Peatland Pavilion at COP26
Last year, at UNFCCC COP26, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) UK Peatland Programme co-hosted the first-ever Peatland Pavilion in Glasgow, Scotland. The aim of this 12-day hybrid event was to exchange knowledge and experience of successful action on peatland policy, practice, research and innovation reflecting the value of peatlands and their role as major global stores of carbon, hotspots for biodiversity and cultural value but also in their damaged state, as large sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
The Event
Due to the length of the event and the worldwide attention that it generated, the IUCN UK Peatland Programme, as one of a team of organisers, delivered a hybrid event to enable a larger number of attendees to attend in a virtual capacity from all over the world. Having the flexibility of a hybrid solution also allowed delegates to access content on-demand when real-time attendance wasn’t possible, which made this the perfect delivery solution for those who were taking part in the many events held throughout COP26 and needed to dip in and out of the different content streams.
The Peatland Pavilion organisers hadn’t delivered a hybrid event before, but for such a high-profile conference, knew they needed a flexible, reliable event platform and an expert team on-site to manage content streaming and delivery. Having worked with us on a number of virtual events before, we were the go-to platform and people to help the IUCN UK Peatland Programme and partners deliver one of the biggest events of the year.
Hybrid Event Delivery Coupled with Innovative Live-Streaming Technology
One of our well-renowned ‘Stream Teams’ were deployed to Glasgow to set up and manage the live-streaming technology for the duration of the 12-day event. As CrowdComms have been at the forefront of in-person, event technology for over 10-years, it was great to be back on-site after many months of a covid-enforced, virtual event landscape.
“The technical AV support across this hybrid event was outstanding. The flexibility and adaptability of having actual people supporting us was absolutely key.”
In order to capture the significant events unfolding during the Peatland Pavilion at COP26, our streaming technicians utilised a suite of high-resolution cameras and microphones, all managed by state-of-the-art streaming technology.
Pushing the concept of ‘hybrid’ to its limits and offering the ultimate hybrid event solution, the CrowdComms team incorporated remote speakers into live-streamed panel sessions, enabling all speakers to interact with each other, and their audience, in real-time.
Ensuring that all of these elements worked seamlessly together to create an optimal user experience for all attendees, whether participating on-site or remotely, was our highest priority and was greatly appreciated by the organising team from IUCN UK Peatland Programme. We also had our dedicated event support team managing the bespoke platform remotely, making content updates as needed and providing virtual attendees with quickly available on-demand content and support.
“Having the cameras and screens positioned within the in-person presenting space, to be interacted with and then beamed into the virtual space was amazing, as was having the CrowdComms team there to manage them. It wouldn’t have worked so well without this amazing set-up.”
The Importance of Security
Over 1,600 delegates were welcomed to the online platform where they could experience all of the sessions that were being live-streamed from the Peatland Pavilion, situated in the Blue Zone. The location of the Pavilion was of key importance, not only because of the exclusivity of the discussions taking place by the world’s leaders in this zone, but also that access was only granted to those accredited by the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). For our team, working within this high-profile area, this presented an array of enhanced security checkpoints from both an equipment and a personnel perspective.
In order to continue to demonstrate a commitment to security across the board, CrowdComms have invested in becoming ISO 27001 certified and have recently been recommended by the British Standards Institution to be put forward for certification.
The CrowdComms Difference
With our technical hybrid event support on-site and the excellent accessibility of our event platform, the Peatland Pavilion organising team were able to deliver a highly successful 12-day event for COP26, raising the awareness that peatlands must play in the environmental challenges that the world faces.
“We had the confidence in CrowdComms because we knew that you were the company that you are.”
When the stakes are high and you have vital information to communicate with your audience, whether they are in-person or virtual, you need the trust and reassurance of your event platform to deliver for you. Get in touch to find out how we can support your Virtual, Hybrid or In-person events with our flexible platform and world-class support services.
It was a proud moment for us to be supporting the Peatland Pavilion at COP26. We would like to thank them for providing us with their feedback for this case study.
The Peatland Pavilion was a global collaboration between the UN, States, NGO’s, academia, practitioners, business communities and people. It was created and coordinated by;
