In April 2024, the new revision of ISO 20121 was published, replacing the 2012 edition. Here’s a summary of all the changes between 2012 and 2024. The structure of the standard remains almost identical. The changes between ISO 20121:2012 and ISO 20121:2024 primarily involve updates and revisions to reflect evolving best practices, emerging sustainability challenges, and advancements in event management standards, with an enhanced focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) requirements. Some of the key changes include modifications to texts, clauses, and definitions aimed at reducing negative impacts and maximizing positive ESG impacts to make the standard more user-friendly and accessible.
New definitions:
Several definitions have been revised or added: event, legacy, stewardship, audit, mission statement, SWOT, PESTEL, materiality assessment, double materiality assessment.
Scope Expansion:
ISO 20121:2024 expands the scope to cover a wider range of sustainability issues and considerations, including social and economic dimensions, in addition to environmental aspects.
Integration of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
The revised standard emphasizes the importance of aligning event management practices with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to ensure that event management practices contribute to broader global sustainability objectives. In the organizational context outlined in Clause 4, there is an emphasis on considering social, economic, and environmental impacts using SDGs and relevant frameworks or tools like SWOT and PESTEL.
Integration with Other Management Systems:
ISO 20121:2024 is more closely aligned with other ISO management system standards, such as ISO 9001 for Quality Management and ISO 14001 for Environmental Management. This alignment facilitates integrated management approaches within organizations.
Stakeholder Engagement:
The updated standard emphasizes the importance of stakeholder engagement throughout the event management lifecycle, from planning to post-event evaluation, to ensure that diverse perspectives and interests are considered. The list of potential interested parties has been enlarged in the revision.
New obligations, such as addressing climate change and incorporating migrant workers and children, are introduced. Additionally, the documented information regarding the scope must be factual and should not mislead interested parties.
Enhanced Risk Management:
ISO 20121:2024 places greater emphasis on risk management strategies aimed at identifying, assessing, and mitigating sustainability risks associated with event planning and execution.
For example, human rights considerations must now be integrated at the outset of event planning and procurement processes, extending throughout the event management lifecycle, including conducting a human rights impact assessment. The identification of new issues such as working conditions, social protection, labor standards, human rights, prevention of the use of banned chemicals, and biodiversity is now also included.
In addressing risks and opportunities, two tools are now recommended for issue identification and evaluation: materiality assessment and double materiality assessment.
Sustainable development objectives
What’s new is the introduction of a three-step approach involving short-, medium-, and long-term sustainable development objectives. Additionally, there’s an emphasis on using the SMART approach to establish appropriate objectives, with a commitment to reporting on achievements and lessons learned.
In essence, organizations are expected to adopt a 3-10 year vision, allocating adequate resources to implement the event sustainability management system. This includes conducting a cost/benefit analysis to anticipate the financial implications of resource allocation, supporting the long-term sustainability and business reputation of the organization. Documented information should be dated and signed by top management, outlining a clear plan to achieve the objectives, along with contingency planning in case the measured objectives are not met.
Communication
All communications must incorporate a statement of the organization’s purpose, mission, and values. The organization must guarantee that no communication misleads the public regarding the true environmental, quality, and social impact of a product or service, reflecting the reality of the organization’s sustainable approach, regardless of the communication method employed.
Sustainable procurement
In this revision, there is a significant emphasis on supply chain management and the requirement for suppliers to demonstrate evidence of sustainability practices. Supplier compliance is closely monitored, and post-event evaluations of suppliers should be conducted. Two approaches are also outlined: command and control, and partnership.
Lifecycle Approach:
ISO 20121:2024 encourages a lifecycle approach to sustainability management, requiring organizations to consider the full lifecycle impacts of events, from inception to post-event activities such as waste management.
Performance evaluation
There is an emphasis on conducting reviews by top management and monitoring results. A useful tool for evaluating performance is the maturity matrix.
A sustainability review/performance report should be published and made available to internal and external interested parties. The report should ideally include measurements of carbon emissions, waste management statistics (% avoided, recycled/reused), the percentage of suppliers meeting the company’s sustainable procurement criteria, incidents or gaps related to sustainability, and corrective actions taken.
Conclusion
In summary, ISO 20121:2024 represents a more integrated approach to sustainable event management, prioritizing the consideration of social, economic, and environmental factors across the event lifecycle. The standard promotes a culture of continuous improvement, mandating regular monitoring, measurement, and evaluation of sustainability performance. It also provides mechanisms for implementing corrective actions and fostering ongoing innovation.