Transportation
Flying will never be the most environmentally friendly way of transporting yourself, but nevertheless a necessary one. We recommend that you fly to Copenhagen with SAS, who offers costumer's the opportunity to offset carbon-dioxide emissions. To make it even easier for congress organisers SAS has launched a Carbon offset program for International congresses & events as a part of the SAS Official Airline product. Furthermore Scandinavian Airlines has the industry's most efficient fuel saving program with a target of saving 6-7% in 2010(*).
Copenhagen offers a highly advanced and developed public transport infrastructure. The recent Metro - whose first line opened in 2002 - has just been extended to the airport and now connects eastern Copenhagen to the airport in less than 15 minutes. For years an efficient airport train has made it possible to reach the main train station in only 13 minutes.
When using shuttles for transportation you can also go green, for instance the Danish coach company Vikingbus offers some of the most environmentally friendly busses in Europe. Recently Copenhagen introduced an environmental zone that means all heavy traffic will be subject to strict environmental rules in order to enter the inner city. Paaske bus has therefore installed particulate filters on all vehicles that didn't already meet the standards.
Also worth considering is that Copenhagen is one of the most "walkable" cities in the world. Its compact city centre makes walking between meeting venues, hotels, sights, restaurants and shopping areas a matter of minutes. Or do your sightseeing the Copenhagen way - by bike.
Hotels & Venues
The Nordic hotel chain, Scandic, which has six hotels in the Copenhagen area, is one of the vendors who has taken social responsibility a step further. Scandic not only has effective energy usage and serves organic foods. When its sheets, towels and furniture are replaced they are donated to local shelters for the homeless. Since 1996 the hotel chain has worked hard to make its resource usage more efficient. Today a guest staying one night at a Scandic hotel generates 1.5 kilos of CO2 less, uses 35 litres of water less and leaves one kilo waste less than 10 years ago.
As part of the Arp-Hansen Hotel Group's environmental efforts all nine hotels of the Group have qualified for Danish The Green Key in recognition of their effectiveness in reducing energy and water consumption; minimising waste; introducing organic produce; and creating a healthy environment in which to work and stay.
The Danish owned Brøchner hotels is also taking a new approach in the global climate initiative by becoming the world's first CO2-neutral hotel chain. On the basis of their heat- and electricity consumption for 2007, the Danish hotel chain has calculated its collective CO2 emissions and subsequently purchased carbon credits corresponding to this consumption level. Brøchner Hotels will commit to buying carbon credits equivalent to their collective emissions every year from this point forward.
International hotel chains such as Hilton and Radisson have their own environmental certifications. For instance Hilton has recently installed new showerheads and low-energy light-bulbs, resulting in energy-savings of 5 percent and water-savings of 7 percent so far, but both chains also hold the Nordic Eco Label the Swan Label. This is just to mention a few.
The above mentioned hotels all offer meeting facilities with a green profile. Especially Scandic works very consistently with improving their meetings. They recently received an award for their Green Meeting product. The chains largest hotel, Scandic Copenhagen Hotel, can host up to 800 participants.
However, if you are in need of more space Scandinavia's largest congress centre, the Bella Center also upholds a thorough environmental policy. For instance Bella Center has set the ambitous goal to reduce CO2 emissions by 20 percent berfore December 2009.
Dinners
Copenhagen offer a range of small organic cafes and takeaways throughout the city. Bio M, a small eatery in the Østerbro part of town is a good example - here the food, drink and even the paint on the walls are organic.
Restaurant Cap Horn, by the picturesque canal Nyhavn, was one of the first restaurants to be driven by an organic philosophy. All Cap Horn's basic ingredients, such as eggs, milk and butter, are organic as are all its wine, beer, soft drinks and coffee. The rest of the food is as organic as possible.
BioMio is one of Copenhagen's leading, but informal organic restaurants and also a member of the Klima+ network, wich a green business network headed by the City of Copenhagen for companies that wish to reduce their CO2 emissions in the best possible way.
The restaurant seats 250 and can be used for day meetings too.
Social activities
There are several ways to engage your participants in environmentally friendly activities. Why not enjoy the sights of Copenhagen from the back of a bike? Companies like Copenhagen Tours and City Safari arrange guided tours.
Or enjoy the architectural gems and historical buildings as you glide slowly through Copenhagen's canals in a kayak. Kajakole's tours include stops for refreshments at a cozy café in Christianshavn.
Another possibility is to visit some of the farms e.g. Krogerup Avlsgaard or Fuglebjerggard outside the city offering teambuilding activities and culinary sessions with food and micro brewed beer in organic settings.
Partners
If you are looking for a partner to help arrange your conference while still keeping environmental issues in mind, ICS is a good choice. ICS is environmentally certified and member of the Green Globe, a worldwide organization working for sustainable tourism. Throughout the last year ICS has had an active social responsibility policy emphasizing among other things the reduction of CO2 emissions.
Another obvious choice is MCI who was lead PCO for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in November 2009 - which was later certified as the world's first sustainable international political wolrd summit.
Other services
One of the city's largest coach companies Paaske Bus, is also one of Europe's most environmentally friendly bus services. And, if you need printing services Vester Kopi is a chain of eco friendly print shops, which produce everything in digital printing among other services facilities, all certified by the Nordic Ecolabel ‘The Swan Label’.