Singapore MICE Forum 2023 leads The Great Reset with sustainability

The Singapore MICE Forum (SMF) made a vibrant comeback on 27 July 2023, as industry stakeholders gathered at the Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.

Themed "The Great Reset", the three-day event organised by Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers (SACEOS) hosted over 400 players from Singapore, the region, and key global markets.

Key themes included Sustainability, Talent, Innovation, and New Business Models. Alvin Tan, Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry & Ministry of Culture, Community, and Youth, inaugurated the Forum, underlining MICE's vital role in driving Singapore's economic growth and the significance of industry collaborations for a sustainable future.

Richard Ireland, president of SACEOS, expressed the significance of The Great Reset for the MICE industry in Singapore, offering a platform to reimagine a future that prioritises environmental care and attendee value.

To showcase and drive innovation in MICE sustainability, the SMF featured the inaugural MICE Sustainability Innovation Marketplace. The Marketplace explored various solutions to improve the sustainability performance of organisations, as well as innovative ways to host sustainable events. Attendees discovered solutions in leveraging data and analytics, robotics, energy optimisation, sustainable materials and food & beverage from the Marketplace.

Launch of WA 4 Sustainable MICE

SACEOS and the Singapore Standards Council (SSC), which is overseen by Enterprise Singapore, launched the WA 4 Sustainable MICE to provide guidelines for carbon emissions management, supporting the Singapore MICE Sustainability Roadmap and Singapore Green Plan 2030.

Yap Chin Siang, STB deputy chief executive, said, “The launch of the new guidelines for carbon management is a critical step in our collective effort with SACEOS to raise sustainability standards across the MICE industry and reinforces STB’s commitment in working with the industry to build a more sustainable tourism sector.”

The standard, which complements the WA 3 Sustainable MICE – Guidelines for waste management launched earlier this year, aims to position Singapore as a leading sustainable MICE destination in the Asia Pacific, advocating waste reduction at events.

WA 4 covers guidelines and best practices for the measurement, reduction, calculation, verification and offset of carbon emissions for MICE events. It also provides an emissions reporting template that MICE players can reference.

To build carbon management capabilities among MICE stakeholders, SACEOS will be running its first MICE Carbon Management Guidelines workshop based on WA 4 in the coming months. The workshop will promote awareness and provide guidance to reduce carbon footprint by each stakeholder.

SACEOS, NTUC LearningHub join forces in Sustainability courses

A new two-year partnership between SACEOS and NTUC LearningHub will introduce sustainability-related courses to upskill and reskill the MICE and events industry. These courses will offer valuable insights into sustainability concepts, framework development, and operationalisation. The collaboration will revamp the MICE Sustainability Certification by the end of 2023, providing industry professionals with a recognised credential pathway.

“The Certified Sustainable Event Advocate Certification Programme provides a stackable credential pathway where the individual modules can be stacked up towards an industry-recognised certification,” said Jeremy Ong, CEO, NTUC LearningHub.