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Impact

Sustainability & Impact at the 65th ICCA Congress

The 65th ICCA Congress 2026 is designed to create value far beyond the four days of the event itself. Through community engagement, cultural preservation, sustainable event operations, delegate wellbeing, and programme content focused on measurable outcomes, the Congress aims to leave a positive and lasting legacy in Panama while providing delegates with practical ways to contribute.

The ICCA Congress sustainability and impact strategy is built around three interconnected pillars:

People: Supporting communities, wellbeing, inclusion and cultural understanding.

Planet: Reducing environmental impact and encouraging more sustainable event practices.

Legacy: Creating knowledge, partnerships and experiences that continue beyond the Congress.

Together, these pillars reflect ICCA's commitment to advancing a more responsible, inclusive and impactful

global meetings industry.

People
Planet
Legacy

Global Voices and Perspectives

The ICCA Congress brings together a truly international community, reflected in both the speaker line-up and the organisations helping to shape the programme.

Speakers and Co-Curators represent a diverse range of countries, cultures, sectors and perspectives, bringing together voices from across the global meetings industry and beyond.

Through the involvement of ICCA's six Co-Curators and other contributing organisations, the Congress encourages exchange across disciplines, regions and lived experiences. This approach creates opportunities for new perspectives, deeper understanding and more meaningful global connections.

Community Impact and CSR Initiatives

The ICCA Congress Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme is designed to connect delegates with local communities and Panamanian initiatives through experiences that are practical, participatory and rooted in the destination.

  • Panamá Verde
  • Clandestino Lab
  • Congo Masks
  • Gift of Love x Fundación Casita de Mausi
Panamá Verde

Sustainability Through Action

Panama's extraordinary biodiversity, from oceans and rivers to rainforests and mangroves, is central to the country's identity. At the same time, increasing waste volumes and limited separation and recycling practices create ongoing challenges for waterways, coastlines, landfills and communities.

Through Panamá Verde, delegates will explore local waste and recycling challenges while learning about innovative solutions already being developed in Panama.

Why Panamá Verde Matters

This activity aims to:

  • Raise awareness of the relationship between everyday waste, waterways and marine ecosystems.
  • Encourage more responsible waste separation and recycling behaviours.
  • Introduce delegates to local innovation and circular economy solutions.
  • Transform sustainability from a message into a hands-on learning experience.

Clandestino Lab

Clandestino Lab is a Panama-based design studio that gives recycled plastic a second life. Through circular design principles, discarded materials are transformed into furniture, decorative pieces and functional products.

Workshop Experience

Delegates will:

  • Participate in hands-on sustainability education focused on Panama's waste and recycling challenges.
  • Take part in waste-sorting and recycling activities.
  • Experience demonstrations of recycling and material-transformation processes.
  • Discover how innovation can turn discarded materials into useful products.
  • Explore the relationship between individual behaviour, circular design and ecosystem protection.

Congo Masks

Cultural Heritage and Community Connection

Congo masks are an important expression of Afro-Panamanian heritage, representing centuries of cultural resilience, spirituality, ancestral connection and artistic expression.

Passed down through generations, the tradition of mask-making connects communities with their history, cultural identity and African heritage.

Particularly significant are the Diablitos masks of Colón, which are closely associated with the traditional Juego de Diablos. These masks reflect the cultural fusion that emerged through African traditions and influences introduced during the colonial period.

Far more than decorative objects, Congo masks represent identity, collective memory, spirituality, resistance and the continuation of cultural traditions across generations.


Workshop Structure: Introduction to History and Symbolism

Participants will begin with an introduction to the cultural significance of Congo masks, their Afro-Panamanian origins, and the symbolism embedded within their designs.

Artisan Demonstration and Hands-On Crafting

Local artisans will guide delegates through traditional mask-making techniques before participants create their own masks incorporating personalised symbolic elements.

Reflection and Sharing

The workshop concludes with participants sharing their creations and exploring broader themes of cultural preservation, community and heritage.

Community Impact: Cultural Immersion

The workshop provides an authentic cultural experience while encouraging creativity, collaboration and meaningful engagement with Panamanian traditions.

Heritage Awareness

Participants gain a deeper understanding of Afro-Panamanian heritage and the importance of protecting living cultural traditions.

Community Giving

The activity will also contribute to cultural preservation initiatives, extending its impact beyond the workshop experience. 

Gift of Love x Fundación Casita de Mausi

Gift of Love is ICCA's long-standing CSR tradition, established in 2013 to ensure that every annual Congress leaves a positive and tangible legacy in its host destination. While the initiative takes a different form each year, its purpose remains the same: bringing the ICCA community together to support the people and communities of the destination hosting the Congress.


For ICCA Congress 2026, Gift of Love will support Fundación Casita de Mausi.

About Fundación Casita de Mausi

Fundación Casita de Mausi supports people with cancer who travel from other parts of Panama to Panama City to receive treatment.

The organisation provides temporary accommodation and support during treatment, helping patients and their families manage the practical and financial challenges of accessing specialist healthcare away from home.

For more than three decades, Casita de Mausi has supported oncology patients and their families, providing a safe and supportive place to stay during treatment.

How to Contribute

Through Gift of Love, ICCA delegates will be invited to support patients staying at Casita de Mausi by bringing new, unused items or purchasing a personal care kit during the Congress.

Suggested donations include Ensure or Glucerna (vanilla flavour), neck pillows, personal towels, pajamas in various sizes, and turbans for chemotherapy patients. Donations can be dropped off at the collection point in the lobby of the Convention Center.

Delegates can also purchase a $21 personal care kit on-site, containing essential hygiene items such as deodorant, bath soap, a soft-bristle toothbrush, toothpaste and body moisturizer. Kits can be purchased using cash or credit card, with a sample available at the booth.

The initiative provides delegates with a simple and meaningful way to contribute directly to the local community while extending the impact of the Congress beyond the event itself.

Through this partnership, ICCA Congress 2026 connects its global community with a local cause, supporting patients and families who need comfort, stability and a safe place to stay while accessing cancer treatment in Panama City.

Food-Waste Management

The 64th ICCA Congress in Porto was officially verified as a Zero FoodWaste to Landfill event by The PLEDGE on Food Waste.

This built on the Bangkok Protocol on Sustainable Gastronomy, launched at the 63rd ICCA Congress and developed in partnership with the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, with support from LightBlue.

The Porto Congress marked the second consecutive ICCA Congress to meet the Zero Food Waste to Landfill Standard, reinforcing ICCA's long-term commitment to transparency, accountability and measurable progress in food waste prevention and diversion.

Sustainability Measures for ICCA Congress 2026

In Panama, ICCA will continue building on this approach through practical initiatives designed to reduce environmental impact and encourage more sustainable event practices.

Current measures include:

At least 50% of food offerings will be vegetarian.

Local ingredients and local food producers will be prioritised wherever possible.

Single-use plastics will be avoided wherever practical, including reducing disposable cup usage.

Rental and reuse will be prioritised over producing new one-off event materials.

Walls, backdrops and station structures will remain unbranded where possible to enable rental and reuse rather than single-event production.

Unnecessary branded items will be avoided unless they provide clear value.


Guiding Principle

Reduce first. Reuse wherever possible. Produce only where necessary.

The objective is not simply to introduce more sustainable event elements, but also to challenge assumptions about what needs to be produced in the first place.

Building a Lasting Legacy

The 65th ICCA Congress in Panama City is designed to demonstrate how international meetings can create meaningful value for people, destinations and communities. Through sustainability initiatives, CSR activities, cultural engagement, wellbeing-focused event design and impact-led programme content, the Congress seeks to leave a positive legacy that extends well beyond November 2026.

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