Green sports events update

Now you’ve heard me go on about the Greens Sports Alliance in North America who are making amazing in roads towards sustainability for sporting teams & venues, saving millions of dollars and educating the masses.

Well green sports events are growing around the world and the latest development to assist this process is a new E-learning programme that promotes sustainable sport events.

On the 21st March 2013 at Lausanne, Switzerland saw the official launch of the Sport Sustainability E-Learning programme developed by the International Academy of Sport Science and Technology (AISTS) with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and SportAccord as Principal Supporting Partners. The E-learning course to support sports events with implementing sustainability has been developed by two leading organisations in the event industry: AISTS and Positive Impact, both who are not-for-profit organisations.

Sport Sustainability is a for profit company and works with leading organisations around the world to provide sports organisations with the information and support they need to start, or continue, their journey in making their sports events more sustainable.

“The mission of AISTS, the International Academy of Sports Science and Technology (Académie Internationale des Sciences et Techniques du Sport) in Lausanne, Switzerland, is to bring a positive contribution to the management of sport through continuing and executive education and applied research, by developing, integrating and delivering knowledge from human sciences, life sciences and engineering sciences.”

“Positive Impact is a not-for-profit organization which provides sustainability education to the event industry. Its vision is an event sector inspired to have a positive impact on its economic, environmental and social surroundings. Through online and face to face education, Positive Impact provides inspirational materials and guidance to help event industry organizations begin, and continue, their sustainability journey.”

Have you heard of anything like this happening in Australia? Well maybe a dribble here or a dribble there (basketball pun intended) but know where on the scale that is happening in other countries. If I’m wrong please enlighten!

So why is it that we in Australia are so slow to pick up on these innovative practices? Distance…well that used to be an excuse but we have the internet, video conferencing, crikey I can even Skype or Viber overseas now from my mobile phone.

Well we have 5 years before the next biggest sporting event in Australia, the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games to develop this event into something we can be proud of and show the rest of the world that distance doesn’t matter any more and we can cut it with the rest of the planet.

So who’ll drive it I hear you say? According to all the research preparing the ISO 20121 sustainable event management system the wheel needs to be in the hands of top management. Who’s that? the government, the organising committee…I’m nervous that unless the sponsors want this practice locked in, it won’t happen.

So who’s going to step up to the plate, kick the goal, make a century to sponsor the sustainability of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games?

Greg Howell

Climate Wave Enterprises – working with the planet