An expert’s view on how art fairs can improve sustainability

Andrew Furness has worked for more than 30 years in the exhibition industry. He advises exhibition organisers on strategic planning, business development and sustainability. He is an Associate Member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment. He tells sustainable art haus his take on sustainability trends for the art fair industry.

Art fairs and galleries are looking at how they can reduce their carbon footprint. We know that flying is a major contributor to carbon emissions. What are the key elements that both art fairs and gallery exhibitors can consider as part of their sustainability approach?

The first thing to stress is that sustainability practices should be embedded in everything we do whether as an individual or as part of corporate decision making. Sustainability thinking needs to be front and centre on a day-to- day basis rather than a secondary consideration or an add-on to the way we do things now.

Reducing the carbon footprint of an art fair needs to start at the planning phase and once you start to break down an event into its constituent components, the opportunities to improve its sustainability performance become apparent. Particular focus should be given to minimising the negative impact of transportation e.g. is the venue readily accessible by public transport such as trains, also how to minimise energy use and eliminate waste outputs such as from packaging and food waste, or specifying only reusable or recyclable materials for displays and features. Addressing these factors will make a big difference on how sustainable the fair is but it will require close collaboration across the supply chain i.e. by the organiser, venue, contractors, exhibitors and visitors.

Flying is a major contributor of harmful emissions but even here there are things you can do to help mitigate its impact. It is timely to mention that there is a school of thought which argues and not without justification, that events are incredibly efficient and reduce overall travel because they enable participants to meet multiple contacts all in one place rather than making numerous trips to meet those contacts individually. In addition it is generally accepted that flying economy class is far more environmentally friendly than flying business or first class and many airlines now offer offsetting schemes for your journey.

The critical factor to improving event sustainability is education and providing the tools for all participants to make more informed choices.

You work with exhibition and event organisers on their sustainability. How do you go about this and what tools are available to organisers to demonstrate their sustainability?

One thing is clear, there is a huge amount of information available on how an organisation can improve its sustainability performance and to a certain extent this may be part of the problem. How does a business overcome the paralysis of simply not knowing where to start? With this in mind I have written a series of articles in Exhibition World which I hope provides a simple framework to help organisers faced with such a dilemma, get started on this most important of journeys.

It is critical for each individual organisation to understand that they are unique and there is not a ‘one size fits all’ option. I advise my clients to firstly undertake an ‘initial environmental review’ which is basically a warts and all analysis of its own current environmental performance, so as to identify issues and priorities which can then be built into an action plan. It is vital that the senior management are fully on-board with this initiative so as to support necessary change and it is recommended that a wide cross-section of the workforce are engaged so as to give a diverse range of perspectives and potential solutions. It is worth remembering that some of the biggest gains in sustainability performance may not be internal but could result from making changes across the supply chain.

Businesses in the event sector can work towards internationally recognised sustainability accreditations including ISO20121, the basis of which resulted from the experiences and practices of organising the London 2012 Olympic Games. Another indicator of good sustainability management is where companies have achieved ISO14001 accreditation, this is not specific to the events sector but confirms a business has passed rigorous assessment of its environmental management systems and practices.

Many organisations currently active in the events sector do not have either ISO20121, ISO14001 or a similar internationally recognised accreditation, but at the very least they should have a clear and publicly stated sustainability policy to which they can be held to account if they don’t comply. The most powerful driver for change are the customers and they increasingly need to find their voice in demanding sustainability is made a priority for the events industry and is a condition for retaining their support.

As the art world makes changes to how it buys and sells art, what do you think the impact will be on art fairs in the coming years? How will their business models adapt?

As indicated in my previous answer, how art fairs adapt their business model will be driven by what their customers need and want. Any organiser that doesn’t listen to its clients or seek to meet their needs through its product offering, is bound to fail.

It is pure guesswork to predict how the art fairs landscape will be impacted over the coming years but there is one thing we can say for sure, the desire to meet face to face will continue to be an integral part of doing business. Plausible arguments can be put forward to predict very different outcomes e.g. there will be more but smaller art fairs catering to a local audience, whilst with equal justification one could argue there will be consolidation leading to fewer but bigger events. But we can say with some certainty that a legacy of the pandemic is an audience that will be more selective when choosing fairs to support and therefore the onus lies firmly on the organiser to clearly demonstrate the benefits of attending their event.

Let’s hope that sustainability will be high on the agenda as those decisions are being made.