Guiding Principles
INCLUSION & EQUITY STATEMENT
The International Congress was committed to the promotion of a culture of inclusion, diversity and equity. We welcomed and encouraged participation by geneticists regardless of gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion, age or geographic location and made all reasonable provisions to support participation in the Congress. The Organising Committee ensured gender diversity within its organisational structure and was committed to diverse gender, geographical and age representation within the Congress program.
SUSTAINABILITY STATEMENT
The Congress recognises the importance of environmental sustainability and was committed to minimising the environmental footprint of the Congress by undertaking a range of practices including:
- Conducting the Congress at the world leading 6 star green rated Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre and supporting their Sustainability Strategy which is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and focuses on the following measures:
- Sustainability Management Team and 5 year strategy
- Food waste
- Reducing its CO2 emissions
- Adopting Food Growth practices
- Sustainable Design of the Venue
- Waste Diversion Program
- Energy Management
- Harvesting Captured Rainwater
- To learn more visit here
- Conducting meetings of the Local Organising Committee and Scientific Program Committee online to avoid the impact of travel
- Encouraging participants flying to Melbourne to offset their carbon emissions with an approved program that will contribute to the environmental protection
- Suggesting local participants consider alternative modes of transport to travel to the Convention Centre
- Marketing the Congress using digital and electronic mediums rather than print collateral
- Communicating with Congress stakeholders electronically rather than in print and focusing on the website as the central point for the most current information about the Congress
- Avoiding the use of any single use plastics such as drink bottles
- Using Digital Signage where possible to reduce the amount of wasted print material
- Selecting menus that feature locally sourced fresh produce and ensuring any unused food and beverages are donated to an approved charity
- Encouraging exhibitors to use recycled materials in their displays within the Congress exhibition
- Working with third party suppliers who support the sustainability approach of the Congress in the provision of their services/products.
We encouraged our participants to support our sustainability approach to ensure collectively we had a greatly reduced impact on our environment.
©2018 International Congress of Genetics 2023