Course Description
This course embraces the principles of sustainability through the environmentally and socially responsible production of meetings and events. It focuses on the rationale behind incorporating sustainable practices into meetings and events that include protection of the environment, saving on costs and resources, improving social issues, doing business effectively and ethically while building new markets sensitive to sustainable practices.
Students will partner with event planners to plan and or execute a sustainable event. Students will compete in an exercise to operate a simulated hotel in a sustainable manner.
Course Content
- The theory and practice of greener meetings & events
- Event pollution
- Planning a greener event
- Measuring ‘green’
- Green light–sustainable transportation
- Waste management
- Energy and water
- Green cuisine
- Greener hotels, venues and venders
- Social sustainability
- Greener meeting and event marketing
- Greener events in practice
- Sustainable Simulation Exercise
Methods Of Instruction
To achieve the course objectives a combination of lecture / seminar, guest speaker and site visits will be used to gain student understanding and clarity. Students will plan and execute a sustainable event in partnership with an event planner. Case studies and a simulation exercise are incorporated.
Means of Assessment
| Case Studies (1-3) |
10-30% |
| Event Reports (1-3) |
10-30% |
| Simulation Exercices (3-5) |
30-50% |
| Exam |
30-40% |
| |
100% |
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course the successful student will be able to:
- Articulate the meaning and significance of sustainable events
- Describe how ecotourism informs & influences greener meetings and events
- Define how Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), innovation, education and conservation define and motivate business
- Apply SWOT analysis to designing an event to triple bottom line commitments to people, planet and profit
- Apply key performance indicators to events
- Create and manage an eco budget
- Apply principles of sourcing ethically
- Articulate how CSR can create a legacy of positive social impact through events and meetings
- Apply demographic market segmentation to greener meetings and events
- Evaluate potential event venues & select the most appropriate venue
- Negotiate the contract for venue rental & arrange licensing, transportation, fixtures and fitting as appropriate
- Market an event & create a post mortem report
- Apply management skills in a proactive manner
- Demonstrate practiced team building skills
- Demonstrate presentation and communication skills
- Analyze a case and develop skills in problem identification & opportunity exploitation
- Demonstrate insight in the analysis of alternatives and selection of the optimum alternative
- Make marketing and operating decisions to maximize profitability in a simulated market place
Textbook Materials
The Complete Guide to Greener Meetings and Events, de Blanc Goldblatt, S., latest ed.
or textbook with similar content as approved by department.
Use of only Commerce and Business faculty approved calculator