Baltic Sustainability Forum and Awards will take place in Riga on November 30, gathering the leading sustainability experts from the region for a one-day conference and awards ceremony for Baltic Sustainability Awards. The event is the culmination of Baltic Sustainability Awards 2022, a Baltic-level awards competition for enterprises, organisations, startups, and individuals in sustainability innovation. This year the awards gathered more than 240 applications from the Baltic region.
The organizers inform that the Baltic Sustainability Forum and Awards event serves as a meeting place for international and local experts from the corporate, startup and public sector worlds to discuss sustainability and innovation in practice. Baltic Sustainability Awards are hosted by innovation management company Helve together with founding partner Rimi Baltic. The aim of the forum discussions and awards finalist pitches is to create a platform to seek inspiration, exchange knowledge and celebrate Baltic sustainability innovation. Baltics' biggest sustainability and innovation community gathering will be hosted on November 30 at Splendid Palace in Riga. Tickets are available here.
The conference will offer keynotes and discussions on relevant sustainability innovation trends in three key content blocks. Many businesses are rethinking how to create long-term value considering the sustainability aspects. Thus, the first content block, “Corporate Sustainability as Strategy”, will include discussions on how to put sustainable practices at the forefront of the business strategy and measure the impact. This block will also take a look at what are the key responsibilities of the Chief Sustainability Officer.
A proper regulatory framework can become an essential driver for sustainable business practices, encouraging more businesses to action and increasing the efforts for transparent communication. To discuss the key challenges and the role of policymakers for catering the green transformation, the second content block will dive into “Sustainability in the Public Sector”, inviting Baltic policymakers among the industry experts to discuss their views. This content block will also focus on how the cities can become more sustainable.
As technological development may provide new solutions to existing challenges in the third content block "Sustainability and technology", the Baltic Sustainability Awards and Forum will focus on the Baltic climate tech scene, capital availability as well as best practices of corporate innovation.
“The rapid economic growth of this era has led to an enormous consumption of natural resources. Technological developments are, in some ways, the cause of this breakthrough. Still, it is our shared responsibility to ensure that technology contributes to, rather than hinders, the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals. Digitisation is not a big one-off project but a systematic series of small, deliberate steps in everyday life.” The marketing and communications lead at Dokobit Māra Sproģe describes examples of how technology can contribute to a sustainable strategy. Dokobit is also among the businesses sharing their experience in the forum.
The speakers of the forum will include Baltic and European-level sustainability experts. The first speakers have already been unveiled – from business and startup representatives to investors and policymakers. Announced speakers include Director of Sustainability and Social Impact at “URBN” Julie Verdugo, Sustainability lead at “Rimi Baltic Group” Zanda Šadre, CEO at “Katalista Ventures” Greta Monstavice, CEO at “Cleantech Estonia” Erki Ani, Sustainability Lead at “Signet Bank” Nora Pastore, “Kalve Coffee” Co-founder Gatis Zēmanis, Head of Climate Change & Sustainability Services in the Baltic States at “EY” Jānis Kauliņš and others. The agenda and the list of speakers are available HERE where it is also possible to buy tickets for the event.
The one-day conference program will be complemented by the Baltic Sustainability Awards finalist pitches giving the stage for 30 finalists to present their sustainable innovation initiatives to compete for the winning prizes in 8 categories. The finalists and winners of the Awards will be selected by an international Jury composed of leading industry experts, while the individual winners in the Changemaker category will be selected by a public vote in each Baltic country.
Baltic Sustainability Awards are hosted by Helve together with founding partner Rimi Baltic. The initiative is supported by strategic methodology partner EY Baltic, partners Dokobit, and Baltic Block, Signet Bank and informative partner IR Nauda, Clear Channel and Delfi.