ISO 20121 has been developed to help ensure that events, ranging from local celebrations to “mega events” such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games, leave behind a positive legacy in terms of economic, environmental and social benefits, with minimum material waste, energy consumption, or strain on local communities.

The new management standard was created by the event industry for the event industry. It is applicable to any organization that wishes to establish, implement, maintain and improve an event sustainability management system as a framework for identifying the potentially negative impacts of events, removing or reducing them, and capitalizing on the more positive impacts through improved planning and processes.

London 2012 – the catalyst for ISO 20121

Among stakeholders who provided input to the development of the standard were members of the sustainability team for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG).

David Stubbs, Head of Sustainability at LOCOG, said : “London 2012 is proud to have been the catalyst for ISO 20121. This is a piece of legacy with the potential to transform how events around the world consider their economic, environmental and social impacts.”

ISO Focus+ asked David Stubbs and other early users of ISO 20121, including Manchester United Ltd., the 2012 Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, and Sustainable Events Ltd., to comment on their experiences in implementing the new standard, and its effectiveness in action.