New research and practical tools to strengthen risk management across business events was launched by Copenhagen Convention Bureau at IMEX Frankfurt in May.
Designed to help the industry navigate an increasingly volatile operating landscape the Copenhagen Risk Navigator – International Strategies and Tools for Business Events is a resource developed together with global consulting firm GainingEdge in collaboration with the Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) and the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS).
Bettina Reventlow-Mourier, deputy convention director, Copenhagen Convention Bureau, says: “With the Copenhagen Risk Navigator, we aim to take risk management in our industry to a new level. Our 2023 Copenhagen Risk Assessment White Paper was the first contribution to this conversation, and the response from the industry confirmed what we suspected: there was, and still is, a strong need for practical guidance and a shared recognition that risk management can no longer remain an afterthought. The Copenhagen Risk Navigator is our answer to that call.”
The ambition, she says, is to contribute to a more resilient, sustainable, and future-ready global business events ecosystem. “We hope the Copenhagen Risk Navigator serves as both a practical resource and a catalyst for improved collaboration across our industry. The future of business events will come down to how ready it is to adapt. If the sector focuses on being prepared, agile and building stronger partnerships, it can turn uncertainty into real opportunities.”
From awareness to action
Although the Copenhagen Risk Navigator Research indicates risk management is becoming a leadership-level priority, most organisations, seemingly, still lack the practical frameworks to embed it in their strategy and day-to-day work. This gap between awareness and execution is what the Copenhagen Risk Navigator is attempting to respond to.
Central to this is a practical toolkit of 14 risk management tools, chosen following research on current risk trends and validated by FERMA and RIMS. The tools cover the full event lifecycle, from strategic planning and procurement through to event delivery and post-event review and are organised so that organisations can easily identify the tools that are most relevant at each stage of their planning process.
For organisations new to structured risk management, a Quick-Start Guide provides a five-step plan to begin immediately. For those with existing processes, the toolkit scales to more advanced levels of practice.
The Navigator makes clear that resilience grows when organisations move beyond reactive practices and begin to embed risk awareness into their strategies and everyday decisions.
Gary LaBranche, CEO, RIMS, said: “Risk management is most effective when it is practical, accessible, and built for the realities of the people using it. The Copenhagen Risk Navigator does exactly that for the business events industry.”
The Copenhagen Risk Navigator is freely available to all business events professionals worldwide at: Wonderful Copenhagen
