Sustainability is on everyone’s lips, but how exactly does it work? And how can it really succeed? Leipzig does not have a panacea for the problems, and yet it is worth taking a careful look at the Saxon conference destination. An exciting variety of ideas reflects Leipzig’s awareness of personal and social responsibility.
Development concepts for making cities more sustainable, efficient, technologically advanced, future-proof and socially inclusive are also the focus of Triangulum, the EU’s smart cities project in which Leipzig has been involved since 2020. The topic is also receiving new attention with the creation of the city administration’s new Department for Sustainable Development and Climate Protection in the summer of 2021. This is where the city will manage sustainability and climate processes in the future, and where citizens will be able to participate more in energy and climate protection activities.
This institutional commitment goes hand in hand with many civil society initiatives such as the Forum Nachhaltiges Leipzig (Sustainable Leipzig Forum), which brings together citizens, local businesses and the city administration in the name of sustainable growth.
Matters concerning the future have long been at the top of the agenda in Leipzig. The city council first adopted an integrated urban development concept in 2009, after which the plans were continuously evaluated before being relaunched in 2018 as a “strategic vision” for the Leipzig of 2030 – with the focus squarely on sustainable growth. Global conditions, population growth and demographic change, climate change as well as the challenges of the knowledge society – the concept aims to find answers to many of the big questions surrounding the future of urban life.
Accordingly, the goals it has set are ambitious – from education and social integration to smart, sustainable mobility and climate protection. And because all these questions aren’t the problem of the city administration alone, a variety of players from across city life are involved in implementing the plans.
An attentive eye for sustainable events stems from Leipzig’s status as a modern trade fair and congress city. In August 2020, for example, the city unveiled its own guide to organising sustainable events. Similar to a checklist, it contains clear and measurable recommendations for action in areas such as mobility, the careful use of resources, regional and fair trade, and social responsibility.
Recent examples show what sustainable collaboration for events can look like in practice: the city is already in close dialogue with organisers of the International Broadcast Centre at Leipziger Messe for UEFA EURO 2024 and the International German Gymnastics Festival 2025. With all these events bringing guests from all over the world to the trade fair city, there are so many ways to make these and other events as sustainable as possible.
The initiative “Feel the Spirit... do-it-at-leipzig.de”, in which more than 50 partners are jointly committed to the conference location, also focuses on sustainable cooperation. The team spirit and ongoing cooperation between congress and event venues, conference hotels, service agencies, local PCOs and logistics partners benefits you as an event organiser right from the planning stage, and then also when you organise and conduct your events in Leipzig.
The service portal at www.do-it-at-leipzig.de brings all of these providers together, introducing the services they offer the congress and conference sector and making it easier to find the right solution for you.
In addition, the initiative, together with its partners, regularly gets people talking about Leipzig with creative appearances at major industry events such as IMEX.
Talking of sustainability in the event industry: in 2009, Leipziger Messe became the first German trade fair company to be certified according to Green Globe standards. Since then, it has always passed the annual sustainability audit with flying colours.
The measures introduced at the exhibition grounds, the Congress Center Leipzig (CCL) and the KONGRESSHALLE am Zoo Leipzig cover areas such as the careful use of resources, energy saving and social aspects. Sustainability is understood here as an integral part of corporate social responsibility and as a wise investment.
This endeavour is also supported by the subsidiaries, and with great success: fairgourmet took first place in the Sustainable Company category of the Meeting Experts Green Award 2017.
Beacons like Leipzig’s transport authority LVB also shine far beyond Leipzig with their innovative approach to tackling mobility issues.
From ABSOLUT – a project involving self-driving public transport vehicles – to LOW CARB’s efforts to reduce CO2 emissions, and from the app-based on-demand mobility service Flexa to the company’s social commitment, which was recognised in 2021 with the Tolerance Prize awarded by the Saxon State Ministry for Social Affairs, LVB is blazing sustainable new trails for public transport.
From sustainable stadium seats to bee-friendly meadows
The other “do it at Leipzig” network partners also boast many facets of sustainable commitment.
For example, Zoo Leipzig and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research are EMAS-certified. Porsche Leipzig and the Quarterback Arena Leipzig provide a home for millions of honey bees on their grounds. The Red Bull Arena commissioned scientific research into resource-saving stadium seating. The Westin Leipzig was the first hotel in Saxony to be recognised as a “Certified Green Hotel”. And with a new sustainability working group, Leipzig Tourism and Marketing is giving the topic a permanent place in Leipzig’s marketing efforts.
How to realize sustainable events:
Sustainable meeting and congress opportunities
The partners' commitment towards sustainable development is almost limitless. Starting with the settlement of 3 million honey bees by Porsche Leipzig GmbH, the involvement extends to the reforestation of a 28-hectare forest by Flughafen Leipzig/Halle GmbH. Some congress and event locations as well as conference hotels that are already certified green are shown here and enable particularly responsible and environmentally conscious events in Leipzig.
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