Sustainable Conference Living Lab Case Study
Overview
Title: Award Winning Sustainable Conference Living Lab
Programme/Funder: Forum on Scenarios for Climate and Societal Futures sponsored by the ClimateWorks Foundation and Wellcome Trust
Time Period: August 2024 – September 2025
Key Themes: Sustainability, Events
Context/Challenge
At the University of Leeds, Living Labs provide an innovative, collaborative approach to tackling real‑world sustainability challenges by using the campus and its communities as test beds for practical solutions. They bring together students, academics, staff and external partners to co‑create and test ideas that deliver social, environmental and economic benefits, fostering adaptable and scalable innovation through hands‑on, interdisciplinary work.
As part of this approach, the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures delivers Living Labs by working with partners to test climate solutions in real-world settings such as campuses, cities and regions. It brings together businesses, policymakers and communities to trial ideas in practice and scale tangible solutions and frameworks.
In July 2025 the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures hosted the third Forum on Scenarios for Climate and Societal Futures - an influential, international conference to discuss the most pertinent issues in socioeconomic scenario development for sustainability and climate.
While academic conferences can act as a vehicle to advance climate and sustainability action, they also come at an environmental cost. A cross-institutional team of research and operations staff set out to rethink the entire conference experience, transforming the Scenarios Forum into a Sustainable Conference Living Lab – an ambitious, whole-event experiment exploring how sustainability can enhance, rather than restrict, the delegate journey. The team worked with conference venues, catering and local providers to trial running a sustainable conference.
Objectives
The team recognised that it was imperative that conference delivery aligned with the latest evidence in terms of climate and sustainability.
The Sustainable Conference Living Lab aimed to trial and showcase methods for delivering a conference on the University of Leeds campus in the most sustainable manner possible.
Critically, this was not about one-off measures for the Scenarios Forum 2025 but about building on our established practises and testing new practices that can be embedded in business as usual and sharing our learning across the University of Leeds and beyond.
Our Approach
A Living Lab is a collaborative approach to solving real-world sustainability challenges by integrating research and practice to test and implement solutions, using the University and our communities as a testbed.
Seven key focus areas shaped the Living Lab model: accessibility, catering, residences, suppliers, travel, communication and legacy. Each was co-led by research staff and students and operational specialists to ensure that sustainability interventions aligned with the latest evidence and went hand-in-hand with an exceptional delegate experience.
Every element of the conference, from catering to travel to communication, was designed to encourage reflection, connection and meaningful engagement. Delegates were not just attending a sustainability conference; they were living it.
Delegates were surveyed before and after the conference – using their responses to plan the Living lab interventions, and as feedback on the success of the initiatives. These surveys received an overall response rate of up to 32%.
Key Findings
Starting sustainability conversations early is vital. The success of this Sustainable Conference Living Lab was in no-small-part down to it driving action focused conversations starting 11 months prior to the conference. This ensured sustainability activities were embedded before critical operational delivery periods.
Highlights and key findings from the interventions tested as part of the Living Lab included:
- The University’s first fully vegetarian (and predominantly plant-based) conference menu was developed based on research-led guidance. Delegates praised the dishes as “brilliant” and “a highlight of the event”. Delegates wanted more transparency on food related sustainability measures and decisions.
- On-campus accommodation at Storm Jameson Court, supported affordable, low-carbon stay in an Access Exceptional, Green Tourism Gold venue.
- Working with local suppliers with aligned sustainability commitments brought co-benefits for both organisation and added cultural value. Delegates enjoyed locally brewed beer from Kirkstall Brewery and plant-based ice cream from Northern Bloc.
- Travel is the biggest emissions challenge, clear guidance is needed to improve uptake of sustainable options. A partnership with LNER, providing discounted rail travel to encouraged lower-emission journeys and was appreciated by delegates.
- Inclusive, accessible participation was facilitating by including hybrid attendance options and financial support for delegates from low- and middle-income countries. Facilitating online access requires high levels of technical and human resource
- Innovative communications, such as “human signage” in place of printed materials and sustainability messages integrated before and during the conference. Delegates highlighted the need to ensure key that sustainability messaging is clear throughout the event as well as before
In post conference evaluation surveys, the Forum’s overall approach to sustainability was widely praised and distinguished it from other academic conferences. Survey data showed that 82% of delegates agreed the Scenarios Forum was more sustainable than other higher education conferences they had attended. Delegates evaluated the Scenarios Forum 2025 not just as a successful event, but as a model to be shared, with tangible opportunities to amplify its influence across the sector.
People were at the heart of this success. The Living Lab approach demonstrated the power of ensuring teams have a clear mandate and time to embed sustainability practices in their work and of bringing together cross-institutional teams.
Impact
The impact of the Living Lab was clear:
- 413 delegates (310 in person, 103 online) from more than 90 global institutions took part
- 82% agreed the event was more sustainable than other higher-education conferences
- 88% felt sustainability practices were communicated effectively
- Zero single-use plastics were used across all catering and service areas
- 100% vegetarian catering, using predominantly local and ethical suppliers
- Cross-departmental collaboration across six University services, strengthening long-term partnerships
The teams efforts won recognition for sector-leading innovation in conferences at the 2025 Academic Venue Solutions (AVS).
The Academic Venue Solutions judging panel praised the Living Lab for demonstrating how sustainability and delegate experience can be mutually reinforcing, not competing priorities. By bringing together academic research and operational expertise, the University of Leeds delivered a conference that didn’t just discuss climate futures – it embodied them.
Next Steps
Practices from the Sustainable Conference Living Lab are now being embedded in business-as-usual for the teams involved and the insights are informing University-wide improvements in accessibility, supplier engagement and sustainable travel.
The Priestley Centre also has ambitions to deliver more Living Labs in partnership with external collaborators in the future.
Contact Us
If you are interested in:
- learning more about our sustainable conferencing toolkit
- working with us to implement our findings in your organisation
- exploring other challenges that would benefit from our Living Lab process
please get in touch with the Priestley Centre: [email protected]
If you are interested in hosting a sustainable event at the University of Leeds please contact the Conferences and Events team - [email protected]
Further Information
Related publications: