The initiative provides a game plan for organisations at all levels, helping them accelerate their impact and inspire others to follow suit.

Mapping the Relationship with Nature

At its core, S4N’s programme is driven by the needs of its signatories, moving beyond symbolic pledges to deliver practical, technical resources. ““At Sports for Nature, we deliberately design our support around what our signatories actually need” explains Emanuel Boscardin, Programme Officer for Sports for Nature at IUCN. This consultative approach ensures the tools are relevant and actionable for a diverse range of sports bodies, from large federations to volunteer-run clubs.

One of the initiative’s foundational activities is the recently launched Self-Assessment Tool, ‘Mapping your relationship with nature’. This comprehensive guide is designed to help sports organisations assess their complex relationship with the natural world, serving as a starting point to explore how operations, events, and daily activities impact the environment, both positively and negatively. It guides signatories in recognising connections, assessing their local environment, and setting clear priorities.

The self-assessment guides organisations through two core questions: what activities they undertake and where those activities take place. By identifying pressures such as land use change, pollution or impacts on sensitive habitats, organisations are better equipped to prioritise action and embed nature considerations into everyday decision-making.

“The main goal of the tool is to help organisations understand their link to nature,” Boscardin adds. “By defining activities and locations, sport can start making informed choices about where it can have the greatest positive impact.”

By defining their scope of influence and identifying priority pressures—from changes in land use to pollution—organisations are better equipped to make informed decisions and transition their intentions into tangible nature action.

A Practical Guide for Sporting Events

Events have consistently been identified by signatories as a priority area requiring dedicated resources. In response, S4N recently launched its new Sports Events guide, a much-anticipated resource designed for event organisers of all sizes. This guide steps away from the more technical, specialist-focused 100-page plus publication previously published by the IUCN—Mitigating biodiversity impacts of sports events.

Instead, the new resource aims for maximum accessibility. David Stubbs, the Lead Author of the new Event Guide and a leading sustainability expert in sport, expressed his enthusiasm for its design: “I’m excited by this new guide for two reasons. First of all, it’s shorter, more accessible and more focused, and it’s also written in a way hopefully and structured so that it applies more to all of it. It’s more like language of sports events managers and organisers, which I think is an important distinction, because it’s probably fair to say that something like 99% of people at least involved in planning and staging sports events are not environmental specialists, particularly in ecology”.

The guide is structured around the event life cycle, broken down into four essential steps: Knowing your venue, Planning your event, Staging your event, and What you leave behind. This framework ensures that nature considerations are integrated from the earliest preparation phase, looking at protected areas and important habitats, through to leaving the site in a ‘Leave No Trace’ state. Critically, the guide stresses that even events in urban environments have a significant role, as urban green spaces hold high significance for nature in a local context.

Signatories Driving On-the-Ground Action

The power of the S4N framework is demonstrated by the practical steps taken by its signatories. For World Triathlon, whose events often traverse city centres, the challenge is shifting perception. Jen Cerullo, Sustainability Manager at World Triathlon, notes: “It can be difficult for organisers to see beyond the asphalt and buildings of an urban event, but nature is always present — in waterways, parks and shared spaces — and understanding those connections is essential when planning responsible events.”

This perspective highlights the need to redefine how ‘nature’ is perceived, ensuring that local parks and urban waterways are given the preservation efforts they deserve.

The approach also relies heavily on collaboration between environmental specialists and local organising bodies. Sasha Sutherland, Director at the Barbados Olympic Association Inc., underscores the importance of this joint effort, stating that “Nature protection works best when environmental expertise is combined with national leadership. Our role is to ensure that conservation messages come from the experts, but are embedded within the way sport is planned and delivered”.

This partnership model ensures that conservation efforts are locally relevant and effectively implemented. Meanwhile, the commitment to nature action is becoming a source of pride and identity, with Szabolcs Birkas-Kovats, Head of Marketing and Sponsorship at the Hungarian Swimming Federation, showing his dedication by proudly stating, “We want our athletes and staff to feel proud of being ambassadors for sustainability. Wearing the Sports for Nature logo is a simple but powerful way to show that commitment and to share best practice with others.”

As Sports for Nature continues to grow, its emphasis on accessibility, relevance and practicality is helping sport re-frame its relationship with the natural world. By meeting organisations where they are — whether large international federations or volunteer-led event organisers — the initiative is laying the foundations for sport to become a genuinely net-positive force for nature.

For Boscardin, the message is ultimately a simple one.

“Enjoying the moment while protecting what makes it special is a message that really resonates with sport,” he says. “Great events and nature protection should never be in conflict.”