Throughout the Green Man Festival, the Wales TUC offered talks on fairness in the workplace – including fair fashion, building a fair work nation, and creating better jobs for the South Wales Valleys. We attended the Fair Fashion debate which discussed the scandal behind the global fashion industry.

The guest speaker was Dr Jean Jenkins from Cardiff University. Dr Jenkins was extremely knowledgeable on the subject, having visited factories in Bangladesh and Pakistan – and was sure in her conviction that there’s not a single factory there where standards are acceptable. She asserted that fashion labels have no interest in anything but the bottom line, and have only taken action so far due to international pressure and potential legislative changes.

The Wales TUC have worked with the Clean Clothes Campaign to encourage better standards in garment factories, and following the Rana Plaza factory disaster, set up the Accord on Fire and Building Safety. Sadly Dr Jenkins felt that many fashion labels are not complying with the Accord (which we saw in the news about H&M back in May).

As well as using Union subs to support campaigns like Clean Clothes, Wales TUC are raising the profile of the importance of Union membership. Dr Jenkins explained that Union members in garment factories are likely to be suppressed – either publicly humiliated or alienated from their fellow workers. Union membership is stamped out, making it extremely difficult for the workers to have any representation and to acquire basic workers rights.

It was disheartening to hear that so little progress has been made in these areas, despite tragedies like Rana Plaza which killed over 1100 workers. However, there is hope in that organisations like Wales TUC are continuing to raise awareness and are working with other organisations to implement change. For our part, we can continue to put pressure on fashion labels, and shop fair trade until they get their act together.

Fashion Revolution is an opportunity to make people think differently and it begins with a simple question – who made your clothes? The answers to that question will tell you a lot about how important it is to get this right. Fashion Revolution uses the power of social media to challenge brands directly to increase transparency within the industry. There are great resources and tips which you can download from the website, so it’s well worth a look.

By joining forces we can make our voices heard more clearly. No-one should have to suffer, be maimed or even killed, just so we can save a few quid on a pair of jeans. It’s up to us whether we face up to our responsibilities or look the other way.

For me, a real eye-opener was the impact of the leather industry. The tanning process is so toxic that children born in villages close to tanning factories had a greatly increased chance of disability – and tannery workers have 20%- 50% greater risk of cancer.

Guests at the screening were left with a new viewpoint on fashion – and whilst there’s no easy fix to the current situation, people will certainly be thinking more about the provenance of their clothes. You can find out more and watch the film here.

The screening was followed by a fashion show, showcasing Hay’s fair trade fashion options. Here are some of the wonderful models wearing our clothes!

Our approach at Seventeen has always been that sustainability and accessibility should go hand in hand. That’s not just in terms of accessibility with a capital “A” if you like – wheelchair access, provision for those with hearing or sight issues, or special dietary requirements – it also applies to small scale accessibility. Can the people who need to use your website access it easily, without getting bogged down in endless sub-pages which inevitably lead to an anonymous online form? Is your contact phone number easy to find? Are you open and transparent about who is making decisions within your organisation?

This level of transparency is an integral building block of sustainable development. Without a digital “paper trail” of documentation it will be impossible to judge whether what you’re doing is actually having an effect, or just empty talk.

We have always tried to be open and honest in our decision making processes. If you’d like to find out more about our approach to sustainability, feel free to get in touch.

It’s been an incredible seven years working at the cutting edge of sustainability in the events industry, and we hope that we’ve played a big part in getting the events world to the place we are today: more knowledgeable, more confident and with the tools to get the job done. We feel that now it’s up to the industry to take the next steps – by showing greater commitment and building on the support being offered by our clients. The road ahead is not at all clear, but we have confidence that we’re on the right path.

Our focus, and what has always excited us, is practical action. We’ve never had too much time for theoretical musings, we want to see action on the ground. That’s why we’ve decided, after over a year of planning, debate and discussion, to launch a new project, the next logical step on our sustainable journey.

That has led us to Eighteen Rabbit. We’re really excited at the reception we’ve had so far, and we want to thank everyone who has taken the time to follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook. We hope the months and years ahead will allow us to make a real difference in the lives of the people we work with, and create new relationships across the globe to give artists and craftspeople fair access to the market.

We’re not leaving the events world behind us altogether – how could we in Hay on Wye, home to one of the biggest arts festivals in the UK? However we will only be taking on a few exceptional projects each year, and concentrating on advising brands and agencies on how to make their event offering more sustainable. If you think you have a project which might tempt us then do please get in touch.

Whether it was Wayne Hemingway explaining his unique approach to sustainable design, David Stubbs offering an insight into the build up to London 2012, or Jonathan Porritt giving his own take on how events could improve their sustainable standing, the Summit was a thought provoking and practical arena for our industry to create its own way forward.

We have now teamed up with industry colleagues Smyle, Sustainable Events Ltd and Positive Impact to create a new and exciting summit for 2013. We’ll be launching officially in mid October, but for now here’s how you can get involved:

1. Follow us on Twitter for all the latest news – @global_ses with hastag #ses13
2. Join our LinkedIn group to join the debate.
3. Like our Facebook page – and help us to build the type of content you want to see.

We’ve always seen transparency and cooperation as key building blocks of sustainability, and the Summit is a great way of underlining that commitment. We hope you can join us on the next stage of our journey.

You would be forgiven for having one or two nerves about the upcoming London Olympics. It has not exactly been plain sailing over the past four weeks as we are getting closer and closer to the games. The list is long and if I mention G4S, O2 phone signals, the M4, rooftop surface to air missiles and chips, you’ll probably get the idea – and they’re all just from the past few days. Even electronic cigarettes seem capable of bringing the country to the point of armageddon.

From my point of view, as a sustainability volunteer at the games, I have nothing but praise for the process so far. Picking up my uniform and accreditation was quick and easy, and I was struck by how friendly all of the other volunteers were. I’m confident London will be presenting a friendly, welcoming face to the world.

In sustainability terms it has not all been plain sailing however. LOCOG has just published its response to allegations made earlier in the year around conditions in factories manufacturing plush toys for the games. The report – which you can read here – is something of a masterclass in the pros and cons of standards such as BS8901 and ISO20121. It is detailed, thorough, and follows a transparent process, but you can’t help but wonder why the checks are occurring now – after the allegations have been made – rather than as part of the initial procurement process. If the checks did take place at an earlier stage, then a fine or penalty for the company involved would seem more appropriate than “corrective measures” at this stage. There’s a lesson here that you can follow standards and procedures to the letter and still not get the results you wanted. I’ve always believed it’s more important for event organisations to pursue sustainable policies as a way of improving their business rather than simply to get a nice new certificate to hang on the wall.

Standards like ISO20121 should be welcomed though, as a great tool for us to use as an industry and as an important legacy of the 2012 games. I am a natural optimist and I am confident that we will see greater uptake of these standards in the years to come. It was a pleasure to be at the recent launch of ISO20121, particularly to hear from Coca Cola who have really embraced the new standard and are using it to make their Olympic activity better. But in 2012, as we await the arrival of the greenest games ever, after 7 years of well deserved hype – should we feel jubilant that a major brand like Coke is taking this forward? Or disappointed that out of all the top tier sponsors, only Coke has risen to the challenge? As always, my glass is half full, but it would have been encouraging to see some of the sustainability partners for the games step up to the plate. The question may be: if organisations like BMW, BP, BT et al aren’t using sustainability standards for their events now, what is it going to take to persuade them to do so?

My official duties start on the 27th, as London welcomes the world to see the greatest show on earth. Let’s focus on the positives rather than the doom and gloom, but let’s not be complacent about the road we still have ahead of us.