Application of ISO20121 Event Sustainability Management at the Central Taiwan Lantern Festival 2013

The 2012 Summer Olympics in London, 2013 World Triathlon Yokohama, Central Taiwan Lantern Festival and at least 17 other events worldwide have received SGS-issued certificates for compliance with the ISO 20121 Event Sustainability Management System Standard, published in 2012 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This was according to Stephen Pao, SGS Taiwan’s Global BD Manager, at the ISO 20121 Event Sustainability Management Forum held by Taiwan Event Association (TEA) on September 2, 2013.

The staff of the Central Taiwan Lantern Festival, Taiwan’s first ISO 20121-compliant MICE, engaged the forum attendees in a face-to-face discussion. Citing the company motto of “sustainability is the product of public participation, not the mission of a determined few,” arTecture Chief Strategy Officer Shi Xin-yin told the audience that her company spared no effort in adapting green practices during the pre-event brainstorming and planning stage. By frequently discussing with the Mastery Management Consulting Co. the spirit of sustainability underlying ISO 20121, arTecture was able to establish the eight dimensions of ISO 20121 implementation, namely energy efficiency, education and culture, regional economic development, recycling, community involvement, sustained sponsorship, consumer issues and the direction to achieve sustainability for the lantern-show. Eventually, SGS Taiwan certified the lantern festival as an ISO 20121-compliant international event.