"Sustainability can taste so much like curiosity"

Increase the sustainability of your venue, enhance the experience - 4 tips from expert Wannes Van Giel

Make your venue more sustainable while enhancing the experience

Wannes Van Giel is an activist disguised as a marketer. Everything he undertakes revolves around that one compelling thought: the way we live should not threaten that of the next generations. The behavioral marketer and sustainability specialist is extremely fascinated by behavioral marketing, which yields interesting and surprisingly applicable insights.

This was also noticed by the Flanders Heritage Venues, who gathered at the initiative of Flanders Convention Bureau. During an inspiring networking moment, they gleaned numerous tangible ideas, inspiring examples and smart tools to make their venue more sustainable.

But sustainability and experience, aren't they water and fire? Doesn't the experience diminish when a venue makes more sustainable choices? Delegates get hot because the venue commits to passive cooling. Meat eaters stay hungry because the catering serves up essentially vegetarian options. Car users feel less welcome - because a focus on accessibility by bicycle and public transportation means their parking is now a long way from the entrance.

On the contrary, says expert Van Giel. Venues can indeed work more sustainably and at the same time increase the experience. You can see that in these 4 concrete tips, as surprising as they are easy to apply.

Wannes Van Giel

Wannes Van Giel is fascinated by behavioral marketing

  • Tip 1. Also discover what you are not looking for
    Wannes Van Giel: "People come to a congress to learn. Their mind is already in 'discovery mode'. The ideal time to put something else on the table than the classic cheese and ham sandwiches. Let people taste something adventurous veggie, or something deliciously local. Not because you have to, but because it surprises. Sustainability can taste like curiosity that way - and who knows, they might just take that discovery home with them."
     
  • Tip 2. No parking stress
    Wannes Van Giel: "An event can be as good as it is - if you arrive there totally stressed out, the tone is set. Parking stress, getting lost between barriers, or that one shuttle bus that was just leaving: nobody likes that. Those who bet on accessibility by public transport, and who also think about the return trip (really, people want to know how to get home again), make their visitors not only greener, but also calmer. And you can feel that in everything."
     
  • Tip 3. Optimal conditions
    Wannes Van Giel: "The air quality in indoor spaces is often worse than outdoors. That's not exactly ideal if you want people to think clearly or just stay awake after lunch. Fortunately, bio-based materials do more than just look pretty: they purify the air. Add a smart energy balancing system, and you get a place where it's fresh - in your lungs as well as in your head. Sustainability makes the difference palpable."
  • Tip 4. You have something to share afterward
    Wannes Van Giel: “An exhibition building made from old beverage kettles. Honey in your tea produced on the roof of the building. A ticket that takes you back to the station, just given with your badge. Such details make an event human and memorable. Sustainability opens the door to stories. And stories, they stick around. Much longer than that one panel discussion about the future of something.”
A pleasant surprise your delegates: the honey for their tea is produced on the roof of your venue.

A pleasant surprise your delegates: the honey for their tea is produced on the roof of your venue

Want to know more about the sustainability of your conference in Flanders?
Expert Tuya Beyers is happy to give you all the information you need.

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