Diagnobéton event awarded "eco-responsible event" label

The 8th edition of the Diagnobéton conference took place in autumn 2023 on the Nantes campus of the Gustave Eiffel University. On this occasion, the event was awarded the eco-responsible label in February 2024 by the REEVE association (Réseau Éco-Événement). This distinction rewards the efforts made in favor of sustainable development in the organization of this event.

Sustainable development is central to the commitments of the Université Gustave Eiffel. Through its DD&RS (Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility) mission, the university strives daily to promote actions in favor of the socio-ecological transition.

Within this framework, the DD&RS mission offers event organizers the possibility of joining a labeling process by collaborating with structures specialized in this approach. Among these structures, the Nantes-based REEVE association plays a leading role in labeling events of all kinds, both in mainland France and overseas.

"The REEVE label is awarded to events at different levels, depending on their commitment to sustainable development and social responsibility, with each level having its own requirements and criteria.Diagnobéton has obtained the 'initial' level of certification, for which some thirty obligations are required, without necessarily demanding tangible results ", explain Xavier Chapeleau, researcher at the Structure and Integrated Instrumentation Laboratory (COSYS-SII) and Sérgio Palma Lopes, researcher at the Geophysics and Non-Destructive Evaluation Laboratory (MAST-GéoEND) at the Gustave Eiffel University, both members of the event's organizing committee.

In particular, this label enables us to observe the efforts made to implement sustainable practices. Actions such as choosing low-polluting modes of transport, raising participant awareness, reducing paper consumption and sorting waste are just some of the initiatives recognized by the labeling process. Although reducing carbon impact is not mandatory for the initial level, it becomes a crucial issue for the higher levels. What's more, the Diagnobéton organizers assessed the carbon footprint of their event using the carbon balance tool provided by the university, which is accessible to any event organizer within the establishment.

"We'd like to generalize the organization of eco-responsible events within the university. With this in mind, we organize the Eco-Festival, which takes place every year between April and May on our various campuses," says Clémence Garnier, Head of Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility at the Université Gustave Eiffel. She continues: "The Eco-Festival on the Marne-la-Vallée campus is currently being certified by RESES (Réseau Étudiant pour une Société Écologique et Solidaire). This is part of our ongoing commitment to promoting sustainable practices and raising awareness of these issues among our university community."