Making a positive impact. That was on the agenda in the first week of April in Jaarbeurs. During the second edition of the Impact Fair, impact became tangible. Literally. No endless talk about sustainability. No doom and gloom. But three days of doing, discovering and meeting. The Impact Fair showed that sustainability is not only urgent. It is inspiring, concrete and energising.
The Impact Fair is an initiative of Jaarbeurs and Better Together Agency. It was created to make faster progress together, create collaborations and inspire each other. To be a meeting place for everyone who wants to get started. To contribute together in a positive way to the world of tomorrow. And we succeeded. For three days, Jaarbeurs was a living laboratory for change.
Making impact in festival style
Founder Micha van Hoorn, creative director at Better Together Agency, says: "Making impact starts with imagination. By showing that things can be done differently. Not just by talking about it, but by doing it. By tasting, feeling and experiencing." The Impact Fair invited action: in a festival-like setting, visitors were invited to participate. By stepping into a VR world, for example. Or taking a look at a fair fashion atelier. By testing their mental resilience in an 8D booth and donating money to charity during a live radio programme. Even the car park became interactive thanks to a tyre programme. Overly soft car tyres were inflated on site to reduce unnecessary CO2 emissions.
Photographer: Samuel Wagner
Having inspiring conversations
There were also speakers. And again: no endless monologues through the microphone, but inspiring conversations. Countess Eloise van Oranje-Nassau van Amsberg, for instance, entered into a conversation with the audience, something that is often only moderated. Micha: "But this was really a meeting. A meet-up. It became an inspiring dialogue with young people about social entrepreneurship. And that's why we do this. In which we not only inspire the visitors. But each other! Also Eloise can walk out and think: yes, now I know better where I want to go."
Bringing absolute top together
New this year was the 'Leaders Exchange', where leaders with an impact mandate talked to each other in a private room. No keynotes or panel discussions, but real conversations. In a greenhouse, in a circle and without screens. Micha: "Last year, we saw that bottom-up communication worked well. But it doesn't work without top-down; impact needs a mandate. So now we decided to bring the top together. And it worked: the CEO of Nespresso, the president of NS, the CFO of Auping - everyone was there. Not to broadcast, but to engage in conversation or help each other with difficult issues. Hugely valuable to see."
All 17 Sustainable Development Goals
Unique to the Impact Fair is how the SDGs - the Sustainable Development Goals, are interwoven with the fair. It is the largest impact event in the Netherlands that brings together all 17 goals. Micha: "There are many events that cover depth within one SDG domain. We do them all. This manifests itself in different forms, for example pavilions with certain themes, different exhibitors and also our own partnerships that touch on the goal. The absolute wish is to cluster it by goal, but that is difficult, as many organisations focus on several SDGs. So we do try to thematise it.
Together you achieve more
Mathijs de Vries, account manager at Jaarbeurs, agrees with Micha and adds: "Take for example goal number 17, 'Partnership to achieve goals.' Jaarbeurs has the ambition to be the most sustainable event venue in Europe. Such a vision alone won't get you there; you have to show that you mean it. We do that by literally giving space to the Impact Fair. Moreover, it perfectly matches our ambitions. And we can already see that it is bearing fruit: we can learn a lot from each other. This is how we came into contact with i-did, Peukenzee and Stichting Stimular. All wonderful organisations that help us further in our sustainable ambition."
On to more
That the Impact Fair made an impact, that was clear. Now it is time to break the 'bubble'. Micha: "We want to reach everyone. Not just the frontrunners. We have to get out of our own bubble. We need to appeal to that group that wants to contribute but doesn't yet know how. A large group, because according to CBS that is the majority of Dutch people. And besides: if we manage to entice 25% to participate, then 'doing good' will become the norm. Therein lies our opportunity. Doing good must become mainstream. And that is what we are building on with edition three."
