Take a closer look at the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs for short. Integrating the SDGs into events is an important step on the road to sustainability. With conscious event planning and thanks to sustainable practices, your events can also make an important contribution to solving global problems and at the same time become a role model for sustainability. For this reason, we are presenting "SDG 4 - Quality Education" to you today.

SDG 4 - Quality education

It is about ensuring inclusive, equitable and high-quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Specifically, this means: "By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to promote sustainable development - including through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and an appreciation of cultural diversity and the contribution of culture to sustainable development."

The United Nations' SDG 4 emphasizes the importance of quality education and lifelong learning. For us as stakeholders in the event industry, this means that we should offer continuing education programs to improve the skills and understanding of target groups for greater sustainability. It is crucial that we make educational resources inclusive and accessible to all people, regardless of their background and financial means.

What SDG 4 means for events

With events, we can achieve a global impact by giving people without access to education this access through NGOs, associations or donations.

One example is Africa GreenTec an. They provide solar power, cold chains and internet, thus enabling educational opportunities in villages in Africa. In addition, organizations such as UNICEF, SOS Children's Villages and Welthungerhilfe offer corresponding education programmes.

In his book "Making events sustainable. Grundlagen und Konzeption für die Umsetzung von nachhaltigen Events", Prof. Dr. Ulrich Holzbaur pointed out the following positive effects in 2016:

"Sustainable events are not only permanently effective in terms of the event objective, but also effective in terms of sustainable development."

As event planners and your service-providing companies, you can contribute to achieving SDG 4 by offering targeted training programs and entering into partnerships with educational institutions and NGOs. You should also design inclusive educational resources to ensure broad accessibility.

These immediate measures at events contribute to SDG 4

The classic immediate measures are: Lifelong learning, creating knowledge together creatively and sharing knowledge.

That already says a lot and means: making sustainability and the benefits of low-threshold educational opportunities tangible. Alternative, creative and interactive event formats such as bar camps, world cafés or fish bowls are suitable for this. Event design and communication before, during and after the event also play an important role in informing, interesting and inspiring the audience and sharing the knowledge and lessons learned.

Share educational resources

As an event planner, you can integrate useful educational resources into your events, such as informative brochures, info walls, stands, infographics or digital materials in event apps that provide participants with valuable information and make sustainability tangible on site. In this way, you can also reinforce the positive impact and message of a brand in the target group.

Offer workshops and training courses

As an organizer, you can host targeted workshops and training courses that focus on sustainable professional development and lifelong learning. This gives participants the practical knowledge and new skills they need to position themselves sustainably and for the future.

Entering into partnerships with educational institutions

Work with local schools, universities or further education institutions to offer educational programs or internship opportunities that give students practical insights into the events industry.

As an event planner, you can also support schools and educational institutions, for example by renting their premises and using their infrastructure or even improving it. There have already been organizers who have renovated the premises of schools or educational institutions and brought them up to the latest technical standards and left everything to the schools.

Provide scholarships and educational support

As event professionals, you can offer scholarships or financial assistance to students or individuals with limited resources, thus facilitating access to education.

Promoting inclusivity

As an organizer, you can ensure that your events are accessible and inclusive. In this way, you can ensure that all participants can take part in education, regardless of their individual needs.

Information, immediate measures, fields of action and best practices:

As event planners, venue staff and event service providers, you can find information on how to implement sustainable events in the form of checklists, guidelines, books, articles, interviews and podcasts.

Recommended reading:

• Guideline of the Federal Environment Agency "Sustainable events",
• Sustainability Event Rider by Stefan Lohmann,
• Practical guide for sustainability in the event industry by Stefan Lohmann,
• Sustainable events implemented in an agile way by Colja Dams and Sabine Böhling

By implementing these immediate measures, you as event professionals can actively contribute to the promotion of high-quality education and lifelong learning, i.e. SDG 4.

Events that lead by example

Basically, every event with sustainable educational offers, workshops, seminars, lectures, information walls and exhibitions contributes to SDG 4. However, you should always look at the global context and consider a sustainable impact. This is the only way to achieve SDG 4.

Global Education Summit

An international conference focusing on the promotion of education worldwide. It brings together government representatives, education experts and NGOs to discuss strategies for improving educational opportunities.

Code for Good Hackathon

A JPMorgan Chase hackathon that focuses on promoting education in the field of information technology. Participants work together to develop innovative solutions that improve access to education and technological knowledge.

Girls in Tech Conference

A conference focused on promoting education and career opportunities for women in the technology sector. There will be workshops, talks and networking opportunities to support women in the tech industry.

Community Literacy Workshop

A local event focused on promoting literacy in disadvantaged communities. Here, volunteers offer free workshops and resources to improve basic literacy.

Education Fair for Underprivileged Students

A fair that focuses on supporting disadvantaged students in choosing and financing higher education. Here, universities present scholarship opportunities and offer counseling services.

Industry-specific events

Green Events at Prolight + Sound, BOE International, IMEX and others offer lectures, workshops, seminars on sustainable business and information on certificates.

Conclusion

If sustainable events become the standard, their high reach and variety create enormous potential to change the world in a positive way! This is how - also your? - Events become part of the solution - be an active part of it.

More information

Sabine Böhling, consultant, trainer and lecturer for sustainability and CSR, and Stefan Lohmann, expert for live entertainment concepts and founder of Sustainable Event Solutions, present the 17 SDGs and apply them to events. This series first appeared on tw-media, the meetings industry.

• more about the 17 Sustainable Development Goals
• more about the 16 Steps Initiative