The Sustainability in AV (SAVe) nonprofit organisation launched its first SAVe Certification Program on 21 June 2022, in partnership with Washington-based audiovisual integrator, Tempest Technologies.
“Tempest Technologies has always recognised our responsibility to the community,” said Owner of Tempest Technologies, Debbie Williamson. “Becoming SAVe Certified is part of our effort to take that commitment a step further. It helps us be proactive with clients and manufacturers about the role we can play for the world, for our community, our clients, and us personally.
“As an integration company, we are aware of the waste our industry generates,” continued Williamson. “This is about more than recycling. It’s about what we can do daily and the influence we can have on our clients, customers, and partners. It’s about the legacy we leave for future generations.”
The three-part, one-day SAVe certification program includes an educational session, workshop, and assessment. The outcome of the process is an actionable strategy to make progress toward achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
A shared blueprint for sustainability endorsed by all 193 members of the UN General Assembly, including the United States, the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals consist of 17 interlinked global goals ranging from Responsible Consumption and Production to Zero Hunger and Quality Education. Each SDG includes specific targets for progress.
Over the course of the one-day SAVe Certification session, Tempest Technologies:
- Chose specific SDGs that align with their business model and strategy, community role and employee passions
- Identified particular tactics that Tempest can execute to advance the enumerated SDGs
- Laid the groundwork to formalise an actionable strategy for implementation – including metrics and reporting.
Once SAVe Certified organisations have begun efforts to advance the SDGs, they keep in regular contact with SAVe, sharing their progress and challenges with the larger SAVe community, taking advantage of SAVe’s library of educational resources, and spreading the word to their colleagues, partners, customers and other stakeholders.
SAVe-certified organisations will be provided with a SAVe-certified promotional kit that includes the SAVe-certified logo, SDG plan template, press release, website assets, copy for flyers, posters, and office placards. Companies will be highlighted on saveav.org, as well as SAVe’s social media channels.
“The purpose of the SAVe certification program is, first, to educate companies in the AV industry about the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and how they can make progress toward achieving them via a wide range of measures, from responsible waste management and carbon emission reduction to community partnerships aimed at reducing poverty and advancing gender equality,” explained SAVe Founder Christina De Bono. “Most important, SAVe provides organisations a vehicle to channel their commitment and passion into action. And by that we mean specific, targeted efforts that yield measurable results – all on a company-by-company basis.”
De Bono emphasises that the time to act is right now. “The sustainability to our planet is at stake – as is that of our industry,” she said. “It’s very clear that sustainable practices bear directly on a company’s ability to generate funding, win business, attract employees, and lead communities to build healthy and equitable environments.”
“SAVe Certification is the start of a process that enables us to have conversations with manufacturers and clients,” added Williamson. “We don’t have direct control over their decisions, but we can start an education process that can be as illuminating for them as it was for us. Additionally, by educating our entire team, we have begun a dialogue that can lead to change. As an example, if one of our technicians is being asked by a client to remove gear from a site, they say, ‘Hey, can we have a conversation about this?’”