BEFuture upcoming activities

Where: Barcelona
When: Monday 18th November 2024

Join us to meet and exchange with cross-sector experts at the BEFuture Global Innovation Forum in Barcelona.

As part of BEFuture, the Innovation Forum aims to promote innovation in the business events sector and enhance the implementation of new business models.

This innovation-focused event is designed to address four key challenges, with a clear call-to-action for entrepreneurs and creative thinkers to present solutions. It will explore global trends across several critical areas, including climate change and circularity, talent and inclusion, governance and impact, and event experiences.

The target audience includes startups, tech developers, innovators, and problem-solvers who are passionate about creating impactful solutions. It aims to attract individuals capable of developing forward-thinking ideas that respond to pressing industry needs, offering a valuable opportunity for those driven by entrepreneurial spirit and innovation to make a meaningful difference.

Key programme highlights include: 

• The presentation of the BEFuture Acceleration Programme supporting innovative projects 

• The launch our much-anticipated White Paper on the future of the business events industry
• Co-ideation workshops and presentations on hot topics

Find out more and register now!

Where: ONLINE
When: Thursday 17th October 2024
Language: English

About the event

Join us for 'Mentorship matters: Understanding Your Role in the BEFuture Acceleration Programme,' an online session designed to guide potential mentors through the structure, expectations, and impact of their involvement in our Acceleration Programme.

This webinar will offer detailed insights into the mentorship process, the benefits of participation, and how you can make a significant difference in the ventures of innovative SMEs in the business events sector. Whether you're new to mentoring or looking to deepen your impact, this session will equip you with the necessary tools and knowledge to be an effective mentor.

Main Topics: 

• Overview of the BEFuture Acceleration Programme 

• Roles and responsibilities of mentors 

• Benefits of becoming a mentor within the programme 

• Practical tips for effective mentoring 

• Q&A session to address prospective mentors' queries

If you would like to participate, please register here.

Where: Leeuwarden, Cycle Up, The Netherlands
When: Tuesday 15th October 2024

GROENN is a platform for sustainability of events, founded by four key players in the festival industry in the city of Groningen: Noorderzon, Paradigm, Bevrijdingsfestival Groningen and Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS). GROENN is supported by the municipality of Groningen and aims to support the Northern provinces of the Netherlands in a green transition.

MerkFryslan as DMO holds the brands MeetinFriesland, VisitFriesland and Wadden. They aim to create a positive impact in the region, and therewith contribute to the quality of life of Frisians and create opportunities for entrepreneurs, employers and education.

Description of the training

This training focuses on Logistics: Transportation and Mobility.

According to Climatetrade, travel constitutes a significant portion of its footprint, ranging from 70% to 90% of an event’s carbon emissions. Alternatives need to be considered, and this training focuses on sharing and discussing best practices in event mobility.

The training is a unique combination between various partners, building a bridge between the festival and business events industry. The festival industry has been using their grounds as a testing playground for innovation and alternative initiatives. GROENN started providing training in 2023 for festival organisers, suppliers and policy makers. This training is the 4^th session initiated by GROENN, where the cooperation with BEFuture leads to a unique cooperation with MerkFryslan, bringing together the festival and business event industry.

DMO's, organisers, policy makers, venue and suppliers are welcome to register for this freely accessible training.

GROENN | Workshops | Workshop #5 Logistiek: Transport & vervoer (wijzijngroenn.nl)

Key facts

Experimenting with alternatives on mobility

Learn from best practices from different industries

Built on a network to strengthen the (national) ecosystem

Focused on the North of the Netherlands

Unique alliance building bridges between festivals and business event

Skills focus

• Creative problem solving
• Co-creation
• Sustainable responsiveness
• Business modelling

Contribution to SDG’s

This training contributes to the following SDG's:

• SDG 3: Quality Education
• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Contact details for the training

For this training, please get in touch with our local BEFututure partner:

Name: Amber Herrewijn, European Tourism Futures Institute
Email: Amber.herrewijn@nhlstenden.com

Partners

• European Tourism Futures Institute
• Groenn
• MerkFryslan

Where: Bruges, Flanders — Belgium
When: Monday 14th October
Language: English

As the Business events sector has gradually enhanced its capacity to define, manage and measure the impact of its events on destinations and its global communities, a new need has arisen this year that calls for new funding models for the activities that underpin this. Access to funding to finance transition towards a more social and inclusive economy has been highlighted in all the main international frameworks and agreements underpinning the transition to a fairer, more sustainable and resilient economic model globally, including from the European Commission.

The conference will discuss and investigate how associations and event organisations could fund to scale these initiatives.

We would also like to interest external organisations that are presently funding impact initiatives outside of our sphere of activity to explore with us under what conditions and models would impact projects linked to business events become potential funding targets for impact investors.

This day will be twofold.

• The first part (morning) will celebrate and launch the VisitFlanders newly co-developed methodology on impact.
• The second part (afternoon) will take a look into the future of impactful congresses as we explore a new topic: Funding of impact.

Key facts

Magdalena kerk/church: https://www.yot.be/nl/en/117

Format: 1 day conference (9h00-17h00)

Attendance: approx 75-100 people

• Open to local and international participants
• Target group:
  • the Business Events sector (local and international) some of them joining GDS and/or CityDNA
  • association executives local and international
  • representatives from funding organisations/agencies local and international
  • members of the International Alliance for Impact
  • Strategic Alliance of National CVB’s
  • legacy makers from Flanders (+CEO’s of our clusters)
  • Event partners

Partners

• #Meet4Impact
• GDS-Movement
• IFB
• VisitFlanders

Where: Barcelona — Spain
When: Friday 11th October 2024
Language: Catalan

The local training session is designed with a multi-faceted purpose: to build cross-sector skills and capabilities, to share critical knowledge about trends and challenges within the Business Events sector, and to raise awareness about the industry's gaps and needs among those capable of driving change.

The local training session shall serve as well to create awareness on the need to become future-proof and adapt the business models to these trends and raise interest in the BEFuture acceleration program and Innovation Forum where they can unlock ideas and funding to overcome their challenges.

The session will contribute to BEFuture's mission of fostering a more informed, capable, and forward-thinking Business Events sector.

Key facts

Content Overview:

• Explorative Work: Participants will be presented with the findings and outcomes from BEFuture's explorative research, providing a comprehensive overview of the current state of the industry.

• Trends and Challenges: The session will delve into emerging trends and challenges, addressing questions such as "Where are we going?" and "What will we face?" This aims to prepare attendees for the future landscape of business events.

• State of the Art: Attendees will gain insights into best practices and innovative applications in sustainability, digitalisation, and talent development. This part of the session will highlight exemplary cases and practical applications that are shaping the industry.

• Gaps and Needs: The training will identify and discuss the critical gaps and needs within the industry, emphasising areas where further efforts and innovations are necessary to meet future demands.

• Next Steps & Acceleration Program: Finally, participants will be introduced to the next steps in the BEFuture initiative, including an overview of the upcoming Acceleration Program. This program offers a unique opportunity for SMEs to gain funding and support for projects focused on sustainability, social impact, and technological innovation.

Partners

Agència Catalana de Turisme

Location: Online – European Union
Dates: From the 1st of February until the 18th of March

Call for best practices aimed at gathering groundbreaking initiatives, projects or services in the business events or that could be applied in the business events industry and that are aligned with the Tourism Transition Pathways: sustainability, digitalisation, resilience...
The objective of this call is to find implemented projects that can inspire and empower business event professionals to change their business model towards a more innovative, resilient and sustainable one, by means of technology, social innovation and more.
A compendium of the 10 best practices will be presented at IMEX 2024 and showcased in the BEFuture marketplace.

Target: Online – European Union

Location: Frankfurt - IMEX
Dates: 14th-16th May

Global training session aimed at transferring knowledge and future literacy on the BEFuture main topics (innovation and technology to create sustainable and regenerative business models in the events industry).

Examples of good practices to generate resilience and enhance readiness for a sustainable and digital transition will be presented.

Target: Worldwide Business events professionals

More info about IMEX