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Our Sustainability Concept and Pledge for the Emerge Gathering 2021
Gathering 2021
2.10.2021
Sustainable Community “Emerge”
Emerge connects socially transformative innovators and initiatives across the globe.
We seek to serve all those who share an Emerge sensibility. By leaving no one behind in our core activities we address our network’s efforts to support and make visible our member’s impact.
Our mission is to translate between the different tribes of transformation in the system-changer sphere, and to highlight the questions and practices that unite us.
Partnership for the Goals
SDG 17 is the quintessence of the Emerge community’s activity. To build a better world, we strive to be supportive, empathetic, inventive, and above all, cooperative in our activities.
In the Emerge community we encourage effective global partnerships for sustainable development by connecting people, supporting their activities and making them meaningful and visible for those who need it the most.
We initiate and complement multi-stakeholder dialogues that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
(Global targets 17.16, 17.17)
Social impact
Our community members share their knowledge and experience during regular online and offline gatherings and through our website.
On our website, we publish pioneering insights and profiles of visionaries from the global social and ecological change space. We seek to make visible what happens at the outer frontiers of cultural development because we believe that the emergent future first shows itself in the margins.
We promote education for sustainable development and global citizenship to ensure that all our members acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.
To secure our members’ health during the event, we have distributed the preventive rules about COVID-19 restrictions with the links to the most updated official information.
Above this we promote healthy lifestyles, preventive measures and modern, efficient healthcare among our members.
(SDG 3, Global target 4.7)
Environmental impact
To minimize our environmental impact, we follow international standards and requirements of all our operational activities and in event management in particular. Our basic internal sustainability policy criteria are listed below.
Our project is a response to the meta-crisis, which shows its face in the emergencies of climate, politics, environment and meaning. We believe not only that our challenges are interconnected, but that we must connect in new ways to grapple with the most urgent problems of our times.
We believe that Emerge's activities help to strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in countries where our members are present. Thanks to the skills and knowledge we train during the our global events and the information we deliver to our members.
We have published numerous articles on regenerative and sustainable farming, deep ecology, technological solutions to climate change, and the broader social, inner and educational changes that need to happen so that we can respond to the climate crisis in a meaningful way. Discussions of these topics, and especially of who the ‘we’ that is supposed to take climate action actually is, will be central discussion points at the Gathering in Berlin.
(Global target 13.1)
Economic impact
Our community is united by shared values. We are activists, artists and academics, entrepreneurs and educators, philosophers and philanthropists, spiritual seekers, soul workers and scientists, we help each other to respond to the most urgent challenges of our time.
We connect people from 20+ countries across the globe from different origins, cultures and nations.
By making our members’ talents visible and supporting their cross-border projects we believe we contribute to the SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth, by encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation activities between our members.
We empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.
(SDG 8, Global target 10.2)
Our Sustainability Pledge for the Berlin 2021 Gathering:
1. General 1.1We used the Sustainable Meetings Berlin guidelines to draw up our sustainability concept (the numbers and categories refer to these guidelines).
1.2 We formulated a sustainability strategy outlining our visions, aims and the measures we took.
1.3 We strive for climate neutrality of the event. Our suppliers and services have been chosen based on basic green procurement criteria: local production and closest location to the event’s venue, environmental friendly production certification, re-usability and recyclability of products and packaging, sustainable energy usage, etc.
1.4 Organisational management and communications with participants were completely digital.
2. Transport 2.1We provided our participants with a link to the DeutscheBahn website (and trainline.com for our non-German guests), encouraging them to travel by train wherever possible rather than taking cars or flying. We also provided a link to the Travelling to Berlin website with further information, as well as a link the U-Bahn map.
3.Location 3.1 Both our locations, Haus Ungarn and the bUm, are close to central public transport hubs (Alexanderplatz and U-Schoenleinstrasse oder U Goerlitzer Bahnhof) and are easily reachable by public transport.
3.2 There are recycling facilities in both Haus Ungarn and the bUm and we will point these out to participants and staff.
4. Catering 4.1We opted for purely vegetarian catering at both our venues.
4.2 At the bUm, we also opted for organic food.
4.3 The menu in both locations is largely made up of seasonal and regional produce.
4.4 We will calculate portions exactly to avoid waste. Any leftovers will be offered to participants and/or staff after the event.
4.5 The caterers are regional.
4.6 Water will be presented in bottles.
4.7 We will not use any single-use plastics. All cutlery and crockery will be reusable.
5. Equipment 5.1We will not use stretch foil for transporting equipment.
5.2The furniture we use is all re-usable.
5.3 Equipment service personnel is Berlin-based.
5.4 We will not use or display cut flowers.
6. Technology 6.1We will brief all technical staff to save energy wherever possible (by using stand-by mode in breaks for example).
6.2The technicians are all Berlin-based staff.
7. Personnel 7.1All service personnel is Berlin-based.
8.Beschaffung/Procurement 8.1Our participants' booklet and programme have been printed on recycled paper and are Blauer Engel certified.
8.2 We completely do without give-aways to avoid adverse environmental effects.
8.3 Our Gathering wristbands are made from recyclable materials.
9.Communication 9. 1Stakeholders and the public have been informed actively about our sustainability concept (we published it on our website and shared it with our participants in advance of the gathering in an email).
10.Sustainable Development Goal 10.1Priority SDGs of the Emerge Gathering are communicated through our sustainability concept. They include: 3: Good Health and Well-Being, 4: Quality Education; 8. Decent work and Economic Growth; 10: Reduced Inequalities; 13: Climate Action; 17: Partnership for the goals.
10.2 Justification of the event with at least one SDG: 13: Climate Action.
10.3 Targeted actions to support chosen SDGs: Network-building; project-development; publication of insights; development of new protocols.
Finally, we wish warmly to thank the Berlin Senate for their financial support for the Emerge Gathering 2021.
Words by Klaudia Shevelyuk
Communications manager at Inner Development Goals, sustainability consultant, founder at Change Agency Responsible Future, partner with Sustinere in Ukraine. 14 years of executive experience in law firms and a range of companies, successfully launched new brands, projects and products. Jointly with partners from Estonia and Sweden Klaudia consults Ukrainian and international companies on sustainability and circular strategies, policies development and implementation, products life cycle assessment, stakeholders engagement, non-financial reporting. National consultant on SDGs to UNDP Ukraine on E-learning for sustainable development, coordinator of the National Biomimicry Challenge. The author of the first on-line course in Ukraine «Sustainable development: new philosophy of thinking», co-author of the Kyiv City Environmental Strategy. The Swedish Institute Management Program and the LEAP/Baltic Lead (Stockholm Resilience Centre) alumnus. Speaks English, Swedish, German, French, Russian and Ukrainian.
