ITS World Congress

Sustainability was a key focus during the preparation, onsite and post congress organisation phases. MCI Brussels considered it as an opportunity to improve the impact of their presence in the host city, from a social, environmental and economic perspective.

Here are some key efforts and achievements in terms of sustainability at the congress:

Involving all stakeholders:

• Most of the ITS World Congress suppliers and partners had a recognised sustainable certification.
• Showcasing products representing the future of mobility: reducing travel time, offering an improved air quality, etc.
• The congress programme had a dedicated track on sustainability.
• Engaging participants in the sustainable efforts: encourage them to compensate their carbon emission at registration stage, Stimulate them to select the more sustainable hotel.

Environmental aspects:

• Feature areas carefully designed to generate a minimal amount of waste.
• Participants materials and branding were reduced and/or produced in recycled material.
• Catering contained locally sourced, seasonal and organic ingredients and provided 70% of vegetarian options.
• No carpeting, No printed programme, No disposable equipment.
• Sustainable transportation solutions offered.
• Reducing waste by collecting the right information at the registration stage and ordering the right catering quantities.
• Upcycling signage banners into giftbags for the team involved in the project.

Social aspects:

• Working with local suppliers and locally-owned businesses to ensure a positive impact on the local economy
• The Start-up Area encouraged accessibility for the ITS industry’s younger generation.
• The unavoidable emissions of the congress were offsetted through a donation to the Cookstove Ghana project. This project invests in efficient cooking stoves in Ghana in order to reduce CO2, while improving people’s quality of life, reducing deforestation and improving air quality.