Sustainability

MICE Helps Create a Sustainable Society

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The year 2020 saw major changes in the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) industry.
The COVID-19 outbreak struck at the very core of the MICE industry, forcing a shift away from what was mainly face-to-face communication. The pandemic caused increasing attention to shift to virtual events and hybrid events (combination of onsite and virtual experiences) and brought about a rapid take-up of new approaches in MICE. These new formats contribute toward the common goal of achieving a sustainable society. For example, less travel has led to lower CO₂ emissions from aircraft, while the shift to smaller venues has reduced power consumption.

As a company in the MICE industry, JCS is committed to achieving a sustainable society in alignment with two frameworks adopted by the United Nations: the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; and the Paris Agreement, an international framework on climate change.

JCS offers solutions to social challenges and creates innovation

Our corporate philosophy is making people around the world happy through communication. Based on this corporate philosophy, JCS has expanded its services to adapt to the changing times and the needs of society under the management philosophy, “Create the Future Communication.”

In line with this philosophy, JCS has focused its services on large conventions that bring together many people for communication. That business model, however, was upturned by COVID-19. To meet the needs of society, JCS has shifted its core focus to virtual and hybrid events that foster people-to-people communication under any circumstances. This transformation also offered an opportunity to reconsider the meaning and added value of holding onsite, in-person events.

As we face an increasingly uncertain future in this age of VUCA,*1 MICE will play an even more critical role as a forum for discussing solutions to social challenges and generating innovation. JCS will continue responding to the needs of society. Keeping communication at the core of our services, we will incorporate the values of environmental, social and economic sustainability into our continuous pursuit to create new value and innovation through collaboration and partnership.
*1 VUCA: An acronym that stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. It describes the changes in conditions surrounding businesses, the market, organizations and individuals that make predicting the future difficult.

The Beginning of Our Sustainability Initiatives

JCS formulated the CSR and Environmental Policy (currently the CSR and Sustainability Policy) in July 2008, shortly after Hirotake Chikanami was appointed President of JCS in April. The company then established a CSR and sustainability management system leveraging JCS’s extensive experience and expertise in organizing conventions. In September 2010, JCS founded the CSR and Environment Promotion Committee (currently the CSR and Sustainability Promotion Committee) composed of members from across the organization. In October, JCS managed the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP10) held in Nagoya. Our sustainability initiatives have spanned both internal and external engagement.

Currently, JCS maintains both ISO 20121 Event Sustainability Certification and Eco-Action 21: Environmental Management System Certification. JCS is advancing its comprehensive in-house initiatives in close integration with these two highly trusted third-party certifications.

JCS Becomes First Asian Company to Acquire BS 8901 Sustainability Certification, the Predecessor to ISO

The legacy left by holding events is gaining greater attention due to the interest in contributing to a sustainable society. In January 2011, JCS became the first company in Asia to obtain the BS 8901 British standard for Sustainability Management System for Events, which was developed for the London Olympics, incorporating the three aspects of environmental, social and economic sustainability.

JCS Becomes First Japanese Company to Acquire ISO 20121 Event Sustainability Certification

Coinciding with the 2012 London Olympics, BS 8901 turned into the ISO 20121 international standard that sets forth management system requirements for sustainable conference and event management. In August 2012, JCS became the first company in Japan to achieve ISO 20121 certification.*2
*2 Certification scope: Event management related to conventions organized by JCS

Managing events in accordance with ISO 20121 certification provides the benefits listed below to both the organizer and the event itself, and it represents an opportunity to deliver events with new added value.

As a leading company in the convention industry, JCS is committed to offering Sustainable Conventions,*3 which consider environmental, social and economic sustainability to bring new added value to events and help create a sustainable society.
*3 Sustainable Conventions: Trademark registered by Japan Convention Services, Inc.

Eco-Action 21: Environmental Management System Established by the Ministry of the Environment

Team Z-Wave

Employees are a critical part of any business activity. JCS actively trains and engages its Generation Z employees who are the building blocks of our future.

The new employees who joined us in 2020 started their careers with home-based teleworking. Under these circumstances, they explored what contributions they could make and what kind of future they wished to create. Generation Z empathizes with the importance of a sustainable society, and they began sharing SDG-related publications within the group and created an online chat group to discuss their activities. In July 2020, they held a debate to discuss the SDGs together with other staff.

Through this event, the mission of new employees leading SDG awareness-raising was shared throughout the company. In September 2020, Team Z-Wave*4 was founded and was invited to form part of the CSR and Sustainability Promotion Committee.
*4 Team Z-Wave: The team name was discussed and selected by JCS’s 2020 group of new employees. “Z Wave” represents the passion held by Generation Z employees to create a wave of change at JCS.