Sustainability At Strata, Why & How We’re Tackling It

What Sustainability Means to Strata… 

Sustainability is a global issue and something that at Strata we recognise impacts us in a multitude of ways.  

As a challenger agency, we want to be known for pushing boundaries and innovating experiences for our clients and their audiences. Making moments that matter for everyone, including the planet and communities around us. Our commitment to sustainability is leaving a legacy, not a footprint. 

Becoming more sustainable is a fantastic opportunity for us to upskill, reinvent, and transform the way we define excellence.  

As we transition to a more sustainable marketplace, expectations are shifting. Something that is not sustainable is very quickly losing its value and place in today’s society. As a business and industry, we need to react to that.  

Sustainability in the Events Industry  

Across the industry many green initiatives have been established, including the micebook Power 50 Green Champions list, highlighting the great work of the industry’s sustainability champions.  I was hugely honoured to be included on this prestigious list, recognising our work driving forward internal initiatives to make Strata, and the events we deliver for clients, more sustainable. 

Since being recognised Louise has continued working with our clients and operational teams to better our practices and champion more sustainable solutions for our clients. Strata has attended a number of the industry sustainability events that are now in their second or third year, such as the CN Sustainability Summit which you can learn more about here.  

As we see more and more industry initiatives and events pop up, it highlights the hunger for sustainability right across the industry. They provide a much needed platform on which industry professionals can share knowledge and learnings and are hugely valuable experiences. So how can you start to create more sustainable events?  

It’s our job to deliver sustainable events that inspire the audience and leave a positive legacy. ROI can be measured through set KPIs, but what about an event legacy? How do we measure this and ensure our events are successful when it comes to sustainability?  

Establishing some sustainability objectives for your event is a vital place to start. What areas do you want to focus on? How will you track those and what are they measured against?  

Take waste reduction, for example. You want to reduce your waste, but by how much and by when? And how do you track that goal?  

The first step is to understand where your waste levels currently sit, giving you a benchmark figure to work on reducing as well as an understanding of where your waste is coming from e.g.: food waste, print, branding, or something else 

Next, you need to build ways to reduce those areas of waste. Adopting a circular economy will help you understand how to achieve this. Then you must measure your waste at future events to enable you to track your figures allowing you to understand if you are seeing a waste reduction. 

Adopting this process ensures your goal of being more sustainable is tangible and something you can track and report confidently to the wider business and your audience.  

We all have a responsibility to learn what it means to run sustainable events, and that’s what we’re tackling here at Strata.