Glocal Event

The term glocalization is the union of the words globalization and localization. Glocal refers to the person, the group, the organization and the community that is capable of thinking globally and acting locally. The creator of the term was Ulrich Beck, a German sociologist who studied aspects such as modernization, individualization and globalization.

Barcelona hosted the largest European event on social innovation: The European Changemaker Summit. A meeting organized by the Ashoka Foundation and with the Miguel Diaz Audiovisual equipment, whose inauguration was at the Tívoli Theater and subsequent conferences and work sessions at the Design HUB Barcelona. Ashoka aims to identify people who have undertaken initiatives in the social field, connect them to a network of entrepreneurs and support them with training and funding.

One of the biggest challenges in this type of event is usually being dinners with so many attendees and the large amounts of waste generated. We are talking about hundreds of diners from all over the world whose impact is notorious. Incredible as it may seem, all these diners were located in private homes. They were divided into groups of four people and the Dinner at Home option was chosen. This concept has been working for many years. It's about dining or eating at the home of a native of your destination. Eating local products, cooked as traditionally done in the place where you are and above in your home, sharing a table in your dining room. You share anecdotes, experiences and understand your culture better. Ashoka achieved this with hundreds of attendees, who even minimized the environmental impact of traveling, because they were provided with the way on foot, or with means of transport such as bicycle, bus, or shared car.

This means reducing environmental impact, reducing waste, using sustainable mobility and thinking global by acting locally. Although sustainable events are already a reality, this challenge was enormous due to its magnitude, and logistics, even many local congress attendees facilitated their houses.
With the already evident climate change, glocalisation is a future clear in the events sector.

Patrick Geddes: "think globally, act locally"