From 3 to 6 October, destination professionals can enjoy an extraordinary event week, as City Destinations Alliance (CityDNA), the Global Destination Sustainability Movement (GDS-Movement), and Visit València partner to bring you two incredible, back-to-back events, and to jointly announce and celebrate the new home of the prestigious, annual GDS-Awards.

The GDS-Forum will convene destination leaders and sustainability champions from around the world. This is a dynamic and unconventional gathering to discuss sustainability and impact strategies and best practices, learn from GDS-Index journeys, and co-create new approaches and initiatives for greater regenerative destination management. It will follow a novel, non-conference format with a focus on peer-to-peer learning, collaboration, and creativity.

FIEXPO, Promtur Panama, GDS-Movement, and #Meet4Impact join forces to start the first stage of the Sustainability and Legacy strategy, promoting a more sustainable meetings industry towards regeneration in Latin America, in this new edition.

FIEXPO Latin America is preparing to celebrate a new edition of the most important event in Latin America within its MICE industry. From 19 – 22 June, FIEXPO will receive qualified international associations, corporate buyers, incentive sector members, and exhibitors, from Argentina, Brazil, Barbados, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and beyond, in Panama City.

During the event:
- Guy Bigwood, CEO and Chief Changemaker, GDS-Movement, and Genevieve, CEO and Co-founder, Meet4Impact, will speak.
- Our LATAM representative, Alejandra H. Zita, will deliver a workshop on Sustainability with Guy.

For everyone from events newcomers to experienced professionals, "IMEX is where the global business events community comes together for four exhilarating days every year. Where more than 3,000 meeting planners meet with 2,500-plus suppliers from every corner of the globe. This is where powerful business connections that offer real ROI are made."

Catch GDS-Changemakers Janie Neumann, Bella Shahsuvaryan, Milda Salciute, and Guy Bigwood for a chat about ways to step up, speed up, and scale up sustainability management for tourism and events.

Two sessions (same content) with practical approaches to climate action from roadmap to regeneration.

With climate awareness on the increase, and tourism contributing 8% to global CO2 emissions, the tourism and events sector is protecting its own existence when it mitigates its emissions. This challenge gives us every reason to be excited and engaged. In GDS-Movement, we are all agents of positive change, and we are always practical in our support of destination sustainability efforts.

There are many great initiatives and motivations from net zero targets to the Paris Agreement and the Glasgow Declaration. But there are many questions to answer before an action plan can holistically address emissions.

- What does regeneration mean in the context of climate change mitigation?
- Does a DMO need to draw down, offset, or inset?
- What is a CVB's role in decarbonisation?
- What can empowered professionals do to better address the complexities and contradictions in carbon calculation?
- How essential is biodiversity for a lower-carbon future built by empowered business and leisure travellers and companies? (hint: highly essential)

Join hostess, Khalisah Stevens, and esteemed guests offering insight and context for a destination's carbon journey. Guest Speakers:
- Janie Neumann, Senior Changemaker, Certifications & Climate, GDS-Movement.
- Mark Stevenson, Co-founder and Chief Impact Officer, CUR8 , Impact Lead at Climate VC, Carbon Removals Ambassador at Client Earth, Author at Profile Books, covers the good, the bad and the ugly of offsets, carbon removals, and net-zero targets.

We look forward to seeing you and co-creating solutions that serve all interested parties (including nature) with you.

Two sessions (same content) with practical approaches to climate action from roadmap to regeneration.

With climate awareness on the increase, and tourism contributing 8% to global CO2 emissions, the tourism and events sector is protecting its own existence when it mitigates its emissions. This challenge gives us every reason to be excited and engaged. In GDS-Movement, we are all agents of positive change, and we are always practical in our support of destination sustainability efforts.

There are many great initiatives and motivations from net zero targets to the Paris Agreement and the Glasgow Declaration. But there are many questions to answer before an action plan can holistically address emissions.

- What does regeneration mean in the context of climate change mitigation?
- Does a DMO need to draw down, offset, or inset?
- What is a CVB's role in decarbonisation?
- What can empowered professionals do to better address the complexities and contradictions in carbon calculation?
- How essential is biodiversity for a lower-carbon future built by empowered business and leisure travellers and companies? (hint: highly essential)

Join hostess, Khalisah Stevens, and esteemed guests offering insight and context for a destination's carbon journey. Guest Speakers:
- Janie Neuman, Senior Changemaker, Certifications & Climate, GDS-Movement.
- Mark Stevenson, Co-founder and Chief Impact Officer, CUR8 , Impact Lead at Climate VC, Carbon Removals Ambassador at Client Earth, Author at Profile Books, covers the good, the bad and the ugly of offsets, carbon removals, and net-zero targets.

We look forward to seeing you and co-creating solutions that serve all interested parties (including nature) with you.

The Annual Meeting of ICCA Iberian & Mediterranean chapters for ICCA members to network, and share knowledge and experiences with colleagues from other regions, taking place 19 - 21 April in 2023. GDS-Movement Senior Changemaker, Monica Molina, is participating in the Legacy Case Studies Session, 20 April, 10h00 - 11h00 CET. She presents an introduction to GDS-Movement focusing on GDS-Index. She will also share destination case studies related to the collection and visualisation of data.

11h20 CET - GDS-Movement Changemaker and expert in climate and certification, Janie Neumann, participates in a segment titled, “One-Bite Discussion: From Words to Action”. She discusses the role of marketing, certifications, investments, and where DMOs fit into this with Dr. Ljubica Knežević Cvelbar, Professor, University of Ljubljana, and Rodney Payne, CEO, Destination Think! Bring your burning questions!

*This conference is themed around “the elephant in the room”(those things we avoid discussing or dealing with that can crush us). “Is growth becoming the mammoth of tourism, and is the idea of quality tourism the white elephant of destination management? The City Destinations Alliance conference in Sofia, April 19-22, 2023 explores!”

11h20 CET - This is very "relephant"! It’s time to put meetings on trial. The case? Sustainability! Are we doing enough to justify meeting in person (and flying to and from the host destination for it)? Are we offering sufficient ROX to ensure meaningful attendance and a long-lasting, positive impact? Join this interactive “courtroom” argument questioning whether face-to-face meetings should be a thing of the past. Can we make them sustainable enough to last? You be the judge!

This session is co-hosted by Meetings Industry & Sustainability KGs, and moderated by David Peackock, Senior Advisor to Future Tourism Group at Simpleview.

*This conference is themed around “the elephant in the room”(those things we avoid discussing or dealing with that can crush us). “Is growth becoming the mammoth of tourism, and is the idea of quality tourism the white elephant of destination management? The City Destinations Alliance conference in Sofia, April 19-22, 2023 explores!”