OVERVIEW – SPORT AND SUSTAINABILITY EVENT OBSERVATORY
The Sport and Sustainability Observatory has been created to conduct research and act as a repository for information related to sustainability practices in events. This will serve to increase access and communication between sports organizations hosting events and improve standardization and progression of sustainability reporting across Canada. There currently exists no central storage system of sustainability activities for Canadian sporting events and organizations.
Implementation
Annual Survey — The Observatory will conduct an annual survey with sporting organizations across Canada. An annual summary report will be compiled with the results and made publicly available on the CSS website. Some examples of questions in the survey:
Q. How many staff members in your organization have “sustainability” in their job description?
Q. Which guidelines does your organization use for sustainability management and reporting?
Information Repository — The results of the initial survey will help us understand how organizations document and prioritize sustainability efforts. The interest expressed by sport organizations in sharing current practices and public reporting documents will inform the creation of the digital information repository.
Who will participate
The survey is being sent to organizations hosting events in 2015 and notable events dating back to 2010, such as the Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
• Professional sports leagues that hold events in Canada such as the NHL and MLS.
• Major International sports events hosted in Canada such as World Championships, Olympics, Paralympics, and Special Olympics.
• Major Canadian sports events such as the Canada Games, CIS, National Championships, and Olympic qualifying events.
Benefit
Participating organizations will benefit from this project by learning from current efforts and best practices across Canada as well as increasing the public exposure of their own sustainability efforts.