UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has named Better Stands as the winner of its 2026 UFI Sustainable Development Award.
The Award honours outstanding initiatives and organisations that drive sustainability across the exhibition ecosystem, showcasing innovative approaches that inspire the global community to build a more responsible and resilient future.
This year’s Award topic was ‘Best Carbon Reduction Initiative’.
Joerg Zeissig, IFES president and co-chair of the Better Stand Initiative, comments: “This recognition reflects the commitment of many stakeholders such as organisers, venues, service providers, exhibitors, assessors, and associations worldwide who have united behind a shared vision. Together, they are proving that reusable stand-building practices can deliver meaningful, industry-wide change and positive impact.
“Better Stands offers a practical, tangible solution that makes sustainable action easier to adopt and helps our industry move from intention to implementation. This award is a powerful encouragement to continue scaling that impact worldwide and implement more features to measure success.”
Noor Shalghen and Peirui Tan, UFI Sustainable Development Working Group Liaisons, added: “Better Stands is recognised by the jury for its industry-wide collaborative framework tackling single-use stand construction, a long-standing sustainability challenge in the exhibition industry, through a practical, tiered system.
“This year’s competition was especially strong, with six recognised as best practices and four finalists, reflecting the growing maturity and ambition of sustainability initiatives across the global exhibition industry.”
The other finalists included: Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, RX Global & Fiera Milano, and Singapore EXPO.
Selected projects from the UFI Awards are shared through UFI’s Best Practices Library, supporting knowledge sharing and helping exhibition professionals worldwide learn from the industry’s leading initiatives. Discover more at www.ufi.org/awards.
The 2026 UFI Award winners will be recognised at the 93rd UFI Global Congress, taking place from 2–5 November 2026 in the Kingdom of Bahrain. For details of the UFI Global Congress, visit www.uficongress.org
