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Kongressfonds Berlin für nachhaltiges Tagen

Grants for sustainable professional events in Berlin

Are you planning a sustainable professional event at a conference hotel or event venue in Berlin? Under the ‘Congress fund for sustainable meetings’, you can receive a grant for each attendee at an analogue event (possibly combined with a hybrid format).

Congress Fund for Sustainable Meetings at a glance

  • Grant for a sustainable event

  • Extra bonus for hybrid and decentralised events

  • Funding of up to EUR 35 per day per attendee participating in a professional event in Berlin

Congress Fund for Sustainable Meetings in detail

    • Legal entities under private and public law and partnerships
    • Natural persons as registered or unregistered sole proprietorships (for instance, sole traders or self-employed persons)
    • With a registered office, a permanent establishment or a branch office in the Federal Republic of Germany
    • Organiser of the event to be held
  • Events in Berlin,

    • taking place up to 31 December 2025 (such as congresses, conferences, seminars and training courses),
    • which could not be carried out in an ecological and sustainable manner without the requested grant or only with a considerable time delay, and
    • that exclusively address a professional audience (closed event).

    Events that address a professional audience if attendees participate exclusively for professional reasons (for instance, on behalf of employers or for research reasons at a scientific congress)

    What is not eligible for support?

    • Trade fairs, exhibitions and similar formats, even if they exclusively address a professional audience and/or are linked to a congress that does qualify for funding
    • Events that address private individuals or serve leisure or recreational purposes
    • Events which the applicants themselves or third parties are obliged by law to organise
    • Party political events
    • Events that have already started or have finished
    • A non-redeemable, earmarked grant in the form of fixed-amount financing for up to EUR 99,950 max. per event
    • The grant constitutes de-minimis aid.
    • Basic grant amounting to EUR 25 per day per attendee participating in the event
    • Hybrid bonus amounting to EUR 10 if the event takes place in Berlin and interactively online at the same time or
    • Bonus for decentralised meetings amounting to EUR 10 per participant if the event takes place at several locations in Berlin at the same time and the attendees are connected via online platforms.
    Basic funding Supplementary funding (hybrid OR
    Supplementary funding (decentralised event) Total (max.) per attendee/per day
    EUR 25 EUR 10   EUR 10 EUR 35

    Only the hybrid bonus or the bonus for decentralised meetings can be applied for.

    • The event must last at least four hours on each congress day.
    • At least 50 attendees must be present in Berlin.
    • The event must reach at least 300 points from at least four categories of the Sustainable Event Scorecard.
    • No support is available if other public grants have been received for the same funding purpose (prohibition on cumulation).
    • Applications can be submitted at any time.
    • A separate application must be submitted for each event.
    • Funding can only be granted for projects that have not yet commenced at the time the application is submitted (received by IBB). The time of commencement is considered to be the time when a contract to execute the event is signed.
    • The conclusion of a contract with an event agency in order to design, organise and implement an event as well as the conclusion of contracts generating revenue for the organisers are not eligible for funding.
    • In order to apply, submit the completed application form along with the supporting documents. You can apply online using the application process provided on IBB’s customer portal. Or you can print your completed application form and send it by post or submit it in person.
    • Once your application is received, you will be sent confirmation of receipt. As soon as all the documents are complete, they will be reviewed.
  • Projects financed under this support programme make a direct and indirect positive contribution to the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDG):

    • 8 – Decent work and economic growth
    • 9 – Industry, innovation and infrastructure
    • 12 – Sustainable consumption and production

    IBB generally excludes certain projects from financing or specifies conditions that must be met.

    You can find more detailed information on the exclusion criteria in our sustainability guidelines and further conditions to be met in the funding guidelines.

    • Actual number of attendees present > expected number of attendees present Original funding amount = Final funding amount
      Actual number of attendees present < expected number of attendees present Funding amount reduced accordingly
      Actual number of attendees present < 50 No funding possible!
      No evidence of fulfilment of the targets crossed off in the Sustainable Event Scorecard No funding possible!
      Requirements for hybrid or decentralised events are not met, although originally applied for Funding amount reduced accordingly
      Eligible expenses actually incurred < Funding amount calculated on the basis of the actual number of attendees present Funding amount reduced accordingly
    • The Sustainable Event Scorecard is used as the basis for evaluating the sustainability of an event or event management. It addresses various sustainability topics from 13 fields of action, including social and environmental impact as well as the event’s carbon footprint, climate protection, diversity, regionality and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

      In order to receive funding from the Congress Fund for Sustainable Meetings, at least 300 out of 930 possible points must be reached in at least four of the 13 fields of action on the Sustainable Event Scorecard.

What happens next?

Contact partners

We will be pleased to answer detailed questions regarding the programme and to assist you with your application.

Application process

You can submit your application for this product along with the relevant documents on IBB’s customer portal (german only) or print out the application and send it by post.

Customer support

Business Development

  • Telephone: +49 (0) 30 / 2125-4747
  • Email: wirtschaft@ibb.de