New chair for cross association Sustainability Working Group.

Katie Clarke, quality and compliance manager at Manchester Central, has been appointed the new chair of the cross association Sustainability Working Group, managed by the Association of Event Venues (AEV).

Clarke has been at Manchester Central for just over three years, where she started as a project assistant before becoming quality and compliance officer and has been in her current role for six months. Ideally positioned to chair the group, Clarke has gained extensive sustainability experience during her time at the venue, managing the ISO-compliant event sustainability and environmental management systems at Manchester Central. She has worked closely with consultants and played a key role in the sustainable development of the venue, leading it to break industry records by becoming the first major venue in the UK to reach triple ISO success after being accredited with ISOs 20121, 14001 and 9001.

Clarke commented, “I'm incredibly passionate about sustainable innovation and encouraging a process of continual development; as chair of the AEV sustainability working group, I hope to further encourage representatives of other leading venues to share knowledge and advance sustainability within the events industry.”

Prior to joining the events industry, Clarke studied psychology at the University of Manchester before completing her masters in business management at the same institution. A keen interest in business improvement and sustainability led her to her position at the venue.

The Sustainability Working Group is comprised of AEV, AEO and ESSA members that meet to discuss the important issue of sustainability, and how they can work together to help reduce the event industry's impact on the environment.

Any AEV, AEO or ESSA member with specific questions relating to sustainability, can raise their questions with the group by emailing sustainability@aev.org.uk, and it will be answered by the experts who sit on the Sustainability Working Group.