... small steps big effect

Plan your sustainable event

If you’re planning a sustainable event, Lübeck and Travemünde are the perfect choice. Alongside its unique historical backdrop, the Hanseatic city offers a wide range of sustainable initiatives and services. Numerous collaborations, partners, hosts, and projects demonstrate that here in Lübeck, we take responsibility for people and the environment – also when it comes to meetings and events.

For example, with the  Deutschen Bahn event-ticket you can travel to and from your event in Lübeck or Travemünde in a climate-friendly manner at special rates.
Lübeck offers numerous opportunities to integrate sustainability into everyday life and to find out about sustainable projects and measures.
Since 2023, not only the Tourist Office but also the destinations of Lübeck and Travemünde have been sustainably certified by TourCert. This year, we successfully completed our recertification, reaffirming our ongoing commitment to sustainable practices. Since the beginning of 2024, we have also been part of the Excellence Initiative for Sustainable Destinations.

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Sustainable meetings:

tips for planning and hosting sustainable events

  • Use the Convention Lübeck Venue Finder! Filter for "sustainably certified" locations under features. This way, you know that these venues adhere to the certification specifications.

  • Use our Deutsche Bahn event ticket for your events or create incentives for carpooling.

  • Avoid disposable items and use reusable or compostable alternatives instead.

  • Offer participants the opportunity to recycle or donate paper and pens. You, as the organizer, can also donate banners or other promotional materials that are no longer needed, leftover food, and trade show supplies, for example.

  • Offer purely vegetarian or vegan menus and use regional and seasonal foods. Do you have any questions about this? We can help you choose the right caterer.

  • Avoid using disposable water bottles and provide reusable water bottles instead.

  • Nutzen Sie ökologische Materialien für Giveaways and goodie bags and buy regionally when possible.

     

  • Avoid printed materials. Use digital options wherever possible.

  • Recycle waste. Also, place trash cans at or in the meeting or conference space where attendees can dispose of their waste separately and explicitly indicate this. Avoid regular garbage cans into which everything is thrown unsorted.

  • Avoid unnecessary decorations and choose environmentally friendly options such as plants or recycled materials.

Good to know

For us in Lübeck and Travemünde, sustainability is more than just a matter of the heart. It is our responsibility. The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is a pioneer in climate protection and sustainability. For example, it has set up a climate protection office to coordinate measures to save energy and protect the climate. Lübeck has also been a member of the Climate Alliance of European Cities since 1992 and a Fairtrade City for the past 10 years.

In October 2020, the Mayor of Lübeck, Jan Lindenau, signed the declaration "Agenda 2030 - Shaping Sustainability at the Municipal Level". In doing so, the city recognised the UN's 17 global sustainability goals and committed to promoting them. The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is committed to strong citizen management and corporate engagement. One of the city's goals is to become carbon neutral by 2040. "Klima Pro Lübeck" is an alliance of organisations, associations and stakeholders who have been working together since 2013 to promote climate protection in Lübeck.

More about the sustainability approach

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Important players in Lübeck's economy shaping the conference destination

The Music and Congress Hall Lübeck – our congress centre, affectionately known as the “MUK” – is not only a superb, centrally located venue for events, but also offers ideal conditions for environmentally conscious meetings and conferences. In 2024, the MUK was awarded the Platinum status of the Green Globe certification for the first time. With its certifications, the publication of sustainability reports, a green roof, and professional facilities for hybrid meetings and event streaming, it sets benchmarks for sustainable event formats.

This commitment is supported by a strong network of partners who, together with the Lübeck Convention Bureau, form part of the sustainability initiative and are continuously developing sustainable event offerings. These include, amongst others, the Radisson Blu Senator Hotel and the Park Inn by Radisson (both Green Key-certified), the ATLANTIC Hotel Lübeck (GreenSign-certified), the Holiday Inn Lübeck (Green Key, DEHOGA Environmental Check Silver and BREEAM.DE-certified) and the A-ROSA Travemünde (GreenSign-certified). With their certified sustainability concepts and resource-conserving measures, they create the ideal conditions for responsibly planned events.

Sustainability is practised holistically in Lübeck, even beyond the conference hotel sector. As part of the ‘Sustainable Travel Finland’ programme, Finnlines is committed to climate-conscious travel and sustainable maritime mobility. As a member of the ‘Feinheimisch’ initiative, the Fangfrisch restaurant focuses on regional, seasonal produce and short supply chains. The University of Lübeck and CASINO Lübeck promote an open, respectful and non-discriminatory working environment as part of the Diversity Charter, thereby strengthening the social dimension of sustainable events.

Together, these partners form a growing network that combines environmental, social and economic responsibility – and consistently further develops Lübeck as a sustainable conference and congress destination.

Next milestones on the way to becoming a sustainable meeting destination

The "Tourism Development Concept 2030 for the Hanseatic City of Lübeck" anchors the "Green Meetings" segment and sets the goal of profiling and positioning Lübeck and Travemünde as even more sustainable and climate-friendly for meetings and events over the next ten years. With these measures, Lübeck is demonstrating that sustainability is a top priority and essential for sustainable urban development.

 

In March 2025, the Convention Bureau joined the fairpflichtet initiative. fairpflichtet members are all players in the event industry who are committed to ecological, social and economic sustainability and transparently document their commitment with fairpflichtet.

 

In 2023, Lübeck and Travemünde were awarded the TourCert certificate for sustainable travel, which recognises the cities as sustainable travel destinations. In October, the German Environmental Award of the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt was presented at the Musik- und Kongresshalle (MuK). In addition, the Hanseatic City of Lübeck's municipal action plan for climate protection is being updated in the Climate Protection Master Plan (MAKS). The aim is to initiate and promote responsible, climate-conscious action both within the administration and throughout the city. In 2024, the Go.Grøøn – Messe für Faires und Nachhaltiges will take place for the second time from 26 to 28 April 2024.

 

This year, we successfully completed our TourCert recertification as a Sustainable Destination. The independent audit confirms the strength and credibility of our sustainability management as well as our ongoing commitment to continuously improving our sustainability strategy. Together with our partners, we remain dedicated to promoting responsible tourism and to further developing Lübeck and Travemünde as sustainable and liveable destinations.