Sustainability is at the heart of the International Screen Institute’s mission. We believe that everyone has a role to play in addressing ecological sustainability and climate change. For us, that means making informed decisions about how we operate and continually learning from our challenges.
In 2023, we took a significant step by documenting and calculating the carbon footprint of the programmes we organise. The calculation was based on the guidelines of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Accounting and Reporting Standard (GHG Protocol). We began funding carefully chosen and certified climate projects to the amount of our unabated emissions. These are projects that contribute to avoiding or reducing emissions, for example, with reforestation or by replacing technologies that are harmful to the climate with cleaner alternatives. To learn more about the projects we support and our carbon footprint data, please refer to the article Sustainability in Focus: Navigating Carbon Footprint and Climate Action in our News section.
Later that year, we moved our office to Impact Hub Vienna, a space that resonated with our values. Not only did it become our home base, but it also allowed us to host our 2024 programmes in a venue certified with the Austrian Ecolabel for Green Meetings and Events (Uz 62). The Austrian Ecolabel (Umweltzeichen) is a certification awarded to products, services, and events that meet high environmental and quality standards. For Green Events, it signifies a commitment to sustainable practices, including resource efficiency, waste reduction, and eco-friendly mobility solutions.
What Does This Mean for Our Programmes?
When you participate in one of our programmes, you’ll experience the following practical measures to help reduce our environmental footprint:
- We’ve partnered with local hotels that meet the highest environmental standards and will be sharing our recommendations with you.
- Reducing waste by using electronic materials instead of printed ones and avoiding items like goody bags.
- Prioritising seasonal, vegetarian, and vegan catering, served with reusable tableware and fair-trade drinks.
- We calculate the programme-related mobility emissions of all our participants and contractors and offset them with certified climate projects.
- We recommend and prioritise the use of trains for distances under 500 kilometres and use of public transport for daily travel.
- We optimise data efficiency by having our servers located in Vienna.
Looking Ahead: 2025 and Beyond
In 2025, we’ll resume calculating the overall carbon footprint of our programmes, even as we begin to diversify our venues. In the choice of locations, we’re committed to a shared sustainability goal, selecting venues that prioritise sustainability policies and opting for Austrian Ecolabel, B Corp certification or similarly rigorous standards whenever possible.
We know we still have work to do. Sustainability isn’t just a box we check; it’s a journey we’re committed to, and we’d love to invite you to join us on it.