At the recent 8th Cork Convention Bureau Conference and Event Ambassador Awards, Fota Wildlife Park was delighted to be awarded a conference ambassador award for hosting the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) Director’s Days Conference in April 2024.
The award ceremony honoured 74 ambassadors for their involvement in the hosting of 62 conferences in Cork over the past two years, worth an estimated €17.4 million to the local economy.
The EAZA Director’s Days conference was held in the new, state of the art, Education, Conservation and Research Centre (ECRC) at Fota Wildlife Park. The event served as the leading platform for zoo and aquarium Directors to gather and address key issues facing the industry. The conference attracted almost 140 directors from zoos and wildlife parks across Europe.
Conference facility at Fota Wildlife Park, Cork:
The main conference presentations were held in the 265-seater auditorium and catering was provided in the Atrium and on the outside covered patio.
The various classrooms and the boardroom also provided ample breakout rooms for meetings, workshops and discussions.
A Focus on Sustainability:
The conference was planned with a focus on sustainability. The event took place in Fota Wildlife Park's most sustainably constructed facility, the ECRC, which is ideally placed as one of Munster’s top conference centres.
The building incorporates sustainable features such as:
• Eco-friendly passive design
• Solar panels
• Passive design - produces as much energy as it needs
• Rainwater harvesting – two 10,000 litre tanks
• Recycled materials – auditorium floor made from Jameson Whiskey barrels
• External living walls
• Landscaped with endangered native plants
• High efficiency lighting
• FSC wood products used
The catering was provided under the zero-waste policy. Zero waste catering focuses on minimising waste at every stage of food preparation, service, and cleanup. It involves careful menu planning to reduce surplus food, and utilising locally sourced and seasonal ingredients.
Ballymaloe Grainstore was chosen as the location for the gala dining, which is famed for its organic and sustainable operation in growing produce, rearing stock and in cooking. The surrounding land is managed sustainably, with a focus on biodiversity and nature conservation.
Sustainable travel:
Public transport via Irish Rail was the main form of transport arranged for the delegates. The conference utilised Fota’s dedicated rail stop which was able to effectively and sustainably transport the delegates, who were accommodated in the city centre venues within walking distance of the train station. The other mass transport option provided was via coaches when needed.
For more on the ECRC at Fota Wildlife Park go to www.fotawildlife.ie/pages/education-conservation-and-research-centre.eld oHelod
The development of the Education, Conservation and Research Centre at Fota Wildlife Park was co-funded by the Government via the OPW.
