GDS-Movement is pleased to announce the host city for the 2024 GDS-Forum taking place 15 – 19 October 2024, is Bruges, Belgium.

GDS-Forum is co-located with the annual CityDNA Autumn Conference that takes place directly after it, offering attendees an enriching week with incredible networking opportunities.

Registrations for the GDS-Forum will open early April 2024.

Why should you attend the GDS-Forum?

Change is increasing at an unprecedented rate. Climate, cities, the workplace, artificial intelligence, and visitor numbers are changing exponentially. So how do we go from doom to b(l)oom? How can we harness the potential of the social and technological transformation happening around us to regenerate our cities, communities, and natural habitats, and become more resilient? For future-facing, exponential positive change, we can work together to scale our efforts and solutions.  

Why now?

• Changing is here: Harness the momentum of the awakening of global sustainability with us 
• Redefining Possibilities: Together, we can embrace the urgency of sustainable transformation by unleashing the power of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI)  
• Five times faster: We can collaborate to accelerate decarbonisation and climate strategies at a pace to match the need 

Have a look at the 2023 GDS-Forum report

You will find the top 10 ideas from the conference, videos, sustainability in numbers, testimonials and much more!

Report – GDS-Forum 2023 (LIVE) by GDS Movement

Our Sustainability Approach

The GDS-Movement and CityDNA are committed to regenerative tourism, and help destinations to strategise, scale positive impacts, and prioritise events with a positive social, environmental, and economic legacy.

The emissions from the local event production, delegate and team travel, accommodation, food and beverage, and multiple venues were measured. Where data was not available, impact data was estimated using the GDS-Movement database of sustainable events.

We used the TRACE platform to assess and track our CO2 emissions.

Offsetting Approach

In 2023, 89% of an event’s emissions came from delegate travel to and from the host destination. The remaining 11% of emissions came from food and beverage, waste, event production, electricity, and local transportation.

In a world still transitioning to clean energy, some emissions are unavoidable, and we address these with high-quality carbon offsets in the form of carbon credits.

For more please read the event report above.