Sustainability at ESPGHAN 2025
Going Green Together
ESPGHAN is committed to integrating sustainable meeting practices and initiatives that go beyond slogans and result in useful achievements.
We firmly believe that we all have a part to play in preserving our future for generations to come, both locally and across the globe.
Therefore, we are organising our 2025 Annual Meeting with sustainability in mind – for our planet and environment, as well as for everyone involved with the event: from the organising team and committees, through our partner chain, all the way to the delegates we welcome.
The 2025 Meeting destination city and congress centre are also aligned with our vision of improving our environment and society’s impact.
The ESPGHAN 2025 Annual Meeting and the Sustainable Development Goals
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, also known as the Global Goals) are 17 goals with 169 targets that all UN Member States have agreed to work towards achieving by the year 2030. They set out a vision for a world free from poverty, hunger and disease.
We at ESPGHAN want to do our part to promote the achievement of these goals in our value chain. The SDGs that we support and work towards are:
Contributions you can make as an ESPGHAN 2025 Delegate:
As individuals, as well as a community, each of us can and should contribute towards maintaining the natural ecological balance in the environment and preserving the planet and its natural systems and resources. Here is what we invite you to do as part of the ESPGHAN 2025 Meeting:
- Use the mobile app and the virtual platform (instead of printing) to inquire about the programme details.
- Use more sustainable ways of travelling to and around Helsinki.
- Sort your waste in appropriate bins at venues, hotels, and around the city.
- Keep waste items with you if there are no visible garbage or recycling bins at an event or during your tourism outings.
- Opt for reusable mugs and bottles and refuse single-use plastic.
- Do not print booking confirmations and boarding passes; instead, provide digital copies of these documents.
- Provide an alternative to business cards – QR codes to LinkedIn or e-card.
- Opt for a vegetarian meal option when available and possible.
- Recycle your badges/lanyards at the end of the Meeting.
As an ESPGHAN 2025 participant caring for sustainability and climate change, we are also offering you the option to offset your air travel carbon emissions by calculating them and donating the compensation sum. Learn how HERE.
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Supporting accessible high-quality education for our community is our top priority. Throughout the organisation of ESPGHAN, we strive to constantly improve the scientific programme, introduce more accessible Meeting alternatives and support onsite attendance, eliminate gender disparities in education, and ensure long-term education for our attendees.
Our 2025 Initiatives:
- High-Quality Scientific Programme– Carefully crafted by an international team of experts in the field of gastrointestinal paediatrics, hepatitis and nutrition. We aim to constantly improve the session formats, introduce new relevant topics, and invite the best international experts.
- Sessions On Demand– The recorded ESPGHAN sessions will be available to all participants for 6 months after the Meeting dates, allowing attendees to catch up on any learnings they missed during the Meeting, or re-watch important presentations and discussions.
- Virtual Conference Alternative– Everyone can be part of the conference and watch the lectures on-demand, even if they are not able to travel to Helsinki in May.
- Promoting Sustainable Development– We enquire and opt for more sustainable options from our vendors, openly communicate our efforts to do better and encourage our partners and participants to reduce their footprint too.
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
- Offer participants clean tap water throughout the entire duration of the Meeting, as Finland has the cleanest tap water, no need to use bottled water.
- Work with the local catering and provide healthy food with more vegetarian options, 1 lunch with no meat / a fully vegetarian meal, also proceed offering a diet corner.
- Reduce cutlery use and ensure a zero-use policy of single-use plastic for meals.
Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable
Messukeskus is a pioneer in sustainability in the events industry and works in the areas of social, economic and environmental responsibility.
Messukeskus environmental system has been ISO 14001-certified since 2009, and they are committed to achieving the goals of the UN’s sustainable development action programme, Agenda 2030. In accordance with the programme, they aim for sustainable development, which takes the environment, economy and people into account equally. Learn more here.
In 2024, the city of Helsinki has achieved its target of being the world’s most sustainable destination. Learn more here.
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
We recognise the environmental impact that large-scale events like the ESPAGHAN 2025 Annual Meeting can have, so sustainable production and consumption are one of our top priorities in organising the 2025 Meeting. We are working with our suppliers to ensure maximum positive change.
Our 2025 Initiatives:
- A mini programme will be printed instead of the full programme, and the rest of the information will be shared digitally via the Meeting App
- Limited printed promotional materials for ESPAGHAN 2025 in favour of digital alternatives. We are using local partners and less economically damaging product alternatives
- We encouraged all of our exhibitors to participate in this initiative by reducing single-use giveaways at their booths.
- Delegate badge collection and recycling at the end of the event.
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Run with the Council
ESPGHAN is proud to organise for the third time the event “Run with the Council” that will raise funds for the “Baltic Sea Action Group”, a non-profit foundation that takes effective actions to save the Baltic Sea. The run will take place during the ESPAGHAN 2025 Annual Meeting in Helsinki.
Carbon Offsetting
As a participant caring for sustainability and climate change, we are offering you the option to offset your air travel carbon emissions by calculating them and donating the compensation sum.
LEARN MORE ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY IN HELSINKI:
Sustainability in the city: myhelsinki.fi/en/think-sustainably
Sustainability at the venue: messukeskus.com/en/about-us/sustainable-activities/