BE>FUTURE, the 30-month project inspired by leading EU convention bureaux from Flanders and Catalunya and co-funded by the European Union to the tune of €4m, aims to use the opportunity to transform the European Business Events Industry into a regenerative, resilient, and responsible powerhouse aligned with European Tourism Transition Pathways and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SGD’s) concluding April 2026.
The Iceberg joined the Founding Partners, Gemmeke De Jonghe (International Association Expert at Visit Flanders) and Sonia Serracarbassa (Director, Catalunya Convention Bureau) at the launch event and is preparing for the latest update on activities at a Press Conference to be held on Wednesday 15th May at 15:30.
BE>FUTURE will encourage innovative approaches to digitization and sustainability-benchmarking against the Global Destination Sustainability (GDS) Index in a move to ensure the bloc remains competitive in attracting business events, and illustrating to the EU Commission the social and societal impact of the sector in Europe.
Collaboration is key and BE>FUTURE is working with strategic partners including GCB’s ‘Future of Meeting Space’
The BE>FUTURE Accelerator Programme is to dispense 80 x €30K grants for start-up and scale-up ventures as well as a series of local training programmes, white papers, and hackathons. Details will be shared at IMEX at on Wednesday 15th May at 15:30 at the Press Conference room, Press Centre, Room Symmetrie 2, Hall 8 Level 1.
