ISO 20121 Readiness for a Membership Annual Conference

Why it mattered

The conference faced growing expectations from sponsors, members and governance stakeholders. The organisation needed a defensible approach to sustainability that could stand up to board scrutiny, tender requirements and reputational risk. Key operational gaps included inconsistent supplier standards, fragmented documentation, unclear ownership, and limited data capture to support credible claims.

Methodology

A practical ISO 20121-aligned approach focused on governance and evidence, not bureaucracy. Work prioritised clear roles and responsibilities, a small set of fit-for-purpose policies, standard supplier requirements, and a simple data capture process that could be executed by the event team and key suppliers.

Delivery process

• Discovery and gap review against ISO 20121 expectations (governance, planning, supplier control, evidence)

• Roles and responsibilities: RACI-style ownership for sustainability actions and approvals

• Policy set: concise policies aligned to the event context (sustainable procurement, waste, travel, accessibility and inclusion, communications and claims)

• Supplier standards: minimum requirements, evidence requests and briefing notes for venue, catering, AV and print

• Data capture plan: what to collect, who collects it, and when (waste, materials, travel participation assumptions, supplier evidence)

• Evidence pack build: templates and folders for audit-ready documentation

• Reporting template: stakeholder-ready summary format for sponsors, board and members

Outcomes

• A clear governance structure with named owners and approval points

• Standardised supplier requirements and evidence requests to reduce greenwashing risk

• A usable evidence pack that reduced last-minute documentation scramble

• A reporting template that improved sponsor and board confidence

• A repeatable approach that could be applied to future events

Lessons learned

ISO readiness improves fastest when supplier standards and evidence capture are built into planning and contracting, not added after delivery decisions are made. Keeping policies concise and role-owned increases adoption across the event team.