Winter Olympics Organizers Offer Free Toolkit on Creating Sustainable Events
In anticipation of the next weeks’ of avid TV watching of the Winter Olympics in Canada, I visited the official website in search of potential tools, ideas, and takeaways for association event and meeting planners.
I’m pleased to find that groups involved in sporting events and fundraisers (think golf tournaments, walk- and bike-a-thons, team-building field days, etc.) can download a free Sustainable Sport and Event Toolkit (http://www.aists.org/sset) created by the Vancouver Organising Committee for the 2010 Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) in partnership with the Switzerland-based International Academy of Sports Science and Technology. Topics covered include community and supply chain involvement, transportation, and venue management.
The nine-piece how-to toolkit—aimed at organizers/sponsors of both large and small events--is one of the many social legacy projects completed or underway by organizers and attendees of this month’s Olympics, which kicked off in grand style February 12.
Organizers have spent seven years developing and executing actions and policies aimed at lightening the event’s wide environmental footprint, ensuring an ethical and inclusive competition, and leaving behind a positive social legacy. You’ll find highlights at http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-news/n/news/francophone-performers_272022Kq.html.
However, a summary of 12 of their major initiatives (http://www.vancouver2010.com/more-2010-information/sustainability/discover-sustainability) provides association meeting planners and
others with an interesting checklist of sorts for integrating sustainability into event operations. You’ll also see that many actions are pilot projects that may be repeated in future Olympic Games, if their impact is deemed successful.
For instance, it’s the first time a total carbon footprint has been estimated and a plan created to diminish and offset the anticipated massive emissions load. It’s also apparently the first time a comprehensive Sustainability Management and Reporting System (SMRS) has been put in place that identifies specific goals and actions, and reports which are being tracked and measured. LEED standards have been integrated into the design of facilities and venues, and transparency about sustainability goals is boosted via a detailed web site with videos, fact sheets, personal online calculators, and other tools open to the public.
Another pilot is a revised “ethical sourcing” program called Buy Smart and publication of an annual sustainability report (http://www.vancouver2010.com/more-2010-information/sustainability/reports-and-resources/sustainability-report) since the Vancouver was chosen as Olympics host. Organizers also launched a new program called “Vancouver 2010 Sustainability Stars” to share news of sustainability initiatives by Olympics sponsors associations such as the Canadian Business Council (if you’re in Washington, DC, viewing area, you’ve likely been seeing the council’s targeted ads that celebrate business partnerships between the U.S. and Canada).
The organizers’ efforts have faced some skepticism (http://www.newsweek.com/id/233490), but it’s still early in the Games, so I’m reserving judgment. Meanwhile, you can learn more how-to stuff at www.sustainable-sport.org.
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Comments
Could the URLs be links? It would be a lot easier.
Posted by: James | February 24, 2010 6:22 PM