Edinburgh secures three major conferences for 2021

The Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) has secured three major conferences for 2021. The British Society of Lifestyle Medicine is set to take place in September 2021, Cleantech Forum Europe in October 2021 and the Society for Endocrinology in November 2021. EICC CEO Marshall Dallas said: “It would be a huge understatement to say we are looking forward to the return of conferences next year, particularly in light of the challenging time our team has faced since the pandemic took hold and we closed doors at the venue back in March. There are typically long lead times in the conference and events industry, so we relish the opportunity to plan ahead for these three major conferences, and we continue to take bookings for large-scale conferences for late 2021 and into 2022.” “What is going to be key going forward, is the rapid and successful implementation of the vaccine.  We are confident we will see more UK conferences and events feed through next year, with a fuller return to international conferences in 2022.  We also know that business events will be a key driver in rebooting the Scottish economy as we come out of the pandemic.” Richard Youngman, CEO, Cleantech Group, said: “We are delighted to be bringing Cleantech Forum Europe, Europe’s leading sustainable innovation event, to the EICC in Edinburgh in 2021.  It’s good timing since Scotland will also host the postponed COP-26 next year.  Our innovation-focused forum, a generator of climate solutions, has not been in the UK, Europe’s largest venture capital market, since 2006.” Rob Lawson, chairman of the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine, said: “The influence of lifestyle medicine is increasingly accepted as an essential component for addressing the growing impact of avoidable 21st century disease globally.  The British Society of Lifestyle Medicine is pleased to be bringing its 5th annual international conference to the EICC on its 25th anniversary.” Marshall Dallas added: “Healthcare, health technology and CleanTech are among the greatest societal issues for the world as we approach the end of 2020, so it’s fitting we have these important conferences in place next year.  It also squares with our mission to create an environment to inspire ideas that change the world.” The EICC, which has been running online events since lockdown, has produced economic impact of over £720m (US$956.2m) since opening its doors in September 1995. During that time, 3500 events have been held at the venue with total delegate numbers standing at 1,475,892.   Photo: The EICC is planning for business events and conferences back in the venue in 2021 (by Stewart Attwood)