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Exploring Sustainability at Event Essex
Host your next event where sustainability is always the focus of everything we do.
Event Essex sits within 200 acres of Wivenhoe Park, awarded its tenth consecutive Green Flag Award. We’re also part of the University of Essex’s ambitious drive to net zero by 2035, backed by our 2020 Climate and Ecological Emergency declaration.
We’re Gold-accredited through the Sustainable Essex Awards. Our lakes and woodland are cared for daily by dedicated, attentive grounds teams.
A Building with Sustainability at its Core
Essex Business School is the UK’s first zero-carbon business school, offering a bright, welcoming and more sustainable setting for events.
Daylight floods the winter garden. Passive design does the work behind the scenes, cutting energy use by 20% and saving roughly a tonne of carbon every day.
Solar panels keep the power clean. A timber frame keeps it in. It’s the same ambition driving the University forward, already on 100% certified carbon neutral electricity, with solar expanding across campus.
These features were part of the building from the beginning. For organisers, that means a conference venue in Essex where sustainability and delegate experience work together.
Welcoming the Beth Chatto Symposium 2026
Sustainability was at the heart of how we approached hosting the Beth Chatto Symposium this year, from 27 to 29 August 2026.
The symposium celebrated the legacy of Beth Chatto, one of the UK’s most influential horticulturists. Her environmentally conscious approach focused on working with nature, choosing the right plants for the right conditions and creating resilient landscapes that thrive with minimal intervention.
Building on that legacy, this year’s theme, Connections Through Time, looked at how plants, people and landscapes connect across the past, present and future.
Running the event sustainably mattered just as much as the programme itself. Recycling points were available throughout the venue. Delegates were encouraged to bring a refillable water bottle, with a water fountain on hand to top up.
Catering reflected the same thinking. A bespoke vegan packed lunch was built around what the client asked for: a mezze rainbow houmous salad bowl with olives, or a smoky Mexican burrito bowl with mixed nuts. Both were finished with fresh fruit and a naked bar.
Why Sustainable Events Matter
Events can do more than reduce their impact. They can spark new ideas and bring people together who want real change.
Hosting the Beth Chatto Symposium showed what’s possible when purpose, programme and setting work together, down to the detail of a lunch menu built entirely around the client’s brief.
At Event Essex, we help organisers turn sustainability goals into event experiences that create lasting value.
Plan Your Next Event with Event Essex
Whether you’re planning a conference, meeting, exhibition or corporate event, our team can help you explore how sustainability can form part of it.
