The Stockholm International Water Institute is actively taking steps to improve the way we organise the World Water Week and reduce our impact on the environment. In a unique partnership for the 2008 World Water Week, SIWI has cooperated with the Professional Conference Organiser, MCI, and the conference venue, Stockholmsmässan, to launch a number of sustainability initiatives.

The goal is to be able to manage our activities in a responsible and sustainable manner and at the same time offer participants attending the conference options for reducing their own environmental impacts.

The 2008 World Water Week initiatives include:

• Less Bottled Water!
Drinking water in Stockholm is of a high and consistent quality and is produced by treating water from the surrounding Lake Mälaren. Drinking water fountains will be located around the venue for participants to refill water bottles that are included in the conference bags free of charge, thereby minimising waste from plastic cups.

• Carbon Offsetting Opportunities

The registration form for the conference includes links to approved and effective carbon offset programs. Participants are encouraged to offset their business travel by visiting www.carbonresponsible.com, www.climatecare.org or www.my-climate.com. These services allow participants to calculate their carbon emissions and choose options for offsetting.

• Recycling at the Conference Venue
Recycling stations for plastic, paper and other waste products will be conveniently available. An effort is also underway to track the amount of waste generated at the conference so that measurable targets can be set in the future for reducing waste.

• Eco-labeled Hotels
A number of the partner hotels to the conference have achieved certification to Swan Ecolabel and ISO14000. Swan is the official Nordic Ecolabel – its stringent standards ensure that a particular product has minimised its environmental impact. Scandic Hotels and the Rica Talk Hotel are Swan Ecolabeled, indicating that they met strict criteria to:
o Minimise energy consumption
o Prioritise renewable energy sources
o Sort waste
o Use ecolabelled cleaning agents
o Make environmental demands of their suppliers.

• Fair-trade and Organically Produced Food & Drinks
Restaurants within the conference venue offer fair-trade and organically-produced (Krav-labeled) food and drink options for participants. The restaurants have committed to offer less water-intensive products, and reduce packaging and transport for food served at events and meetings during the week.

• Public Transportation within Stockholm
Included within the registration package for participants is a public transportation card for the week. This card allows unlimited use on Stockholm’s bus, train and subway networks, thereby minimising the dependence on cars and taxis during the week.

• Sustainable Event Measurement
World Water Week will measure the environmental performance of the 2008 event using the MeetGreen measurement tool. Unique within the meetings industry, MeetGreen audits 107 aspects of the event and provides objective reports which offer a comparison against other conferences. These reports will be used to help reduce the environmental impact of future conferences.

SIWI is committed to reducing its impact on the environment and we will continue to work with our partners in developing long-term sustainability initiatives.