Inspiration Hub

Congratulations to our two award winners – Gothenburg and Helsinki!

The award announcements were made at the ICCA Congress Closing Ceremony on November 16th, where GDS-Index destinations held their breath in suspense as Martin Sirk, the CEO of ICCA, announced the winners.

Helsinki received the Innovation Award for its Greening Events Project – a joint venture between the neighbouring cities of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa that aimed to develop concrete ways of implementing environmental management at events in the capital area in Finland. Close runners-up were Stuttgart, Kyoto and Gothenburg, who deserve honorable mentions for their innovative submissions. It was undoubtedly a tough decision for the judging panelists!

Ines Antti-Poika, Director of the Helsinki Convention Bureau stated: 

“It is a great honour for us to win the GDS-Index Innovation Award, and we sincerely appreciate the recognition. Moving forward, we would like to emphasize that one does not need an award in order to be a role model. In Scandinavia, we have many role models, and we encourage all of you to join us on this movement towards a sustainable future. This award has inspired us to continue leading and working towards an even more sustainable meetings region, and we hope it will inspire you too.”

Gothenburg won the Leadership Award for attaining the highest overall score. Since the inception of the GDS-Index, the city has actively integrated sustainability into its strategy and operations, achieving the highest score in supplier performance (an impressive 96%) as well as the highest overall score of 83%.

“We are extremely honoured to win the GDS-Index Leadership Award,”

says Annika Hallman, Director of the Gothenburg Convention Bureau.

“From the very beginning, we had widespread support amongst all types of stakeholders to help us ensure a better society. Collaboration has been a key factor, allowing everyone to gather around a united vision. We gladly take responsibility for our industry’s ability to contribute towards a community that shows concern for the environment and its people, and we are grateful that the GDS-Index Leadership Award has recognised this.”

For the full list of cities and scores please refer to the GDS-Index website’s Index Page.