Towards a Sustainable Conference

Corvinus University of Budapest places strong emphasis on sustainability, and the Conference was thoughtfully designed to minimize its environmental impact.

Catering services were selected so that local, fresh produce is offered with minimum packaging. While a meat option will be available, vegetarian and vegan options will be preferred.

To reduce material consumption, no conference giveaways and promotional materials will be presented. Instead, the Sustainability Field Trips are included in the registration fee. These trips will take the form of guided walks to eliminate the need for motorized transportation.

Budapest has excellent public transportation and getting around town and reaching the Conference venue from most of the centrally located hotels is possible by an easy walk or by taking public transportation.

The conference will be hosted at the Gellért Campus of Corvinus University of Budapest. The location is the University’s renovated educational building in Buda, which includes multifunctional, collaborative learning spaces, project and incubation spaces, a data science creative space called Data Space and a Makerspace, a community space for craft activities. The co-operative learning spaces can accommodate up to 680 students at a time, and there is also a lecture theatre with a capacity of almost 300. The Gellért Campus Dormitory can accommodate up to 180 students.

With its LEED Gold certification awarded in February 2024, the Gellért Campus is unique in Hungarian higher education. Only ten “fully fitted” new-build facilities in Hungary can proudly claim this status, including the Gellért Campus as the only educational institution. A key design consideration was to achieve near-zero emissions: the passive house building envelope significantly reduces heating and cooling needs, with ground-source heat pump and solar PV systems providing the missing energy. The new building was also awarded the Green Investment of the Year at the Sustainable World conference in 2024, and was also named Green Building of the Year in the Building Construction category by the Hungarian construction industry trade association, ÉVOSZ.

Sustainability in design and construction:

  • The building’s passive house envelope minimises heating and cooling energy demand from the first concept designs. During the design phase, further studies were commissioned to identify the best energy efficiency solutions, and efficient devices were integrated into the final designs. 
  • The remaining energy required is provided by a ground source heat pump system and solar farm, making the building near zero emissions.

Water and biodiversity management: 

  • The planting of drought-tolerant vegetation on the green areas of the campus reduces the need for irrigation, using less potable water to maintain a rich, biodiverse plant community. 
  • Water-saving devices have been installed both indoors and outdoors (low-flow taps, toilets), bringing the building’s water use significantly below average.

Green transport and mobility: 

  • The campus offers a strong cycling infrastructure: covered storage, changing rooms and showers encourage cycling commuting. 
  • Electric car chargers have also been installed in the car park, making green charging available for mixed fleet users.

Waste management and environmentally friendly operation: 

  • Separate waste collection has been introduced during the demolition and construction phases, and the high percentage of waste generated is continuously monitored and recycled. 
  • LEED-compliant documentation and certification ensures that as much material as possible is kept in circulation throughout the project.

For more information regarding the sustainability efforts of the Corvinus University of Budapest, please, visit this page.

Offsetting Travel Emissions

One of the major environmental impacts of traveling to conferences is the journey itself. While we suggest to take the means of transportation with the lowest carbon footprint, we understand that it is not always possible. To make your journey more environmentally responsible we suggest to compensate for your carbon footprint. Below are three reputable platforms that offer verified, user-friendly, and transparent carbon offsetting solutions.

1. Atmosfair 

Website: https://www.atmosfair.de/en/

Atmosfair is a German non-profit organization dedicated to offsetting emissions from air travel and other transportation. It supports renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives in developing countries.

All projects are certified by the Gold Standard, with independent annual verification. The transparent project portfolio is available for public review:  https://www.atmosfair.de/en/our-projects/. There is no individual project selection at checkout, the contributions support the curated portfolio of verified projects.

How to Offset:

2. Terrapass 

Website: https://terrapass.com/

Terrapass is a U.S.-based provider offering offsets for flights, car travel, personal lifestyle, and events. Projects include reforestation, landfill gas capture, solar energy, and industrial emission reductions.

All projects are verified by Gold Standard, Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), American Carbon Registry (ACR), and Climate Action Reserve with transparent documentation available. The offsets fund the Terrapass Global Portfolio, the project types and geographic distribution are accessible through the website: https://terrapass.com/projects/sustainable-living-projects/.

How to Offset:

3. Sustainable Travel International (STI) 

Website: https://sustainabletravel.org/

Sustainable Travel International is a non-profit organization focused on promoting sustainable tourism. It provides carbon offsetting for flights, hotels, cruises, and complete travel itineraries, with projects across forestry, clean energy, blue carbon, and climate technology.

All projects are certified by Gold Standard, VCS, and Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards (CCBS), while the website offers a comprehensive project comparison guide: https://sustainabletravel.org/our-work/carbon-offsets/projects/. There is a greater flexibility compared to other providers as individuals can choose project types (e.g., forestry, energy). 

How to Offset: