Radisson Blu: We support UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
Recently Radisson Blu launched, that all meetings and events held at one of their hotels will be carbon neutralised. Without any extra cost for you as a meeting planner. Learn more at Responsible Business Events conference 30th October in Copenhagen.
Radisson Blu are dedicated to supporting green meetings.
There has to be water on the table, when a meeting is taking place. But the approach to clean and safe water is not a matter of course in all parts of the world. Radisson Blu addresses this with their new Blu Planet for Meetings, which ensures all meetings and events held at a Radisson Blu hotel – without any extra cost for you as a planner – are CO2 neutral. The program also helps people in places like Guatemala, Malawi and India to gain access to clean drinking water through projects including re-establishing boreholes, handing out stoves and delivering biogas plant.
But why is a hotel chain feeling obliged to contribute to a better and more sustainable world? Because Radisson Blu wants to be the natural choice when responsible and environmentally friendly companies host their meetings and events. And, because everyone has a responsibility to secure the fulfilment of the UN’s goals for sustainable development.
“The core in our business is to take care of people and ensure them good experiences. This implies a larger commitment, which extends beyond our hotel’s four walls. A commitment where we respect people, the local community and our globe. As a hotel chain, we have worked dedicated with sustainability since the late 1980s, which makes us pioneers in the field. Therefore, it is natural for us and the way we do business to think and act responsibly,” says Inge Huijbrechts, Vice President of Responsible Business at Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, who operates the Radisson Blu hotels.
From Paris with love...
Since the Paris Agreement and the launch of UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, more and more companies are taking an active stand to climate changes, including how they can limit their carbon emissions. Also, when hosting meetings.
Inge Huijbrechts says: ”We know face-to-face meetings are important for a company’s success. Actually, there are studies documenting that meeting activities benefit a company’s bottom line and it is our expertise to ensure the right settings for good and productive meetings. At the same time, we have a range of initiatives – besides the Blu Planet for Meetings – which reduces you environmental impact, when hosting your meeting with us.
Radisson Blu has a holistic approach to sustainability. This means, among other things, that their hotels are eco-labelled with GreenLeaders, Earthcheck or Green Key®, and more than 180 of their hotels worldwide are certified with Safehotels Alliance. To reduce the use of paper, advanced technology is installed in meeting- and hotel rooms. To reduce the use of water, products requiring less water are selected to offer a water-light breakfast. And, Radisson Blu’s own Brain Food concept is standard in all meeting packages. Not only is the food more environmentally-friendly – for examples with more vegetables and less meat - but the concept also takes into account the meeting attendees: Without compromising on flavours, unhealthy fats and sugar are reduced. As a minimum, this ensures that it is not as tough being the first speaker on the podium after lunch, as meeting attendees are more energetic and vigorous, than after a traditional meeting lunch.
To ensure motivated and more active meeting attendees, Radisson Blu also offers to organise running tours, guided bicycle tours or a picnic in the park. And, the chain has experienced an increasing demand for projects, which engages with the local community. For instance, by donating leftover food, planting trees or providing tailor-made initiatives matching the company’s profile and ensuring sustainability is made visible and activated.
“Our goal is that Radisson Blu will be the natural choice when responsible and environmental friendly companies host their meetings and events. We want to obtain this by ensuring that we have the right facilities and solutions, but also by co-creating activities that brings our common values into play in the best possible way.”
Radisson Blu is one of the partners, who are ready to share their knowledge and enter a dialogue with everyone who works with meetings and events at Responsible Business Events conference 30/10 in Copenhagen.
At the conference, speakers from Denmark and abroad will deliver case-based implementable knowledge about how and why it is important for companies to think and acts sustainably when hosting meetings and events. Read more and sign up here: www.csr-link.dk/meetings
