About This Project

Client Brief

Legacy served as the events provider for the University of Brighton’s Green Growth Platform (GGP) between 2017 and 2019, a robust network of over 1,000 environmentally-focused businesses in the South East. Legacy’s role involved conceptualising and executing a series of events to facilitate networking, foster business connections, and impart knowledge on specific business and environmental/low-carbon subjects through networking sessions, themed events, and case study visits.

Purpose of the Events

The overall aims for these events were to:

• Provide a relevant and stimulating experience to communicate the benefits of participating in the low carbon economy;
• Raise awareness of the University of Brighton’s Green Growth Platform;
• Raise the profile of businesses in Sussex working in the low carbon and sustainability sector;
• Inspire the next generation of low carbon and sustainability entrepreneurs;
• Keep stakeholders informed of activities, opportunities and progress in the growth of low carbon and sustainable goods and services across Sussex.

How we delivered the events

We organised 25 sustainability-focused events attended by nearly 500 businesses, catalysing connections within the Green Growth Platform ecosystem. Our services spanned sourcing compelling speakers and venues, to creating dedicated websites for each event and materials, to managing logistics and post-event engagement. Deep collaboration was key – from aligning on target audiences and messaging to devising an integrated promotion strategy harnessing emails, social media, and spokespeople. We focused on crafting shareworthy content that lived on long after each gathering concluded, continuously cultivating community.

Outcomes & Lessons Learned

Feedback was typically extremely positive and the programme of events  can be considered to have successfully introduced over 400 new businesses to the network and raised the profile of the work done by the GGP. Some of the feedback received can be seen below.

“I found the whole event very interesting which has made me more aware of things happening within the area. I came away with several ideas on improving my business and guest experience. I have already been in contact with Jo to obtain some more information on energy efficiency grants.”

“All excelllent (sp) and very interesting.”

Achieving the necessary attendance levels posed a challenge, despite deploying comprehensive marketing efforts across various channels. Legacy faced limitations in accessing the GGP member mailing list directly, necessitating the utilisation of indirect marketing methods, such as through social media. Additionally, there was a lack of coordination with other events being organised concurrently by the GGP team, and competition from similar events hosted by local Chambers of Commerce further added to the difficulty. Implementing a shared event tracker was helpful in defining responsibilities clearly. Legacy also initiated weekly progress calls with the GGP Marketing Manager, which was helpful in effectively planning marketing actions to improve attendance.

Sustainability Achievements

Energy and Carbon | Water

Venues with sustainable or environmental policies were selected where possible. We carried out brief venue audits to understand how they were using energy and water the steps that they are taking to reduce it.

Wellbeing

Events included regular breaks to ensure delegate comfort. Any dietary requirements or other specific requests were noted in advance of the events.

Food and Drink

Catering was predominantly plant based and included local produce that was in season wherever possible.

Materials and Resources

Attendee check‐in was carried out using iPad tablet and attendees encouraged to bring digital confirmation of registration instead of printing hard copies. We provided links to downloads of literature rather than providing large handouts where possible. Name badges were sourced from biodegradable materials and collected after every event for reuse. Any printing was done on recycled paper using vegetable inks.

Transport

All venues were selected to be close to railway stations. Low carbon options for travelling to the events, e.g. through car sharing,  were provided on the event website and as part of the marketing plan.

Community

All venues were selected to provide accessible access. Events encompassed a range of formats and scheduled at different times of day, to encourage wide participation. Personalised postcard invitations featuring artwork from a local artist was used for one event.

Innovation

We made use of innovative tools to drive conversations at some events, such as online crowdsourcing of opinions to set the agenda.

Ecology

Two events were held outdoors, emphasising the benefits for staff performance of being in nature.