ISO 20121 is the global event sustainability management system. In April 2024 it underwent a revision and is now called ISO 20121:2024.
Below are resources that will help you to understand what ISO 20121 is, how and why standards are made and the new topics that are included with the revision which took place in April 2024.
The interviews and animations will be in English. You can auto generate the captions in the video to your preferred language by following these steps set out in this video tutorial:
What is ISO 20121:2024?
ISO 20121:2024 is the only globally recognised event's sustainability standard. It was developed with input from many different stakeholders and addresses all stages of an events’ supply chain.
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Here is a short animation to explain what ISO 20121:2024 is.
Watch:
In this interview, Noelia Garcia Nebra Head of Sustainability at ISO explains
Who ISO is and what they do
How standards are created and why we have them
How ISO standards support the Sustainable Development Goals
ISO’s commitment to climate action.
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This interview (in Japanese) with the JACE National Standard Body representative Mr Kowshikawa San from Cerespo on ISO 20121.
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Fiona Pelham CEO of Positive Impact talks about ISO 20121:2024 and the future of events.
How you can take action
Action 1:
The first action you can take is to sign up to become a Positive Impact Ambassador. As a Positive Impact Ambassador, you have the opportunity to use your voice to create a sustainable event industry. Positive Impact will collaborate with you so you are the first to receive the most credible resources and opportunities for action.
Watch this animation to find out more
Share a Positive Impact
Action 2:
Browse our library for inspiring examples of a sustainable event industry, you can choose to just read through the entries to understand more about the global implementation of ISO 20121
You can add your own example, or access our toolkit for ideas on sharing the positive impact of your event.
Here are two examples of best practice sharing on the Share a Positive Impact page.
Action 3:
You can build your capacity by accessing the Positive Impact and BSI ISO 20121:2024 from Understanding to Implementation course.
Understand key terms and definitions of ISO 20121 :2024
Access practical materials to implement ISO 20121:2024
Gain 3 CPD hours
These two courses are for organisations that are ready to learn about the standard and access materials to implement ISO 20121:2024 the international event sustainability management system.
Watch this interview with Positive Impact and BSI to find out more about the creation of this course.
Action 4:
If you are not quite ready for the ISO 2012:2024 education, you can access Educate which is an introduction to sustainability and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Positive Impact has a Japanese version for you to access.
Educate is the perfect starting point for learning how to deliver your events (meetings, conferences, exhibitions etc.) sustainably.
Introductory course
Self paced
Worth 12 CPD hours
