Visit Espoo News 18.4.2018
Espoo to serve international conference delegates only local produced vegetarian food and fish
Visit Espoo oversees the arrangements of Espoo city receptions and hospitality for international association conferences. From 2018 onwards, as the first Convention Bureau in Finland, Visit Espoo has made a commitment to only serve vegetarian food accompanied with fish that is sustainably fished from the Baltic Sea and surrounding lakes. This commitment is part of the Finnish Society’s Commitment to Sustainable Development (sitoumus2050.fi).
“This is a great step for Visit Espoo to support the city’s sustainable development goals and at the same time continue our own sustainability work towards more sustainable meetings in Espoo. Together with our pledge to leave red meat out of city reception menus, we are also aiming to reduce food waste by requiring pre-registrations for the occasions”, says Miikka Valo, Convention Manager for Visit Espoo.
Visit Espoo aims to be one of the front runners of sustainable meetings. “We have been building a sustainable meetings region in Scandinavia since 2010 together with Scandinavian ICCA members and now that the Scandinavian Destination Sustainability Index has expanded to Global Destination Sustainability Index, Espoo aims for progress there as well”, says Valo.
In the newest Global ranking from 2017, Espoo was ranked 14th. In the rankings, Espoo managed well with environmental and social sustainability factors. Room for improvement was found especially in the development of Convention Bureau’s own activities and work. Therefore, participation in the Finnish Society’s Commitment to Sustainable Development opens one tangible way to develop bureau’s work towards more sustainable future.
Visit Espoo
Visit Espoo is a part of the city marketing company, Espoo Marketing Oy. Its business is to market the city and develop the area's vitality and competitiveness in collaboration with its partners. The company's aim is to boost Espoo's appeal and visibility among international audiences as an interesting innovation environment that focuses on knowledge, science, arts and economics, as well as being an attractive leisure and meeting destination.
The city of Espoo
Espoo wants to be a responsible pioneer. According to an international comparison completed in 2016 and follow up study in 2017, Espoo is the most sustainable city in Europe. The study shows that, as measured by indicators for financially, socially and ecologically sustainable development, Espoo has managed to maintain sustainable urban development in the middle of powerful growth.
Espoo participates in building a sustainable Finland. It was the first city to join the Finnish Society’s Commitment to Sustainable Development, which is intended to build a Finnish society that ensures the bearing capacity of nature and the population’s wellbeing and bears global responsibility. Espoo was also one of the first cities in Finland to be awarded the status of Fairtrade City in 2009.
Visit Espoo is attending IMEX exhibition in Frankfurt 15-17 May 2018, at the Visit Finland stand F260.
More information:
Visit Espoo: Mr. Miikka Valo, Convention Manager, tel. +358 43 824 6038, miikka.valo@espoo.fi