The sustainable solutions of Tallinn’s most environmentally friendly conference

# tags: Case Study , Events , Estonia , Sustainability

.Tallin hosted the Green Destinations Conference and has sustainable tips to provide.

Tallinn hosted in October the annual Green Destinations conference, organised by Visit Tallinn and Visit Estonia, and dedicated to evaluating and promoting sustainable travel destinations. More than 260 participants from over 40 countries gathered in the Baltic country to explore sustainable tourism solutions and share their best practices.

The conference had a strong focus on environmental sustainability, setting an example for all event organisers. These are the main ones:

- Conference venue: The Port of Tallinn’s Cruise Terminal was chosen as the venue for the conference since it is one of the most environmentally friendly buildings in Tallinn. The venue uses green energy, the rooms have natural daylight, waste sorting is ensured, and drinking water taps are available for participants.

- Catering: Põhjala Catering was the provider and paid a lot of attention to the selection of food and beverages. During the 2-day event, 100% plant-based food was served. Reducing the waste was a big concern. The amount of food prepared was approximately 10% less than the number of registered participants. For beverages, Fairtrade coffee and tea were offered to demonstrate our commitment to farmers’ rights and equality. Naturally, single-use dishes were not used, unpackaged foods were preferred, small packaging was avoided, no plastic strawas were used.

- Materials: The only materials produced for the conference were the participants’ lanyards. All printing used ecological and certified paper.

- Decorations: There were only used reusable decorations, no roll-ups or banners were produced.

- Transports: Tallinn provided free public transport to all participants and they encourage to usem them.

- Measuring: The environmental footprint was measured by the Danish company Climatescore. Transportation represents the largest contributor to that footprint, considering that most participants arrived by plane. The conference achieved a rating of 9.5 on the ten-point scale for carbon footprint savings, indicating that the conference was organised in the most environmentally friendly manner possible.

- Information: The participants have to be aware of the sustainable actions to reduce the environmental footprint. This was done using a dedicated application created in Tripdoodler.

- Organiser: The conference was organised with the help of Jolos, an event marketing company that has been working on environmentally sustainable events for several years.