ISO 20121:2024 for events
Implementation, internal audit, and training from a qualified auditor
Practical management systems, impartial audits and team training that turn the standard into day-to-day event operations.
ISO 20121:2024 for events.
Built to work in practice.
Three core ways to work together — implementation, independent internal audit and practical training — plus a focused advisory session when you need help with one specific problem.
ISO 20121:2024 Implementation
Request quoteI build the sustainability management system your events run on — mapped to ISO 20121:2024, built to be certifiable if you want it, and solid enough to self-declare if you don't.
- Materiality assessment and stakeholder engagement plan
- Management system documentation mapped to clauses 4–10: scope and context, policy, objectives, operational controls
- Legal and other applicable requirements register
- Supplier requirements and assessment criteria
- Measurement system with baselines and indicators
- Internal audit programme and management review set-up (the audit itself is carried out by someone independent of the build — see the Internal Audit service)
- Certification-body liaison, if pursuing certification
ISO 20121:2024 Internal Audit
Request quoteISO 20121 requires internal audits carried out by someone objective and impartial. That's hard when your own team built the system.
- Internal audit against ISO 20121:2024 per clause 9.2
- Nonconformity/observation report with corrective action recommendations
- Management review input pack
- Closing meeting
Typical duration: 3-4 weeks
Also available as pre-certification readiness audit
Corporate Training
EUR 4,800 per full day (excl. VAT)A working session for your team on implementing sustainable event management — not a lecture on why it matters, a walkthrough of how to actually do it.
- Half-day or full-day in-company session, tailored to your event calendar
- Practical toolkit: templates, checklists, supplier assessment criteria
- Delivered by a TÜV SÜD-certified ISO 20121:2024 auditor
Delivered within 4–6 weeks of booking.
Half-day sessions available on request.
Advisory Session
EUR 350 (excl. VAT)Two hours to review draft ISO 20121 documents, sanity-check a supplier list, or work through one implementation problem together.
- Two-hour call
- One-page written conclusions
- Fee credited toward a larger engagement within 90 days
I am TÜV SÜD-certified as Auditor/Lead Auditor for ISO 20121:2024. I do not issue certificates, and I do not audit a management system I designed myself — where I have built the system, I will say so and recommend an independent auditor.
Prices are starting points. Final scope and fee are agreed after a free 30-minute call — that call is for scoping, not advice.
The EU's anti-greenwashing rules apply from 27 September 2026.
"Sustainable event", "eco-friendly catering" and your own green badge all become high-risk wording. The guide sets out who is in scope, what stops being sayable, and what to say instead.
Read the guideWho I work with as a sustainable event consultant in The Netherlands & Belgium.
Event organisers and agencies
Congresses, corporate events, cultural events, festivals.
Venues and hospitality
Conference venues, hotels, catering and food service.
Event suppliers and manufacturers
Stand and booth systems, staging, signage and other equipment for events.
ISO 20121 implementation, audit and training — common questions.
Implementation means building a sustainability management system around how your organisation actually plans and delivers events. That includes materiality, stakeholder engagement, objectives, operational controls, supplier requirements, measurement, internal audit and management review. I map the system to clauses 4–10 and build it so you can pursue certification or make a well-supported self-declaration.
No. ISO 20121 requires internal audits to be objective and impartial. If I build your management system, the audit itself must be carried out by someone independent; if you already have a system built by your team or another consultant, I can audit it.
ISO 20121:2024 is the international standard for sustainable event management: a management system for planning, running and improving events responsibly. Certification is optional, and many organisations use the standard as a structure without ever certifying. It becomes worth certifying when tenders, sponsors or public clients ask for independent proof. Certificates are issued by an accredited certification body — I am TÜV SÜD-certified as Auditor/Lead Auditor for ISO 20121:2024 and prepare you for that audit.
Implementation and internal audit are quoted after a scoping call because the fee depends on your event portfolio, sites, existing documentation and certification goals. Corporate training is EUR 4,800 per full day excluding VAT, with half-day sessions available on request. A two-hour Advisory Session is EUR 350 excluding VAT.
Yes. The session is built around your event calendar, current processes and implementation questions. Your team works through practical templates, checklists and supplier assessment criteria rather than a generic introduction to sustainability.
ISO 20121:2024 clause 9.2 requires internal audits at planned intervals to check the management system is working. The audit must be impartial, so you cannot use your own team — they are too close to the system to be objective — and you cannot use your certification body, because that would blur the line between certification and internal audit. I am TÜV SÜD-certified as Auditor/Lead Auditor for ISO 20121:2024 and run these audits as an independent third party. If I designed your management system myself, I will decline and refer you to another qualified auditor so the independence requirement is preserved.
Not sure which service fits? Tell me about the event or venue and we'll agree the scope on a call.
Meet Daniela.
I'm a sustainable event consultant in Amsterdam, helping event organisers, venues, hospitality businesses and the suppliers and manufacturers serving them implement ISO 20121:2024, prepare for certification and build systems their teams can actually use.
I came to this through community work and participatory action research — first with the Red Cross in Italy, later designing workshops and community-led projects. What I kept seeing was that events get treated as temporary spaces, exempt from the standards their organisers apply everywhere else. ISO 20121 provides a practical structure for changing that.
I'm TÜV SÜD-certified as Auditor/Lead Auditor for ISO 20121:2024. I build management systems, carry out independent internal audits where impartiality is preserved, and train teams to apply the standard in day-to-day event operations. Certification itself remains the role of an accredited certification body.
ISO 20121:2024 Auditor — TÜV SÜD
Sustainable Event Professional Certificate (EIC)
Certified Participatory Action Researcher — Seven Senses- Impact Management and Measurement for the SDGs (Duke University & UNDP)Impact Management and Measurement for the SDGs (Duke University & UNDP)
Where the Money Leaks
Past work — Where The Money Leaks. Before I focused on ISO 20121, I ran a cost-and-waste diagnostic for a recurring event package. It's not an ISO engagement; it shows the kind of baseline-and-measurement work that sits inside the Implementation package.
Ready to put ISO 20121 into practice?
Start with a free 30-minute discovery call.
Based in Amsterdam. Serving the Netherlands and Belgium. Need international consultancy? Get in touch to see where I can help.