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Sustainability

Overview

The iPRES 2025 Local Organising Committee is committed to making iPRES 2025 as environmentally conscious as possible. We acknowledge that holding events like iPRES have an environmental footprint, especially when they involve long air travel, but we believe there are strong benefits to coming together in-person, and engaging with different cultures and ways of thinking.

Wellington has joined cities from around the world in the Cities Race to Zero, a collective pledge to halve carbon emissions by 2030. Already the lowest carbon city per person in Australasia, Wellington is on a mission to become a carbon-zero city by 2050. Wellington’s world-leading environmental restoration work, the city’s plan for reducing carbon emissions and managing climate risks, and policies for improving and protecting the natural environment in urban areas have all resulted in The Economist naming Wellington as the number one city worldwide for environmental security in 2021.

Your co-hosts for iPRES 2025, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa National Library of New Zealand, and Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga Archives New Zealand are part of the Department of Internal Affairs and active participants in the Carbon Neutral Government Programme, which was implemented to accelerate emissions reductions in the public sector.

For iPRES 2025, we are adopting a range of practices to reduce waste, conserve resources, and promote social responsibility.

These considerations include:

Choosing sustainable venues, and minimising the energy, water and material resources we use.
Utilising sustainable materials, and locally-sourced food and products.
Promoting and accommodating the use of sustainable modes of transport including cycling, walking, public transport, and electric vehicles, including bicycles.
Preventing and minimising our wastes (including food waste) and emissions at source by monitoring and actively managing activities.
Holding kindred and co-located events to maximise opportunities to meet and connect with other practitioners while in Wellington.
Encouraging delegates to explore Wellington’s green spaces such as Mount Victoria, the Town Belt, Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush, or Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne.
Using brainpower for conference communications, rather than employing generative AI tools to create content.

Tiaki - to care for the people, place, and culture

Our aim for iPRES 2025 is to incorporate sustainability practices and indigenous knowledge and wisdom into the conference itself. We care deeply for Te Taiao, our environment, and recognise the interconnectedness of our actions with the world around us.

This land tells the story of our people. The sky is our father, and earth is our mother. This nature is part of us, and we are part of nature.

When you travel through Aotearoa New Zealand, you too are a part of this story. You too are part of this place. We all have a responsibility to protect it.

Tiaki means to care for people, place and culture. Care for New Zealand on your travels, for now and for future generations.

New Zealand is precious, and everyone who lives and travels here has a responsibility to look after it. The Tiaki Promise is a commitment to care for New Zealand, for now and for future generations. To act as a guardian, protecting and preserving our home.

Sustainability at our conference venue

Tākina Wellington Convention and Exhibition Centre, the conference venue for iPRES 2025, has been designed and built to the highest environmental standards.

Environmental sustainability was forefront in the design process for Tākina. The building has a 5-Star Green Star rating, representing New Zealand’s excellence in environmental sustainability. The facility has been built using sustainable materials, and includes initiatives to reduce energy and water use. Tākina proudly partners with EarthCheck, a global leader in environmental sustainability and certification. This partnership reflects our commitment to the highest sustainability standards and practices across all operations.

Additionally, Tākina Events are committed to supporting our local community, employing local, and wherever possible, sourcing sustainable products and services locally in accordance with Fair Trade principles.

The Māori meaning of Tākina is to encounter and invoke, to connect and bring forth. The Wellington Convention and Exhibition Centre was bestowed with the name Tākina to acknowledge and reflect the way that Wellington summons great winds, which are considered a metaphor for bringing energy, ideas, and the sharing of knowledge.

Tākina’s sustainability features include:

Enhanced thermal insulation and high-performance double-glazing using SEFAR technology.
Rainwater harvesting system (30,000 litres) for toilet flushing and evaporative cooling to reduce water consumption by 30 per cent.
Display screens that communicate building sustainability metrics in real time, such as water and energy consumption, and carbon emissions.

Travel to Aotearoa New Zealand

The emissions generated by travel to events are often the largest contributor to an event’s carbon footprint. We encourage attendees to make choices to mitigate potential environmental impacts from their travel or virtual attendance at iPRES. The Local Organising Committee is currently working with partners to develop kindred and co-located events here in Wellington to maximise connection and learning for in-person attendance at iPRES 2025.

iPRES 2025 is only the second ever iPRES hosted in the Southern hemisphere, following Naarm Melbourne, Australia, in 2014. While the physical distance to Aotearoa New Zealand may seem great to some, it is vital that digital preservation knowledge and expertise is shared globally. We know that certain communities and parts of the world continue to be underserved and underrepresented at iPRES conferences. Holding iPRES in the Southern hemisphere is a small step towards equity in terms of making the conference more accessible to colleagues across Australasia and the Pacific.

Virtual attendance

Holding digital and hybrid events has an environmental footprint as well, from components involved in streaming content such as delivery networks, home terminals and routers, peripherals, end-user devices, and energy consumption. A participant's geographical location will affect their environmental impact when streaming (see the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Impact of Video Streaming white paper for Europe's 2021 estimated carbon emissions).

Things you can do as a conference delegate

Consider purchasing reliable carbon offsets for your travel to/from the conference.
Plan your itinerary with the least number of connecting flights, which use more fuel during takeoff and landing.
Use public transport, walking, or cycling to get around Wellington and to surrounding areas.
Bring your own reusable water bottle, rather than purchasing single use plastics, and minimise your waste generally.
Spend some time down here. Explore the beauty and wonder of Aotearoa New Zealand before/after the conference and make an adventure of it!
Choose accommodation that has sustainability as a core value.
Follow good day-to-day practices like conserving water, turning off lights and computer equipment when not in use, and reusing towels and linens.
Support establishments offering local and sustainable products, and supporting Māori and Indigenous-owned services and organisations.
Plant a tree in your local community, or donate to reforestation charities.
Learn about Aotearoa New Zealand’s unique biodiversity and sustainability initiatives.
Other ideas? Let us know and we’ll add them here.

Resources:

New Zealand Ministry for the Environment Carbon Neutral Government Programme

Net Zero Carbon Events Roadmap

ISO 20121 Standard for Event Sustainability Management Systems

Carbon Impact of Video Streaming White Paper