Skip to main content

ISO 20121 Standard (Event Sustainability)

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Sustainable Management

Abstract

ISO 20121 (full name ISO 20121:2012, Event sustainability management systems – Requirements with guidance for use) is a voluntary International Standard for sustainable event management created by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 2012. It was first adopted by the London 2012 Olympics, which acted as a catalyst for the formation of the Standard. The Standard aims to promote a proactive approach in the event industry vis-à-vis the adoption of innovative solutions for addressing sustainability issues. ISO 20121 is applicable to all events, regardless of size, location, and theme. It provides a useful framework to manage and reduce potentially negative social, economic, and environmental impacts of events, helping organizers to leave a sustainable legacy to the hosting community. Adoption of the Standard can benefit the image and reputation of the certified organization, contributing to demonstrating a high commitment toward sustainability in a credible and transparent way. It can also facilitate building strong relations with stakeholders, partners, suppliers, and local communities, thus enhancing the chances of positive event outcomes in multidimensional terms.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andersson, G. (2016). Sustainability process and certification in the Swedish Event Tourism Industry. Journal of Environmental and Tourism Analyses, 4(1), 5–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andersson, T. D., & Lundberg, E. (2013). Commensurability and sustainability: Triple impact assessments of a tourism event. Tourism Management, 37, 99–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buathong, K., & Lai, P. C. (2017). Perceived attributes of event sustainability in the MICE industry in Thailand: A viewpoint from governmental, academic, venue and practitioner. Sustainability, 9(7), 1151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chirieleison, C., Montrone, A., & Scrucca, L. (2019). Event sustainability and sustainable transportation: A positive reciprocal influence. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2019.1607361.

  • Elkington, J. (1997). Cannibals with forks: The triple bottom line of 21st century business. Oxford: Capstone Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregori, G. L., Pencarelli, T., Temperini, V., Splendiani, S., & Forlani, F. (2018). Sustainable management of events in an experiential perspective. In The experience logic as a new perspective for marketing management (pp. 91–109). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, C. M. (2012). Sustainable mega-events: Beyond the myth of balanced approaches to mega-event sustainability. Event Management, 16(2), 119–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lienhard, P., & Preuss, H. (2014). Legacy, sustainability and CSR at mega sport events: An analysis of the UEFA EURO 2008 in Switzerland. New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Musgrave, J., & Henderson, S. (2015). Changing audience behaviour. A pathway to sustainable event management. In C. M. Hall, S. Gossling, & D. Scott (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of tourism and sustainability (pp. 384–396). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toniolo, S., Mazzi, A., Fedele, A., Aguiari, F., & Scipioni, A. (2017). Life cycle assessment to support the quantification of the environmental impacts of an event. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 63, 12–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Website Citations

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cecilia Chirieleison .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Section Editor information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Chirieleison, C., Rizzi, F. (2020). ISO 20121 Standard (Event Sustainability). In: Idowu, S., Schmidpeter, R., Capaldi, N., Zu, L., Del Baldo, M., Abreu, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainable Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02006-4_137-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02006-4_137-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-02006-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-02006-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Business and ManagementReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics