The Sustainability Ladder Events is now available!
On October 18, 2024, we launched the Sustainability Ladder for Events (DLE) during ADE Green. From various corners of the events sector, we identified the need to harmonize sustainability criteria for events at a national level. Over the past year, we worked closely with partners and experts from the sector to realize this need. The goal? To facilitate the greening of the events sector by clearly presenting the key steps for both frontrunners and beginners.
What is the SLE?
The Sustainability Ladder for Events (SLE) is a motivating, integral growth model that addresses the national need for harmonization of sustainability criteria for events – among organizers, municipalities, and suppliers. In the SLE, we consolidate over 50 sources and input from more than 25 experts and (potential) users from the events sector, with the aim of making information and practical tools accessible. The ladder provides practical sustainability guidelines that bring together existing information from Dutch and European standards and guidelines. To further prevent fragmentation, we consolidate knowledge about sustainability within this growth model.
A five level growth model
The SLE operates with a growth model consisting of 5 levels, where the opportunity to advance motivates further development. The 5 levels allow organizers, municipalities, or suppliers to set their own ambition level and take corresponding steps. Level 1 provides a handy overview of existing laws and regulations, while Level 5 represents the (currently) highest achievable standard. Level 5 aligns with the Europese Green Deal Circular Festivals model for climate-neutral and circular festivals. In this way, the sector moves towards sustainability in a unified direction, while still allowing room for individual interpretation and pace.
”The SLE helps us clarify where we currently stand and what practical steps we can take to improve sustainability performance. This document is useful due to the concrete examples provided for each theme” – DGTL
”We have been looking for a practical tool for some time that indicates the legal obligations while still allowing room to chart our own path toward sustainability, tailored to our municipality and for an event. SLE is an objective, dynamic document that is kept up to date and which the bar can be raised annually with.” – Municipality Haarlem
13 ESG themes
In the SLE, 13 themes have been developed to make an event future-proof. The themes are organized around the ESG framework: the Ecological (E) themes, the Social (S) themes, and finally the Governance (G) themes. An event organizer can assess which level they are currently operating at and which level they aim to reach, based on already established criteria from existing sources.
Want to make your event more sustainable?
We can help you! Although the SLE document is in Dutch, we are happy to assist you within the SLE framework. So, if you want to move forward with the sustainability of your event, please contact us!
