Event professionals are invited to provide input on standards of best practice in social and environmental responsibility in sport.
PORTLAND, OR August 7, 2020—Since 2007, the Council for Responsible Sport (Council) has offered a framework by which standalone sporting events can assess and certify their social and environmental impacts. The Council is now facilitating the development of criteria for organizations that produce and/or host multiple events, and it seeks event professionals’ input on what they care about and need help with when it comes to making their organizations and the events they produce more responsible.
As part of a stakeholder input process to develop the new Responsible Sport Standard for Organizations, sport industry professionals are encouraged to provide their opinions on the new program in the form of a brief survey launched today that asks, among other things, about their perception of organizations’ capabilities to act on social and environmental values.
The Council seeks input from sport industry professionals who have worked for an organization that produces sports events within the past three years on their perception of organizations’ capabilities to act on social and environmental values. The survey will remain open through October of 2020. Survey participation is by invitation in order to maintain the integrity of the response data. If you are a sport event professional with interest in contributing to the next era of responsibility in sport, please request access to the survey by submitting this form.
The new program will be adaptable to different types of sport hosting organizations, from groups with various-sized event portfolios, to sport governing bodies and franchises. Organizations that enroll in the web-based system to track and report their actions will have the opportunity to be verified by a third-party to earn certification, thus obtaining license to use the Responsible Sport Certified seal of achievement and be publicly recognized by the Council for their efforts with a public-facing report.
“The sport sector has been one of the hardest hit by COVID and the subsequent economic fallout, but we have no doubt that sports will come back in time” said the Council’s managing director, Shelley Villalobos. “We are using this break from events to develop a program that helps sport entities streamline measurement, improve performance on social and environmental metrics over time, and be recognized for those good works.”
The new criteria maintains the Council’s traditional five-category structure, including (1) Planning & Communications; (2) Procurement; (3) Resource Management; (4) Access & Equity, and; (5) Community Legacy, and will include expanded guidance on governance, diversity, inclusion and climate action elements.
In addition to the survey inviting input from any sport industry professional, the Council is convening delegates from across the sport landscape to provide scrutiny via three channels. First, a 20-member advisory committee with representation by organizations that have strong reputations in social and environmental responsibility including the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, Sport Ecology Group, Track Shack Events, IRONMAN, New York Road Runners and Blue Strike Environmental, among others. Second, technical advisors are providing expertise from varying stakeholder perspectives, and third, an expert review panel of sport executives and thought leaders will convene virtually in the fall of 2020 to review and finalize the new standard alongside the Council for Responsible Sport’s board of directors.
The new program builds on recent contributions towards a more sustainable events industry by the Council, including a free 10-point ‘Practical Guide to Hosting Radically Responsible Events’ released in February 2020 in partnership with the hydration company Nuun that has been downloaded by over 300 sport event organizers to date.
Organizations that host or produce sport events that are interested in helping test the new standards and provide feedback are encouraged to get in touch with the Council to learn more.
Sport industry professionals are encouraged to take the survey at the following web address: https://responsiblesport.questionpro.com