Crowberry Consulting Supports Sustainability in USA with IMF: Employer Champion Case Study

About Crowberry Consulting

Crowberry Consulting Ltd was established in 2006 by Becky Toal CEnv, Fellow IEMA after spending several years as an Environmental Manager is industry. Crowberry Consulting is based both in Chorley, UK and Dublin, Ireland and provides specialist support in the field of environmental, energy, event and ethical management, via training, audit and consultancy.

Crowberry Consulting specialise in the delivery and implementation of ISO standards including ISO 20121 for event management and sustainability, ISO 14001 environmental management, ISO 50001 energy management and the newest being ISO 14068-1 Carbon Neutrality management. They also support clients with Social and Ethical Management systems.  These standards support their clients to ensure compliance with various legislative frameworks and demonstrate their credentials to their customers, and ultimately supports them to win tenders and increase their ability to grow.

As a Fellow to the IEMA, Becky Toal CEO invests in the team and is a registered Society for the Environment Employer Champion, which commits the company to support the professional journey by encouraging and paying for the application fee to achieve Chartered Status.

Supporting Sustainability in USA

Since its inception the team at Crowberry Consulting has supported many diverse clients in different locations. In 2023 the team worked to implement ISO 20121 for the International Monetary Fund based in Washington D.C, USA. The team within the IMF host an Annual and Spring Meeting for their members to educate and inspire them on various economic themes. The meetings attract over 10,000 visitors to D.C area, significantly impacting the environment and local economy. Post-covid the desire to meet face to face has meant reassessing these impacts. The Secretaries and Events Team within the IMF were aware of the International Standard ISO 20121 Event Sustainability Management and keen to implement this on a continual basis for the Spring/Annual Meetings.

All major events have common themes and functional areas to deliver success. From the planning, operation and debrief the whole event life cycle is taken into consideration in the ISO 20121 standard. Critically this standard ensures suppliers/vendors are considered and economic, social and environmental issues arising from the event are managed, mitigated and measured. There is the option to align the event objectives and targets with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which the IMF team chose to do. Working over an 18-month period our team supported the IMF to ensure the operational elements of the standard were met, key internal and external stakeholders had training to support their awareness of sustainable events and the ISO requirements.

In late 2023 Crowberry Consulting provided internal auditor training for a wide range of departments such as security, ticketing, catering, facilities, health and safety and event planning to the standard to upskill them to become ISO 20121 Internal auditors. This knowledge transfer to vital to ensure continual improvement of their event sustainability over the coming years. Our team also trained key suppliers to the Annual and Spring Meetings to ensure that they also hold the knowledge of event sustainability. The first external audit was held in late 2023 and the certification audit held in 2024.

Upon receiving the certificate from BSI, Kristalina Georgieva IMF Managing Director has said:

To achieve this certification, the IMF has been working with the team from Crowberry Consulting® since 2023 to conduct gap analysis, internal auditor training, and sustainable event system implementation. The collaboration ensures that all functional areas are in scope and meaningful sustainable event objectives and targets are embedded. These include the continuous offsetting of carbon generated by participants’ travels for the Spring and Annal Meetings, as well as considerations for materials, food waste, accessibility, and recycling

The IMF is a global organization that works to achieve sustainable growth and prosperity for all of its 190 member countries. It does so by supporting economic policies that promote financial stability and monetary cooperation, which are essential to increase productivity, job creation, and economic well-being. The IMF is governed by and accountable to its member countries. For more information on the Spring Meeting and Annual Meeting visit www.IMFconnect.org. For further information on IMF’s work, visit About the IMF

Crowberry Consulting’s services can be viewed at www.crowberryconsulting.com

Case study written by: Becky Toal CEnv, Managing Director of Crowberry Consulting

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