This year, ISE2025 was announced as “the destination to get our connection restored with the industry”. The event not only delivered that but broadened and strengthened the impact and hope for sustainability in the AV industry. Even if restoring the connection implies a previous disconnection and knowing for a fact that there is still a long difficult way ahead.

At risk of sounding dramatic, in my own aftermath it hits deeply. I´m a Sound Engineer from Bogotá and I hold a Master´s degree in Technology and Aesthetics of Electronic Arts -I like to simplify that as Arts and Technology-. I joined both academic programs just as they were beginning, kind of experimental in early stage, in a way much like @SAVe | Sustainability in AV is still emerging.

I´ve experienced the AV industry from many angles, from carrying cables, operating audio and lights for small events in 1998, all the way to leading specialist teams in Colombia on global corporate AV projects… and in-betweens. I took my first steps in this field over 25 years ago, back when it didn´t even exist, at least not as formally structured as it is now in Latin America.

I´ve had my ups and downs in terms of my relationship with the AV industry. Until very recently I felt rather disappointed and disconnected from many aspects of it, as though I couldn´t fully share my core values with it.

In these 25+ years, while exploring the edges of sound and visual cosmogonies, in the gaps between Engineering and Arts and now with @SAVe | Sustainability in AV as Chair of the Certification Committee, I´ve had the privilege to expand my understanding of the AV industry´s reach and scope by collaborating with professionals from diverse disciplines and people from all over the world. My ISE2025 experience as part of SAVe´s team, reinforced the truth and knowledge that diversity is a profound gift and sustainability a global requirement.

I cannot separate my love for AV technology from my concern for its global human impact. Likewise, I find it difficult, perhaps useless, at least unhelpful or counterproductive to approach the human/technology integrated experience solely through a commercial and consumerist perspective. This angle fails to balance its technical value, experiential depth, technological impact (on people and nature), its aesthetic worth and its content merits and integrity. Nevertheless, without considering its broader environmental and social sustainability on a global scale.

By environment I mean context, a whole surrounding; not only nature on the surface, but an entire dynamic construct that surrounds us. A gathering of natural and artificial agents that by interaction build a common reality in which we live in… what we dare to share and call human experience. That´s why we cannot address one goal (SDG) without addressing them all. We are all connected or at least in need of restoring that connection.

I believe this idea applies both to system design, by zooming in on user or client experience at any specific location; as well as to addressing climate change, by zooming out to consider responsible product carbon footprint and developing KPIs for sustainability at corporate levels. This wide scope demands participation from a huge spectrum of AV professionals and markets.

We are all meant to be connected, and that connection is being restored and empowered by ISE and SAVe so the network grows and marches on. Not only by the leading brands that have championed sustainability for decades, who share their expertise or sponsor this endeavor; but also by every member of the AV community who, within their own reach and capabilities, prioritizes environmental responsibility in their processes.

We may understand the world differently, speak different languages, hold diverse political views and so on. But we must share one political will: to make sustainability a priority. We need to step outside our own bubbles, pay attention to what’s happening around us, broaden our perspectives and acknowledge the bigger picture.

Only by shifting our focus beyond ourselves can we act with awareness of our surroundings. A self-absorbed perspective has led us nowhere, the world is running out of resources faster than ever and we often blame that acceleration on technology, dehumanizing the blame, shame or responsibility.

When in fact, we are responsible. And although sustainability may be a new discipline for many of us, any small step toward this shared purpose holds great value and a strong potential for growth in the proper environment. I´d like to close by inviting the entire AV community to join us as we share, learn and apply strategies, experiences and ideas to build a network that supports and represents an environmentally responsible global industry.

“I know that none of these things transform the world, but thousands of these things are required for the world to change.”

Pepe Mujica