Co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme, STEP (Sustainability Training for Events Professionals) aims to drive a deep transformation of sustainable practices across Europe’s events sector — with VO Group as project coordinator.
The events industry faces significant environmental challenges: carbon emissions, waste generation, mobility, and resource consumption. While tools and guidelines exist, training across the sector remains fragmented, inconsistent, and hard to access. That is precisely the problem STEP is designed to solve.
Over 24 months (September 2025 – August 2027), the project builds a pan-European training ecosystem that equips event professionals with the practical skills to design, manage, and deliver circular, low-carbon, and socially responsible events. The approach is deliberately hands-on: an interactive online platform, a directory of sustainable suppliers, workshops, and a coaching programme — all built for direct application in real event settings.
What STEP will deliver
- Online training : A modular learning path with videos, quizzes, infographics, and micro-credentials — accessible to both professionals and VET providers.
- Supplier directory : A European directory of sustainable event suppliers — circular, low-carbon, and inclusive — covering all partner countries.
- Workshops & pilots : 40 professionals trained, 40 pilot events implemented to validate methodologies in real-world conditions.
- Community of practice : A lasting network for peer learning, long-term adoption, and sector-wide dissemination across Europe.
A consortium of 5 organisations across Europe
- VO Group SA (Belgium) — project coordinator; expert in sustainable event management; EMAS and ISO 14001 certified.
- NHL Stenden Hogeschool (Netherlands) — leading university of applied sciences in event, tourism, and hospitality research; leads quality assurance.
- Creative Pro a.s. (Slovakia) — international event agency active across Central and Eastern Europe; supports training and supplier identification.
- UOC – Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Spain) — one of Europe’s leading online universities; leads development of training materials and the online platform.
- Confederation Events (Belgium) — national umbrella organisation for the Belgian events sector; leads industry validation and final dissemination.
