We spoke to Katy, Marketing Director & Sustainability Lead for MCCGLC to  discuss the increased awareness around the climate crisis and that changing our mindsets and approach to sustainability will be the big push needed to turn sustainability from nice to have to a priority. 

Has your attitude towards sustainability changed as a result of Covid-19?

From a personal perspective, no – I’ve been very much aware of the need for change to the way we all live and do business for a long time. As a business also – the need for a new approach to the way we work has been on the agenda for a while. But I think Covid has helped sharpen the focus for everyone – as a result we’re all even more acutely aware of the need for global change and the responsibility we have as a business to help in driving that. Whenever we as humanity are hit with difficulties we have a choice to be reduced or reinvigorated. Covid-19 has given us an opportunity to reassess our priorities.

Why is collaboration as an industry important to you?

Collaboration is the only way we’re going to achieve change. We all need to be working together to find new solutions and it’s only by generating the demand for change at scale, that new mindsets and new solutions such as innovative recycled materials can become mainstream. We need a new collective mindset that agrees that the ‘build & burn’ approaches are just not acceptable in this day and age. Big agency names coming together through isla and setting that standard – and driving those conversations with big name clients –  is a really exciting step forward.

What does your agency currently do to support sustainability in events and how will isla help further that mission?

We’re working on new approaches internally and with suppliers, that will encourage and advise our clients on where more environmental choices can be made, and to provide design solutions that enable us to, together, reduce our impact. We’re on a journey to find a route to being net carbon zero and so being a part of the isla movement to find out how other agencies are approaching these same challenges can only inspire us all to do this more effectively.  Being amidst a community of other agencies, brands and organisers will give us a collective voice to help develop these sort of initiatives together, hopefully driving change across the whole industry at a much quicker pace.

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Find out more about MCCGLC You can connect with Katy via Linkedin.