collides’ with a culture or sports event? Or can it be scheduled next to the weekend which will provide an opportunity for a longer stay (special price on additional dates)
❑ Can you book local guides and attractions for the social parts of the event?
❑ Can you use a local venue for the social programme?
❑ Is there a local ambassador you can involve in the event?

Opportunity

❑ Bleisure / FLEXcation - make an offer so that the participants stay a few extra days or bring their partner/family
❑ Plan Bleisure/FLEXcation at the bidding/planning stage and include it in bids
❑ Plan a partner/family programme and include it in bids
❑ Special price package for partner/family that only cover breakfast and room surcharges

Transport

Transportation is the heaviest CO2 item on any trip. Inform guests about the most direct flights as well as ferry options. Remember that Atlantic Airways has many sustainable initiatives, keep up-to-date with those and inform event hosts.
Where you can make a difference:

❑ Carpooling from the Airport by either bus (if larger group) or co-taxi. Remember to inform about this - also to individual travellers
❑ Try to gather the participants on as few flights as possible so that transport from the airport can be coordinated
❑ Choose a certified hotel and a hotel that is within walking distance of the town
❑ Inform about free city buses
❑ If cars are to be used, choose electric cars where possible
❑ Also refer to bikes, and scooters and remember to inform about the rules
❑ Make a plan, so that the group need as little transport as possible and plan for a minimum of busses for transport

OFFSET

(see more under “Legacy & Impact”).

Accommodation

❑ Give priority to hotels and venues with a Green Key or similar certificate
❑ Perform a site visit (possibly digitally) and verify that any environmental requirements can be met.
❑ Choose a place and/or hotel that is willing to do more to turn green.
❑ Choose an accommodation within walking distance of the meeting venue
❑ Is accommodation available for participants with disabilities?
❑ Ask guests, who are going to stay overnight for several days, how they prefer housekeeping
❑ or produce a card with “I do not need my room cleaned” as part of registration upon arrival

Venue

❑ Is the venue certified with a green certification?
❑ Has the venue switched to LED?
❑ Is there an electric charger at the venue?
❑ Make an on-site visit to verify that your environmental requirements can be met
❑ Choose a venue that is willing to do more to turn green
❑ Select a venue within walking distance of the accommodation
❑ If exhibition stands are part of an event, is there a plan for:
▪ Are there requirements for recycling materials?
▪ How can they be recycled, donated or sorted?
▪ Can items be rented?
❑ Is the venue accessible for participants with disabilities?
❑ Can table decorations be reused for another event or is it possible to buy "eternal flowers" / decorations
❑ Is it possible to donate table- and stage decorations after the event?
❑ Is it possible to rent a table- and stage decorations?
❑ Avoid pen and paper for each participant

Food

❑ Avoid single-use
❑ Serve tap water instead of a bottle
❑ Serve food from local producers where possible and tell the stories to the participants
❑ Serve local dishes adapted to international guests 
❑ Local is more important than organic
❑ Always serve a minimum of one vegetarian dish
❑ Remember to get information about any allergens or dietary requirements upon registration
❑ Offer MSC or ASC-certified fish - and of course Faroese
❑ Make it mandatory to sign up for meals. It reduces food waste and your cost
❑ When talking to your host about meals, talk about the options with the lowest CO2 footprint. Local first and foremost (fish and lamb). Chicken and fish are better than Beef
❑ Choose seasonal ingredients
❑ Focus on minimizing food waste
❑ Is there a plan for any surplus food? Can you donate? Or make a co-op with TooGoodToGo or charity? Food can for example be donated to: 
Residential homes, lodging houses or other events happening nearby. Get in touch with a local organization before your event and organize a pick-up. 

❑ To avoid food waste use smaller plates as this results in less food waste - but if there is a buffet, people still prioritize the meat over the vegetables. The best solution is therefore to combine smaller portion dishes with the option of picking up extra accessories as needed.

Communication

❑ Do you communicate about transport to the participants, how they can travel to and from the event in a climate-friendly way?
❑ Do you communicate to the participants how they can spend the night most climate-friendly?
❑ Do you tell the participants about the sustainability measures you have taken on their behalf?
❑ Do you tell the participants about the sustainability measures they can take themselves?
❑ Do communicate any donation and chosen charity throughout the event
❑ Is the web page easily accessible and has a "read aloud" function?
❑ Is communication available in relevant languages?
❑ Is your event and communication "paperless event“?
▪ Do you only communicate online and via email?
▪ Do you plan Online registration and ongoing communication?
▪ Do you plan Online check-in on the day?
▪ Do you use an app or online website for the programme only?
▪ Are all documents available online and/or by email?
▪ Are all hand-outs, slides and reports online?

Social sustainability

❑ Try to find speakers of both sexes
❑ Remember DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion)  when choosing speakers and when communicating about the event
❑ When promoting the event, remember that photos must be representative of the event
❑ Try to find local speakers on a topic
❑ Consider whether it is important that all speakers are present or whether some can be digital
❑ Consider whether speaker/entertainment can be used elsewhere on the islands. ❑ Can you possibly offer a lecture to a school or association?
❑ Do you make it possible for everyone to participate?
❑ Is there easy and equal access to participate e.g. in relation to disability, registration price, etc.?
❑ Can a "sponsors-a-participant" be a sponsor option for local companies or for participants or perhaps a hybrid option for those who live far away and do not have the opportunity to participate?
❑ Recommend local gifts to organizers. They usually need gifts for speakers
❑ In connection with exhibitions - find local delicacies and use them as giveaways 

❑ Make sure that the moderator has a focus on DEI
❑ Communicate about accessibility
❑ Create possibilities for written communication to be converted into audio and read out load
❑ Share best DEI practices.
 

Waste

❑ Is it possible to sort waste?
❑ If this is possible, then identify which fractions
❑ Have or bring the right number of rubbish bins (easily identifiable) so that it is easy to sort for the participants and staff
❑ If it is not possible to sort waste into fractions, please inform us why not and what you do with waste
❑ Is there “waste” that can be recycled, sorted, donated

Participants

❑ Engage participants in your sustainability work by telling them in advance about your initiatives
❑ Tell participants to stay on the established trails if they are out in nature
❑ Tell the participants how they best support the local community in connection with any team-building events
❑ Tell participants where to find the local shops
❑ Tell attendees that ownership of our hotels and restaurants is mainly local
❑ Remember to get information about possible allergens and special diets when registering

❑ Help participants and spectators make sustainable choices:
❑ Give examples of how they can save power (turn off lights)
❑ and water (short baths)
❑ Drinking tap water
❑ reduce food waste (offer smaller plates, but more servings)
❑ or use climate-friendly transport (share map and timetable for the nearest bus route), carpool from the airport, walk (inform about the distance to places)
❑ Encourage participants to BYO drinking can / mug and take only what they need
❑ Inform about all the local shops and delicacies
❑ Inform about possible "after-life" for food and products, waste
❑ Host a competition and reward participants who have carried out or proposed a particularly good sustainable initiative

Impact & legacy

❑ Consider whether the speaker can be used elsewhere on the island. Can you possibly offer a lecture to a school or association?
❑ If there is entertainment, can you find a local?
❑ Offer the local offset plan or offer an activity that benefits the local community
❑ Can you involve the local ambassadors in the event?
❑ Can you involve the locals?
❑ Can you open part of the event for locals
❑ Shop locally as much as possible
❑ Serve local produce and meals
❑ Involve the local academia where possible

 OFFSET

▪ Inform of local offset plan - ‘Lendisbati’ Restore Nature - Build Back Better
▪ Make your own donation programme with your choice of local initiative
▪ Offer an activity that benefits the local community

Examples of local donation projects are: 

• The National Museum: Lendisbati – Restore Nature. Read more here.
• Rudda Føroyar: ‘Clean up Faroe Islands’ – Functions as an umbrella organization for a waste-free environment. Read more here.
• RAMSAR convention sites in the Faroe Islands (Biologists at the National Museum): Three islands are annotated RAMSAR sites in the Faroe Islands - Mykines, Nólsoy and Skúvoy. Read more here.

“To expand the commitments for the RAMSAR annotated islands, it will be important to work more closely with the local inhabitants”

- Johanna, March 2023 in Allgemein, FrauBlau, SDG6. Read more here.

All donations can be facilitated through Visit Faroe Islands.

After the event

❑ Follow up on all the goals, set before the event
❑ Communicate to participants and other stakeholders about the results of your efforts
❑ Get feedback and suggestions for future initiatives from participants, spectators and partners
❑ Thoroughly review the most important learnings and save them for future events
❑ Can any part of any productions, leftovers, or waste be donated, recycled or upcycled

Event Materials can for example be donated to: 
Flowers can be donated to Residential homes or other events happening nearby. Other event materials can be donated to schools, recreation centres, and daycare centres. 
It is also possible to donate leftover event material to goodwill at Dugni and NýNý, where materials are upcycled. 
Contact Visit Faroe Islands or Visit Tórshavn for a list of donation alternatives and for more specific donation alternatives.