Actualizing environmental sustainability at Vancouver 2010 venues

Purpose - Philosophical espousal of the sustainability rubric is becoming widespread in the event industry. A business systems-oriented literature has emerged that helps event organizers plan for and measure success of more environmentally responsible or sustainable events. While top-down approaches to sustainability are increasingly well established, the practical application of these programs in the unique event planning and management context is less well understood. This paper aims to build understanding of operations-level opportunities and constraints that may be faced by environmental practitioners in event organizations. Design/methodology/approach - Semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of the Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee's (VANOC) Environmental Management Team (EMT), a group of environmental professionals embedded in VANOC's venue infrastructure business unit. Findings - Several organizational strategies are described but intra-organizational relationships are found to be the medium by which the environmental sustainability concept is actualized at venues. Originality/value - Although the EMT operated within the standardized event delivery model established by the International Olympic Committee, it is hoped the Vancouver 2010 experience will be useful for other event organizers instituting and delivering environmental programs.