We are all becoming increasingly aware of the effect our activities have on the world around us. As consumers, we are continually bombarded by messages about the need to change the way we live our lives to reduce our impact on the environment.

For most businesses, reducing environmental impacts has been mainly a compliance issue for many years – with, for example, separate legislation and guidelines dealing with waste disposal, energy efficiency and emissions to air and water.

As awareness and understanding of the impact of our activities has increased, legislation and regulation has kept pace, increasing in scope and complexity while also starting to provide a more joined-up approach to environmental protection.

At the same time, action by shareholders, customers and other stakeholders over environmental issues has added to the pressure on businesses.

Being legally compliant is today seen as the minimum requirement. Many people now believe businesses have a moral responsibility to ‘put something back’ into the environments in which they operate – all of which requires a more joined-up approach from businesses.

In recognition of this, we have for the first time brought together our existing Environmental Technology (ET), National Energy Management (Nemex), International Water and Effluent (IWEX) and International Clean-up (ICU) events and built on their success by adding a new Environmental Services (ES) exhibition.

Bringing these events together to create Sustainabilitylive! has allowed us to develop the UK’s most comprehensive forum for excellence and innovation in the water, environment, land remediation and energy sectors.

Because of the level of inter-relation between these sectors, we were also keen to make it easier for people working across these sectors to maximise the value of their time out of the office.

Keeping ahead of the latest developments is time-consuming, but critical to not only ensuring compliance, but also identifying new opportunities. If this can be done effectively at one event which also provides the opportunity for networking with peers and, most importantly, doing business – then it’s time well spent.

As industries develop a more co-ordinated approach to meeting their environmental compliance and responsibilities, we are continually working to make sure our events meet their needs. Hopefully our new joined-up approach will provide all the knowledge, inspiration and answers our visitors are looking for.

Catherine Iredale, exhibitions director, Faversham House Group

Sustainabilitylive! takes place from 1-3 May 2007 at the NEC in Birmingham. For up-to-the-minute news on exhibitors, the features programme and to register for free attendance, please visit: www.sustainabilitylive.com or call +44 (0)208 651 7140.

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