Convention Centre Event Wins Gold Award For Green Meeting

Vancouver, BC (May 9, 2007) – The third session of the World Urban Forum (WUF3) has won Gold for the IMEX 2007 Green Meetings Award in Frankfurt, Germany at IMEX 2007 – one of the meetings and conventions industry’s largest worldwide exhibitions. Organized by the Globe Foundation of Canada, WUF3 was held at the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre (VCEC) in June 2006 and was a “green-mandated” conference hosted by UN-Habitat and the Government of Canada.

Explaining why the six-day, 10,000 participant conference was chosen above other entrants, Shawna McKinley, Executive Director of the Green Meetings Industry Council said: “WUF3 had its own holistic plan which engaged all participants and exceeded the baseline for sustainable practice. The application was so strong that it certainly lived up to – and arguably has now set – a new gold standard for environmentally responsible meetings.”

“Our team at GLOBE worked hard to create a greening program that successfully integrated event operations with marketing and communications,” said Dr. John D. Wiebe, President & CEO for the GLOBE Foundation of Canada. Wiebe continued: “While actively engaging suppliers and delegates to reduce the environmental impact of daily activities, we set out to make the conference carbon neutral and focused on waste minimization, pollution reduction and energy conservation.”

Each application was reviewed against the conference venue and the conference itself, including catering and trade show practices. According to the judging panel, as WUF3’s chosen venue, the VCEC offered an exemplary set of green features including seawater cooling systems and a detailed energy efficiency program. Other benefits such as low flow toilets, a recycling program for organic waste, use of re-useable glassware and utensils and the use of green certified housekeeping and cleaning products all met with the organizers’ stringent requirements.

“On behalf of the VCEC, I would like to congratulate our longstanding client and partner, the GLOBE Foundation,” said Barbara Maple, VCEC President. “We’re pleased that we had the systems, people, and processes in place to support WUF3, as the event required extensive strategic planning, teamwork, participation and commitment by all parties.”

“This is a great example of B.C.’s commitment to sustainable best practices,” said the Honourable Stan Hagen, Minister of Tourism, Sport and the Arts. “I want to congratulate the GLOBE Foundation on this well-deserved award.”

About WUF3
Marking the 30th anniversary of the first United Nations conference held in Vancouver in 1976, the third session of the World Urban Forum (WUF3) hosted delegates from more than 150 nations at the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre. Previously held in Barcelona and Nairobi, the World Urban Forum was established by the UN to examine rapid urbanization and sustainability.

For five days – June 19 to 23, 2006 – participants examined and identified solutions to critical problems facing cities around the world. Originally expecting 6,000 attendees, nearly 10,000 delegates attended WUF3 and the event generated $17.8 million in non-resident delegate spending.

Some of the environmental management strategies in place included prominent placement of recycling containers to ensure recycling of paper, cardboard, plastics, cans/bottles, etc.; energy efficient lighting; scheduling HVAC around event times; composting organic matter/food waste; utilizing fairly-traded coffee complete with locally-produced milk and cream and organic sugar; extensive use of non-disposable crockery and biodegradable cups; and foods served in bulk rather than individually packaged. The VCEC also brought in 15,000 bottles of “Earth Water” made by a company that donates 100% of its profits to the United Nations Refugee Agency.

In addition to its Gold award, WUF3 also earned a Four Star MeetGreen Certification for excellence in green meeting practices.

About the Globe Foundation
Located in Vancouver, Canada, the GLOBE Foundation is a private, not-for-profit foundation created to help environmental firms, corporate environmental managers, and financial institutions capitalize on international opportunities in the business of the environment.

With a vision to drive environmental business to new heights, GLOBE has taken on a diverse range of projects since it was established in 1992.

The GLOBE Foundation organizes the GLOBE Series of biennial conferences and trade fairs, which provide an ideal forum for dialogue and partnerships and have emerged as among the most well-known and prestigious business and environment events in the world.

GLOBE has also been involved in a number of highly successful education and training initiatives and continues to manage national and international projects, all of which utilize the team’s expertise and experience in the business of the environment.

About the VCEC
Since opening in 1987, the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre has been British Columbia’s flagship convention facility. In fiscal year 2007, the VCEC hosted 350 events and 745,000 delegate days, and generated more than $240 million in economic impact for the province of B.C. When its major new expansion completes, the VCEC will offer a combined total of nearly 500,000 square feet of function space and will serve as the international media and broadcast centre for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2010.

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