Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC), the leading international event on cities and smart urban solutions organized by Fira de Barcelona from the 19th to the 21st of November, will not only promote more liveable, sustainable and inclusive cities but will also do it leading by example. On its 2019 edition SCEWC will run two initiatives ‑Towards Zero Waste and Towards Inclusivity‑ focused on becoming an international benchmark of sustainable and inclusive trade show organization.
The Towards Zero Waste initiative will implement dematerialization, selective waste collection, prevention and reuse of materials as well as emissions compensation to make SCEWC as sustainable as possible. The actions included in the plan comprise the elimination of single-use plastics, elimination of food waste, reuse of materials -including passes and pass holders-, selective waste collection, dematerialization of event tools (event App, electronic invoicing, e-kiosk and press corner) and carbon emissions compensation.
Smart City Technologies: Urban Mobility
Among this year’s initiatives also features a project to invest the entire profit coming from merchandising sales in the reforestation of the Traid village in Guadalajara (Spain). The initiative has been conducted together with CO2 Revolution, a local start-up who has developed an intelligent seed (Iseed), which can be launched from drones. This new technology enables the reforestation of large tracts of land in hours and at a low cost. The innovative method also allows monitorization of the growth of the ecosystem.
SCEWC’s Towards Zero Waste Initiative has been in action since 2015 and during the 2018 edition it prevented the production of over 15,300 kg of waste -an increase of 190% from 2017-, ensured the selective collection of 10,740 kg of waste – 253% increase from 2017-, reused 23,000 m2 of carpet and compensated for 181.25 tonnes of CO2.
Towards Inclusivity
This year SCEWC will also focus on inclusivity through a new project under the name Towards Inclusivity, which aims to make sure the event is accessible to all attendees, and that everyone feels represented and has a voice. This initiative strengthens the event’s goal to make cities more inclusive and comprises a series of actions such as providing electric scooters to ensure that people with reduced mobility are able to move throughout the venue, reserving spaces for wheelchairs and scooters in all Congress rooms and also at the venue’s food courts, organize guided tours for people with visual impairment and guaranteeing full accessibility in all areas of the Gran Via venue.
In addition, SCWEC will also continue to work to reduce the gender gap by increasing the representation of women at the Congress and dedicating specific Congress sessions to gender equality. Cultural and religious diversity will also be a main focus of the initiative and the event will provide dedicated prayer rooms, adapted to all needs, and prayer kits for ablutions to attendees and will offer a variety of lunch menus with halal, kosher and veggie/vegan options.
Barcelona, November 6th 2019