Sustainable Events – When Procurement and Service Providers Shape the Future Together

By wdo, 3 December, 2025

Keynote speech by Heike Schönberg, HS Consulting

Strong, sustainable events are not created through good intentions – but through cooperation. Between vision and reality lies the decisive interface: purchasing. On stage, Heike Schönberg shows why sustainable events can only succeed if clients and service providers take joint responsibility and design solutions together.

With over 25 years of experience in compliance, 9 years in purchasing, 5 years in sustainability and positions at KPMG (manager/authorised signatory, head of procurement sustainability & compliance) and the FUNKE Mediengruppe (deputy head of purchasing, head of procurement strategy & operations), she brings the perfect dual perspective: aspiration and execution, strategy and implementation.

In her keynote speech, she combines emotion and practice: 

  • Why sustainable events often shine in concept but fail in procurement
  • What signals clients need to send to ensure sustainability really counts
  • What service providers need to meet sustainability requirements
  • Why budgets are not an obstacle, but a test for sustainable working.

With clear messages and real experiences from her purchasing practice, Heike Schönberg makes it clear: sustainable events arise where purchasing and service providers do not work against each other, but grow together.

An inspiring impulse for everyone who designs events that have an impact – today and tomorrow.

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Heike Schönberg

By wdo, 1 December, 2025

Heike Schönberg ist Wirtschaftsjuristin (LL.B.) und arbeitet heute als freiberufliche Beraterin mit umfassender Expertise in Compliance, Einkauf und Nachhaltigkeit. Mit mehr als 25 Jahren Erfahrung im Compliance-Bereich, rund neun Jahren im strategischen Einkauf sowie über fünf Jahren Fokus auf Nachhaltigkeit verbindet sie juristisches Fachwissen mit tiefem Prozessverständnis und praxisnaher Umsetzungskompetenz.

Ihre berufliche Laufbahn führte sie 15 Jahre zu KPMG, wo sie als Managerin und Prokuristin tätig war und zuletzt den Bereich Procurement Sustainability & Compliance leitete. Anschließend arbeitete sie zwei Jahre bei der FUNKE Mediengruppe, zuletzt als stellvertretende Einkaufsleiterin und Head of Procurement Strategy & Operations.

Heute ist sie Associated Partner bei Dr. Reinholz & Partner Real Estate Management GmbH sowie Vertriebs- und Segmentpartnerin für Nachhaltigkeit bei der apsolut Group.

Ihre Beratungsmandate umfassen ein breites Spektrum an Branchen — darunter gemeinnützige Organisationen, Verbände, die öffentliche Hand, Energieunternehmen sowie die Rüstungsindustrie. Damit bringt sie eine seltene Kombination aus strategischer Weitsicht, operativer Erfahrung und branchenübergreifender Perspektive in ihre Projekte ein.

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Heike Schönfeld
Beschreibung_en

Heike Schönberg holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) and works today as an independent consultant with extensive expertise in compliance, procurement, and sustainability. With more than 25 years of experience in compliance, around nine years in strategic procurement, and over five years focused on sustainability, she combines legal expertise with deep process understanding and practical implementation skills.

Her professional career included 15 years at KPMG, where she served as Manager and Authorized Signatory and most recently headed the Procurement Sustainability & Compliance division. She then spent two years at the FUNKE Media Group, most recently as Deputy Head of Procurement and Head of Procurement Strategy & Operations.

Today, she is an Associated Partner at Dr. Reinholz & Partner Real Estate Management GmbH and Sales and Segment Partner for Sustainability at apsolut Group.

Her consulting mandates span a wide range of sectors — including non-profit organizations, associations, the public sector, energy companies, and the defense industry. This breadth gives her a rare combination of strategic foresight, operational experience, and cross-industry perspective in her work.

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vision stage