An Astronaut View of Business Events | Earth Day 2026
On Earth Day 2026, we’re celebrating this blue marble we call home
But this year feels different. Recent data from NASA confirms that our planet is becoming dimmer.
Environmental degradation, retreating ice sheets and expanding urban landscapes are reducing the amount of sunlight reflected back into space. The Earth is darkening. Over sixty years of climate change in a single image – while Artemis II captured hearts and minds during one of the most globally-dangerous moments the world has seen since WWII. Off-planet space travel it turns out, can be a force for good after all.
Like other market bubbles, the world of business events has been caught between short-term shareholder profits and long-term, sustainable value for all stakeholders. Rabbits in ESG headlights. We have seen well-meaning but disparate, tactical efforts in some agencies alongside transformational progress amongst more courageously-led companies whose owners see both moral and commercial advantages of a Net Positive, long-view strategy that benefits people, planet, all species and future generations. From CSR pledges to reporting frameworks, Chief Sustainability leads to expert-panels, we encounter much virtue-signalling and greenwashing for sure but today, the eventprof community that cares about getting this right is bigger and more committed than ever before. Finally, we get it. Wise up, slow, down.
Sustainable event delivery, however, is not getting any easier. Budgets are tighter, lead times shorter, financial ROI at-all-costs, dominates the earth-scape; safe, successful, MICE Moonshots don’t happen quickly. The index of vetted supply-chain specialists, greening destinations and procurement tools for responsible purchasing decisions are not easy to source when the Responsible Business rocket fuel is required.
That’s why we created MeetSleepCycle. We believe that the best way to understand why ‘sustainability matters’ is from the inside out – getting like-minded event professionals with a passion for long-term change out of the conference room and into the Great Outdoors, learning through experience in one of Europe’s most nature-invested destinations. We’ll roll further, together ‘on two wheels’, discovering more about ourselves, our collaborators and our environment on this slow, Green Ride through stunning Slovenia. Less gas, more go.
Between 20-23 September 2026, in partnership with the Slovenia CVB & Slovenia Tourism Board, we’re gathering an EMEA ‘event professionals peloton’ in super-sustainable Slovenia for an all-new, purpose-driven event with a difference. Staying in green-tourism certified hotels across the Julian Alps, meeting the destination gamechangers, enjoying a culture with sustainable lifestyle in the DNA from health and wellbeing to regionally sourced, farm-to-fork menus, Meet Sleep Cycle is far more than an unusual fam-trip or Meetings & Events networking forum.
We’ve worked with Sirocco Sustainability & Planet Positive Event consultancies to develop an agenda that convenes academics, institutions, NGOs and business leaders from outside the M&E bubble to inspire a different approach to responsible venue selection and event programme design.
One of the most underserved groups in the sustainability conversation is the supply chain that event organisers depend on every day. The Buyer-Ready content curated by Sirocco, gives Slovenian and other suppliers at Meet Sleep Cycle the language, credentials and procurement-ready frameworks to walk into any buyer meeting with confidence.
Ironically, a truly-sustainable event is one that shouldn’t exist. Every gathering, including Meet Sleep Cycle, has an environmental impact and we’re not pretending otherwise (we’re measuring our own MSC Ed.1 Co2e). Our belief is that one well-designed event can reduce the impact of many more to come though well-planned, science-based carbon budgeting.
When our new horizons, eventprof explorers touch down on home soil, they will be armed with a whole new raft of trusted suppliers, practical frameworks and a deeper understanding of what responsible delivery looks like. Our courageous crew can take their findings and experiences back into every event for years to come and until the next MSC mission. Business event professionals serious-about-sustainability deserve better tools, better spaces and higher doses of inspiration.
The countdown to September has started. Come Join.
Meet Sleep Cycle Slovenia takes place 20–23 September 2026, in partnership with the Slovenia Tourism Board & Slovenia CVB. Check out the Green Ride for more information or to register your interest.
