Sustainability round-up: June 15
This week’s sustainability round-up features a quick recap of day one at Future of Sport in Paris, a goodwill programme from the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, how the FIFA Foundation is funding initiatives in Argentina, MotoGP’s decade of sustainability efforts and a Swimming Australia partnership that will make a splash.
Future of Sport, which is currently taking place in Paris, has seen Two Circles launch a partnership with the event to produce an in-depth, insight-led study on the commercial opportunities for the French sports industry. The report predicts that the value of the French sports economy is expected to reach €7.8 billion by 2032 – a remarkable growth of 97% from €4.0 billion today. Further highlights of day one included a session on sailing, discussions around social impact, performance and engagement, and more.
The organisers of Budapest’s World Athletics Championships, along with the Civil Roads Foundation, have launched a goodwill scheme that will offer free tickets to those with large families, children in foster care, people with disabilities and others facing challenging circumstances. The competition is set to take place in the Hungarian capital from August 19-27.
The FIFA Foundation recently visited Asociacion Civil Andar and the Fundacion Defensores del Chaco in Argentina, to see the progress made with funding from the FIFA Foundation Community Programme. Asociacion Civil Andar has been serving children, young people and adults of all abilities for over 30 years, through Ansar Futbol Club, a young leaders programme and an inclusive football league. It also runs a workshop on cookery, gardening and art. Fundacion Defensores del Chaco has created a formal ‘street football’ event to promote social dialogue, and around 2,000 local children and young people learn to play football at their three sites.
MotoGP has celebrated 10 years of its sustainability scheme, KiSS Mugello (Keep It Shiny and Sustainable), which was implemented at the Italian Grand Prix in 2013. Each year, the race sees a collection of surplus food donated in collaboration with local partners to help reduce food waste and support local people, the use of aluminium containers that can be recycled as well as social initiatives, such as the Solidaity Pit Lane Walk that is dedicated to local non-profit organisations. There are also free drinking water columns to help reduce plastic use and waste from race attendees, as well as recycling collections.
South East Queensland’s Griffith University and Swimming Australia have set up a partnership around legacy, sustainability and inclusion programmes in and out of the pool. Athletes at grassroots and elite level will benefit from opportunities in education and research, as well as community-centric programmes. The schemes are aligned with the Brisbane 2032 legacy plan, which is part of Australia’s journey to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Image: Braden Collum on Unsplash