The Office of Sustainability has developed and launched a program to help event planners incorporate sustainability into the more than 12,000 events that occur on campus each year.
The Sustainable Event Guide and Certification Program is designed to serve as a roadmap and a resource to help event planners make events more sustainable and provide recognition to those making a difference. The resource provides action items to help student, staff, and faculty event planners steward the university's resources responsibly and contribute toward institutional sustainability goals.
“The guide is designed to make the smart and sustainable choices easy. There are many simple but meaningful actions that event planners can take to be good stewards of the university’s resources through the event planning process, and the guide brings those actions into one resource," said Madeline Yeatts, sustainability coordinator.
There are four levels of certification, which celebrate the percentage of applicable action items event planners incorporate into their events.
Events that achieve certification have the opportunity to be featured on the Office of Sustainability website.
The Sustainable Event Guide was pilot-tested by the 2025 All-Staff Conference planning committee, with the conference achieving a Gold certification and serving as an example of how sustainability can be implemented at a large-scale event.
"Utilizing the UNL Sustainable Event Guide made integrating sustainability into our planning process seamless. It's a vital tool, and for an event with the reach of the UNL All-Staff Conference, it's not only important but necessary to ensure we are good stewards of our resources and set a positive example for our community," said Jerri Harner, Program Coordinator, Organizational Development and Training and Co-Chair of the All-Staff Conference Planning Committee.
Kicking off the new school year, the Chancellor’s BBQ also obtained a Gold certification, introducing more than 4,000 new Huskers to UNL’s commitment to sustainability during their first few days on campus.
The Office of Sustainability is available to consult with event planners on incorporating sustainable actions into their events. Visit the Sustainable Event Guide and Certification Program website to learn more and start planning your next event.
