The first Convene 4 Climate Summit aims to promote

PCMA’s new conference will bring together invited participants from across the business events industry spectrum, climate technology experts, and professionals from related industries to work together to create a sustainable future.

PCMA will launch a sustainability platform for the global business events industry at its inaugural Convene 4 Climate conference in Barcelona, ​​Spain, October 2-3. Organized by PCMA and the Strategic Alliance of National Convention Bureaux Europe (SANCBE) and other partners, the conference aims to provide innovative solutions to the key challenges posed by climate change.

Felix Rundel will host the event.

Jaimé Bennett, PCMA’s managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and his team have been organizing the event to create a more unified approach to sustainability. “There’s a lot of great work being done,” Bennett said, “but as a global industry we’re lacking harmony.”

PCMA, SANCBE and their partners carefully selected the list of invited attendees to bring together individuals representing the entire value chain of business events. This includes decision-makers and those with environmental, social and governance (ESG) responsibilities from the supplier and planner sectors, as well as future collaborators from adjacent industries such as transportation and technology.

“We need to understand what barriers need to be broken down to bring adjacent industries together with our traditional partners,” Bennett said. “We need to think about who we need to help us transform (our industry’s efforts).”

Attendees will take part in a program designed to be highly interactive, combining climate tech project exploration with solution-driven workshops. The conference will kick off with a community exchange on Wednesday evening at NTT Data’s European headquarters AI Center of Excellence (Europe’s most sustainable office), where attendees will experience rotating technology explorations, including four running climate tech projects. Bennett said the experience will “get them thinking about how technology can play a role in sustainability strategies.”

Paul Dickinson and Montes Guardia Guell

Thursday’s main stage will feature four speakers addressing key challenges in achieving ESG goals:

• “Why are we here?” — Paul Dickinson, co-founder and managing partner of consulting firm Transition Value Partners
• “Who do we need?” — Montse Guàrdia Güell, Chief People and Culture Officer at electronics company IDEADED and Chairman of the Board of Directors at UPC (Polytechnic University of Catalonia)
• “What are the barriers that need to be broken?” — Michael Nau, Director of Sales and Sustainability, Lufthansa
• “How to engineer our way out.” — Vojtech Vosecky, Founder of Circular Economist

During these presentations, participants will reflect on how the climate crisis will impact the business events industry now and in the future, preparing for the interactive workshops that will follow.

Participants will be divided into four groups and will consider this question through the lens assigned by their respective groups: What strategies do we need today to ensure the sustainable development of the business events industry?

Stephen Rose (left to right), Lydia Kaufmann, Daniel Hires and Inga Mende

Panel shots and presenters include:

• Technology/Data/Measurement — Stephen Rose, Head of Communication Services, and Lydia Kaufmann, Professional Events Manager, Siemens
• Skills/People/Mindset —Daniel Hires, Executive Board Member for Marketing and Partnerships at the nonprofit Inner Purpose
• Business Model/Risk/Growth – Wojcicki Oct 14 ’17 at 14:25
• Innovation and collaboration drive change — Inga Mende, co-founder and CEO of remote booking company cloopio

On Thursday afternoon, the groups will dive deeper into how to implement their strategies in the second phase of the workshop. Bennett said moderator Felix Rundel, co-founder of strategy and creative agency Futurehain, will summarize the event’s findings and ask the audience key questions about next steps. Among them: “Where do we go next? Where are the gaps? How do we continue this commitment, action, and community conversation? Because this event is designed to be a catalyst for change,” Bennett said. “This is just the beginning.”

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