Bob Allen, CEO and Chief Storyteller at IDEAS and Bjorgvin Saeversen, Founder and CEO of Yorth Group will speak at greenloop.
greenloop will take place from 19-20th April and will bring together leading sustainability professionals from the world’s major museums, theme parks, zoos and other visitor attractions. The speakers will share strategy insights and lessons learned to inspire us all to become more sustainable in our businesses and help protect the planet. Tickets are on sale now.
In this session titled ‘Circular Economy and Net-Positive Development in Themed Entertainment’, Allen and Saeversen will explore how they are working together to design and build new immersive experiences using transformational development principles.
Theme parks are resource-heavy enterprises that have significant social and environmental footprints. Whilst many operators already have goals aimed at mitigating their impact on the environment, it is necessary that system-wide changes are made.
Designers must ensure that the next generation of destination entertainment are net-positive enterprises. Allen and Saeversen will explore how theme parks can use a circular economy model to make these sustainable changes. Saeversen explains that the “circular economy is a systematic approach that benefits the environment, society, local businesses, as well as the bottom line. We believe innovative industries like destination entertainment have unique opportunity to lead other resource-heavy verticals in implementing this approach to design.”
For Allen, “sustainability, like the word “green”, has become a corporate cliché that few truly understand and without a measurable standard of performance. Our work has shown us it is not a list with checkmarks but a design philosophy and business strategy that actually increases returns on capital and long-term brand viability through responsible action. We are excited to collaborate with an organization like Yorth Group who has distilled this thinking into a precise science.”
The Speakers
Bob Allen has more than 40 years of experience in destination design. He worked for the Walt Disney Company for 25 years in executive leadership positions with live entertainment design and operations at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. He also helped with the planning and build-out of the Disney-MGM Studios and directed the complete studio-side design/build program.
In 1991 Allen launched Disney i.d.e.a.s. which then grew into a full-service content company. In 2001 he created Integrity Arts and Technology Inc and completed a management buyout of IDEAS from the Walt Disney Company. Since then, IDEAS has broadened its market scope and brought its distinctive brand of storytelling to destinations around the world. Today, IDEAS is a brand and experience design company that practices the art of inventing, activating and communicating branded experiences that engage audiences in unexpected ways.
IDEAS recently worked with the California Space Academy, a new immersive and education attraction that has been proposed for Lompoc, California. This project makes sustainability a key element of both the design and storytelling. Steven Franck, CEO of Pale Blue Dot Ventures, says “when we speak to investors and potential partners about California Space Academy and the sister projects we will develop around the world, we see a keen interest and a growing appreciation for this kind of comprehensive value creation.
One key tenet of the US space effort, public and private, is to use our exploratory technology to understand Earth and make it better for the people and other species who live on it in the future. This balanced development model is perfect for what we’re trying to do.”
Bjorgvin Saeversen is the founder and CEO of Yorth Group where he oversees relationships with government, university and industry partners. Yorth Group is a restorative design and development company that provides performance metrics restorative and circular economy projects.
He has been a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Expert Network and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) Circular Economy 100 (CE100) Program.
He also teaches circular economy metrics, infrastructure designs and more in the world’s first Circular Economy Master Class hosted by the EMF and the University of Exeter in the UK.
Why you should attend greenloop
greenloop will provide actionable, practical advice and case studies to help attendees learn how to become more sustainable. Our aim is to connect industry professionals to help us move towards a more sustainable future.
Our session with the UN will give attendees practical steps they can take to get their organisations started on the path to carbon neutral, as well as the free help that is available to them. We also have leading theme park, museum, zoo and aquarium speakers who will discuss a variety of topics from sustainable supply chains to palm oil free cities.
When it comes to solving really big challenges, like how do we build sustainable theme parks, resorts and cruise ships around the world, it takes all of us and all of these different industries coming together.
And that’s what’s great about greenloop … our collaboration is key to really think about how we build sustainable themed entertainment experiences.
Emily Dow, Design Studio Executive with Walt Disney Imagineering at greenloop 2021
Tickets on sale now
Standard tickets are available at £75 each at early bird rates.
There is also an early bird group ticket for operators and institutions for £150 for up to 10 attendees from the same organisation. That’s just £15 each!
Early bird rates offering a 25% reduction on full ticket prices are available until 14 April.
Student tickets are £25. Please apply to events@blooloop.com using your university email.
Recordings of the live event will be available afterwards for ticket holders for a limited time.
Blooloop is supporting EARTHDAY’s tree planting Canopy Project, donating £1 for each ticket sold, and will in addition donate at least 5% of our greenloop ticketing revenue to Project Seagrass.
