ISO 20121:2012 Event Sustainability Management Systems.

NSAI is offering Certification in ISO 20121:2024 Event sustainability management systems

ISO 20121:2024 specifies the requirements for certification of an event sustainability management system for any type of event or event-related activity.  The standard was launched in 2012 and revised in 2024.  It is applicable to all types and sizes of organisations involved in the design and delivery of events, and accommodates diverse geographical, cultural and social conditions.

Events are sometimes, by their nature, high profile and transient, with both positive and negative social, economic and environmental impacts. This International Standard has been established to help organisations and individuals improve the sustainability of their event-related activities.

Any management system standard challenges an organisation to improve its processes and thinking to lead to continual performance improvement and allows the organisation the flexibility to be more creative about the delivery of event-related activities without detracting from the aim of the event.

This management system standard is not a checklist or a reporting framework or a method of evaluating event sustainability performance.  It is intended to be applied flexibly and will allow organisations that have not formally addressed sustainable development to start to implement an event sustainability management system. Organisations with existing management systems will be able to integrate the requirements of this International Standard into their existing systems. 

The complexity of the system and the extent of documentation and the resources devoted to it will be proportional to its defined scope, the size of the organisation and the nature of the organisation's activities, products and services. This is particularly the case for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The success of the system depends on commitment from all levels and functions, especially from top management. In addition, for such a management system to be successful, it needs to be flexible and integrated within the event management process and not just regarded as a component to be added on. For maximum effectiveness, its influence needs to extend throughout the supply chain, as well as the identified stakeholders.

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