A second virtual World Printers Forum in October will be the centre-piece of a three-event programme for those involved in printing newspapers.

Director Ingi Olafsson (pictured) says the theme of the virtual World Printers Summit – to which all WAN-Ifra members are invited – will be sustainability. “It will be a two day event and many different themes will be tackled there,” he says.

Two WAN-Ifra in-person events – one in Frankfurt and the other in Chennai, India –introduce a new “unconference” format.

First of these, the European Printers Summit from October 26-27, will bring print and procurement professionals together to exchange ideas and network with suppliers. Entry to the “by invitation event” includes a commitment to scheduled networking with suppliers on a one-to-one basis.

The programme starts at 13.00 on October 26, and ends at the same time the following day. A cocktail evening get-together is planned for the first day.

A similar format is also planned for the Indian Printers Summit (November 17-18) at the Hotel ITC Grand Chola.

The World Printers Forum (October 13-14) is a virtual event. The programme promises round tables on hot topics, and will include a three-way discussion between trade publication editors Mary van Meter (News & Tech), Gerd Bergmann (Deutsche Drucker) and Peter Coleman (GXpress.net).

FunkeMedien Group managing directorKlemens Berktold and Moritz Lehmkul of Climate Partners will discuss the route to carbon neutrality; Thierry Leboucq of Greenspector, Carsten Bog of ClimateCalc/Grakon and Benoit Moreau of Ecograf are scheduled to talk about evaluating the carbon footprints of digital and printed publications; and the afternoo ends with a presentation on sustainable warehousing.

On the second day (October 14) speakers include Tamedia general manager Andreas Schafner on sustainable value chains for newspapers; and presentation by UPM’s Ruud van den Berg on post-COVID newsprint business, Intergraf’s Beatrice Klose on sustainable workforces, and Jean-Francois Robert, Almart Reichart and Philippe Stolper on sustainability and mineral-oil-free inks in newspaper production.