In June 2018, Kuoni Congress successfully third party audited their Sustainability Event Management System according to the ISO 20121 framework that has been established in its offices of Barcelona, Copenhagen and Geneva.
Kuoni Congress was the first Event Planner in Spain to hold third party ISO20121 certification.
Kuoni Congress began its sustainability journey back in early 2016. The first step was to determine the expectations of stakeholders with regards to sustainability, ensuring that the objectives were relevant to the business and would contribute to the reduction of its impact. Parts of the ensuing commitment coincide with the well-known UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of:
By following the ISO 20121 framework Kuoni Congress ensures that sustainability constitutes a part of the business, and does not exist in isolation of it.
The roles and responsibilities to support the system have been defined and are communicated across the business, along with relevant trainings to ensure their realisation. Additional internal and external communication of news and results constitute a further vital part of the system that retains sustainability in its focus.
Through ISO 20121, Kuoni Congress has learnt of the impact it can achieve through influencing supply chain and clients to reduce environmental impact and encourage positive change at events. The process of monitoring and measuring actions to achieve continual sustainable development has also begun, and the mechanisms to analyse performance, correct mistakes and foster continual improvement are gradually being ingrained into the business.
The ISO 20121 third party audit during the ESTRO[1] Congress in Barcelona in April brought some good examples of sustainability best practice and positive collaboration with the supply chain on issues such as waste management, accessibility, carbon emissions and sustainable sourcing.
Further Congresses in 2018 that Kuoni Congress has managed according to its ISO 20121 Sustainability Event Management System included ESA[2] (Copenhagen), and ECSP[3]. The system was also used in part at the Congresses ICD[4] and EAIE[5] (all Geneva).
The external auditor for ISO 20121 said of the sustainability progress in Kuoni Congress “The Sustainability Management System developed for the events organisation activities constitutes a fantastic framework on which Kuoni Congress anchors and further develops its sustainability activities.”
For more information regarding sustainability within our company, please visit
[1] European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology
[2] European Society of Anesthesiology
[3] European Society of Social Psychiatry
[4] International College of Dentists
[5] European Association for International Education