Organize GreenEvent it means planning and implementing demonstrations according to criteria that aim at improve sustainability: save resources, avoid producing waste, focus on gentle mobility, enhance local and seasonal products in catering and act with respect for the environment, health and society.
“The “GreenEvent” certification represents a concrete commitment towards greater sustainability in our events,” he says the provincial councilor for the protection of the environment, nature and climate, Peter Brunner. “The transition from ‘goingGreenEvent’ to ‘GreenEvent’ is crucial because it ensures that each event not only adheres to the basic criteria, but progressively strives to achieve higher standards of sustainability, promoting a positive impact on the environment and community.”
From the June 1stto obtain GreenEvent recognition, must be respected new criteria, developed by Appa Bolzano. Among these, there is a reduction in the overall number of measures that can be adopted and an increase in mandatory ones, which are more important from a sustainability point of view. Among these there are some new measures, in particular relating to mobility.
To streamline the bureaucratic process, it is now required to select from the beginning the type of event to be certified choosing it from six different types, each of which corresponds to its own checklist (the set of measures that can be adopted): indoor sporting events and cultural events, conferences and congresses, indoor culinary and gastronomic events, sporting events at sports facilities, outdoor sporting events and cultural events, parties, markets and outdoor culinary and gastronomic events ‘open. Furthermore, it is no longer necessary to submit a final report; all documentation proving the sustainability of the event must be sent to Appa Bolzano upon submission of the application and kept available for subsequent random checks.
The new certification process
There certification request of an event must be presented toAppa Bolzano waste management office at least two months before the start of the event. “The process begins with mandatory participation in a online information event in which the new criteria for awarding certification are illustrated”, he explains Elisa Poznanski, contact person for the GreenEvent project in Appa Bolzano. “The second step is the submission of the application with the correct one attached checklist completed, the documentary verification will then be carried out by the Waste Management Office, until recognition is granted and the logo is made available”.
From “goingGreenEvent” to “GreenEvent”
The first step is recognition”going GreenEvent“, which is awarded to events that take part in the program for the first time, meet all the mandatory requirements and which reach at least 50% in the evaluation of the application of the other planned measures. “Starting from the second year,” he points out Giulio Angeluccidirector of the Waste Management Office of Appa Bolzano, “events that satisfy all the mandatory requirements and reach at least 75% of the application of the other envisaged measures obtain recognition ‘GreenEvent‘, while if only half of the maximum score obtainable with the application of the measures is reached, they retain the “going GreenEvent” recognition which can be granted for a maximum of another two years”.
Random checks will be carried out during the events. “If the measures listed are not implemented to the extent required, the recognition will subsequently be revoked, and the organizer will be notified of exclusion from the procedure for the following two years,” continues Angelucci. “This mainly concerns the non-application of mandatory measures.”
Transitional period until January 2027
On a transitional basis and to facilitate a gradual transition to the new certification scheme, events in which 90% of the mandatory measures are applied can be admitted to the certification request. Within 3 years, starting from 1 January 2027, all events requiring certification must comply with the complete list of mandatory requirements.
Over ten years of GreenEvent certifications
The “GreenEvent” initiative was launched in 2013 by the Waste Management Office of Appa Bolzano with the support of Ökoinstituts Südtirol. After five years, in 2019, a first review of the certification criteria was carried out. In 2024, another five years later, the certification process will be further adjusted.
Further information and the application form accompanied by 6 different types of checklists are available on the new Alto Adige Civic Network (Civis.bz.it)
