How do we embed environmental sustainability in sport organisations’ DNA?
Planetary health and sustainability of grassroots sport have been key topics for the ISCA MOVE
Congress 2023, in Madrid.
Karim Abu-Omar, keynote speaker from Friedrich – Alexander University Erlangen Nürnberg, pulled
the focus of the audience on the urgent need to act for slowing down climate change and its
unpredictable negative effects on the Earth.
Sport has a huge responsibility in this field too. Karim presented the main factors in sport that have
substantial effect on the environment.
The world of grassroots sport could seem to be a less significant actor in global warming, but by
cumulating the small-scale effects, the number of grassroots sport athletes and teams, the number
of local travels, their consumption and their overall environmental effects, the role of the grassroots
sport sector becomes equally important in fighting for our Planet.
City, Green, Go! project led by BSK1 has been represented by the project coordinator, Ms. Réka
Veress, who talked in the panel about the limited number of good examples of eco-friendly urban
grassroots sport initiatives and referred on the need for a parallel top-down and bottom-up approach
to address environmental sustainability of sport. Due to the urgency for action, the organic
development and the slowly rising interest of the grassroots sport sectors towards more
environmentally sustainable solutions, the action needs to be supported from a top level by incentive
regulations. As a good example at municipality level, the opening of the Budapest’ wharf for citizens
has been mentioned, where citizens of the capital can use the Danube bank area for eco-friendly
physical activities in a safe way.
Referring on Mogens Kirkeby’s welcoming words: „Move Congress is us” – Réka said:
„Grassroots sport is people. We have to make similarly conscious, eco-friendly choices, when
choosing our sport, like when we go to a shop and try to look for locally produced, organic food”.
Although research of the harmful environmental effects of different sport disciplines is still ongoing,
there are some clearly energy and material needy and wasty sports that need to work on decreasing
their carbon footprint. At the same time, simple, locally accessible physical activities that are taking
place outdoor are win-win choices for people and the planet.
Doing physical activity in outdoor green environment not only promotes individual health on physical
level, but it has a very important positive effect on one’s mental health as well.
Let’s take care of our physical, mental and planetary health!
Thanks for great grassroots sport stakeholders, like
#ISCA, #BSK, #Sport and Citizenship, #SandSi, #Isinnova, #Municipality of Bupdast, #BG BeActive, #Real Betis, #Responsible Sport, #HSSF, #Danish Foundation for Culture and Sports Facilities, and #City, Green, Go! like-minded projects like #Green Sports Hub, #Sports Without Waste, #GETS project
for making this important topic visible and understandable for the sector.
- Budapest Sport Service Provider Nonprofit Ltd – BSK ↩︎
