Valencia Conference Centre wins NAOS Award for commitment to sustainable catering
The 16th NAOS Convention, in a ceremony presided over by the Queen, recognises the project “Promoting healthy eating and sustainable management in event organisation”, in which we are involved.
At the Valencia Conference Centre, we have long believed that every decision counts in the quest for more sustainable conference tourism, including those made around a table.
Today, the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) has recognised our joint efforts to promote healthier eating and sustainable catering management by presenting us with the NAOS Strategy 2023 Award. This accolade highlights programmes that contribute to obesity prevention.
Carlos Mundina, the councillor for Climate Improvement and Energy Efficiency at Valencia City Council and president of CEMAS, collected the award at a ceremony presided over by the Queen during the 16th NAOS Convention. The award recognises the project Impulsando una alimentación saludable y una gestión sostenible en la organización de eventos (Promoting healthy eating and sustainable management in event organisation), which was developed at our Conference Centre as a pilot innovation hub for congress tourism.
A collaborative project with real impact
A consortium comprising Fundació Lluís Alcanyís of the University of Valencia, the University of Alicante, the IVIA, Gourmet Catering & Eventos, CEMAS and the Conference Centre submitted this initiative for the award. To develop this project, we transformed the Conference Centre into a laboratory to rethink event catering from a holistic perspective: health, sustainability, food safety and gastronomic excellence.
Our initiatives included a pilot analysis of food waste, a study on the nutritional, energy and sustainability aspects of food preparation, and an update to our menus in accordance with sustainability criteria and current regulations. This work has also been reflected in scientific publications and in an event recipe book named The Best in the World at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2023.
Moving forward
In recent years we have continued to implement new measures to prevent and reduce food waste alongside CEMAS, Fundació Lluís Alcanyís, Gourmet Catering & Eventos and with the support of NARIA.
This provides the context for the documentary Valencia’s: The city that fuels sustainable change (2025), which highlights how collaboration and innovation can generate real transformation. At the Valencia Conference Centre, we will continue working to ensure that each event is an opportunity to move towards a healthier, more sustainable and socially conscious model.
