SUSTAINABILITY BEYOND THE ENVIRONMENT

Sustainability is one of the hot topics of conversation in 2023. Sometimes this concept is very closely related to the care of the planet. However, talking about it means encompassing many more aspects.  

The United Nations have established seventeen goals to achieve by 2030 in order to foster prosperity and care for the environment, as well as to address different needs worldwide. These SDGs encompass the achievement of values to promote a better future for people, the planet and nature. But what can companies do to co-operate in achieving these goals?  

Although the events and experiences industry are usually distanced from the values associated with the SDGs, at SOMOS Experiences we want to be part of the change and contribute to building a better future.    

The ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) department was reinforced last year with the aim of transmitting the importance of these objectives, as well as implementing measures so that we can all collaborate in building a better world.  A clear example of this is the Sustainability Policy, aligned with the UN goals, as a guide for a more sustainable activity. This document can be summarised in three fundamental aspects.  

Sustainable economy  

As an active part of the country's economy, we want to promote sustainable and profitable economic growth in order to provide quality jobs. We intend to foster a strong and solid economy and we want to be part of the change in the sector, investing in R&D&I and in the recognition of the industry. 

Although the events industry already has a significant impact on the country's economic activity, we want it to contribute to the country's overall economy. For this reason, at SOMOS Experiences and thanks to the global vision provided by our clients and partners with whom we work on a daily basis with, we are constantly exploring new ways to develop and grow this industry. This goes hand in hand with new technologies that allow us to innovate in order to create the best experiences that bring people together. 

But innovation can only be achieved by identifying new opportunities to create a sustainable economy over time. Proof of this is the inclusion of the metaverse in our event offering a growing trend among customers, which diversifies the options for events and interaction between brands and people. For this reason, before offering it to our clients, we created our own office in Decentraland. This being the first agency with an office in the metaverse. 

In search of a better society 

We mentioned earlier the opportunity to offer quality Jobs. In order to do so, we must take into account people's needs, work to promote equal opportunities and non-discrimination policies for people regardless of their race, gender or origin, etc. 

Equity is a very important aspect of which we are working on giving the same opportunities to both women and men when it comes to occupying different jobs. It is also important to take into account the inclusion in the labour market for people with disabilities at risk of exclusion from the labour market. 

People are a company's most important asset. For this reason, at SOMOS we want to ensure the wellbeing of our teams and keep them at the centre of our strategy. This has led to the recent incorporation of Javier Pacha to the group as the new People Director and Pilar Iglesias as People Manager. We pursue to improve the employee experience and consolidate the project and we focus on talent attraction, retention, and the development of the professional careers of the people who are part of the group.  

As a practical example, we ensure parity by offering people access to different positions (event manager, steward/stewardess…) regardless of their gender. 

Defending the biosphere 

Finally, care for the environment and inevitably associated with sustainability, is the most talked-about part of the Sustainable Development Goals.  

In recent years, motivated by events such as pandemics or extreme natural disasters, the defence of the biosphere has gained greater awareness in society. This becoming the most prominent trend of the year and both for brands/individuals.

However, being sustainable is not about trends, it is about a commitment to the planet and the impact we make on it. It means having a constant commitment to carrying out good practices and transmitting them to all those around us. 

For this reason, in the policy implemented by our ESG department at SOMOS Experiences, we have included a series of good practices to be implemented in the production of each event. As well as in the day-to-day running of the company in order to reduce the impact we generate.  

Specifically, the planning and development of our activity must guarantee compliance with environmental regulations, through the reuse of elements such as event furniture, the minimisation of waste, eliminating as far as possible the consumption of single-use packaging, ensuring the carbon neutrality of our projects through the reduction and compensation of the carbon footprint.  

To end, we have integrated a sustainable project management system into our value chain, together with suppliers who share our policy and verifying that the necessary specifications are carried out. This system takes into account the origin of the products and the impact they generate with the possibility of recycling materials at each stage of the event. 

We also try to instill these good practices in our clients, as we have a sustainable event management system through Evensost's "Certificate of Compliance" and the international standard UNE-EN-ISO 20121:2013. We also work with clients certified by Aenor, adapting the production of the event to the certification measures. In addition, we promote the measurement and compensation of our clients' carbon footprint, with the aim of reversing the impact we generate. 

As a result of our commitment, more and more events are certified as sustainable every day. This work has recently been rewarded with the recognition as one of the most sustainable companies in the MICE category by the Barcelona Biosphere Commitment to Sustainable Tourism for the second year in a row.