More dialogue needed to use sports as a means for sustainable development
Participants and speakers are positive about the conference outcomes and potential
As a result of the first in its kind “Sport for Planetary Health” conference with national and international experts from the fields of sports, sustainability, education and local government in House of Culture “Boris Hristov”, Plovdiv the participants exchanged innovative ideas and strategies for incorporating sustainable practices into sports events and organizations.
The conference laid the foundations for dialogue and cooperation between various stakeholders in line with the European Green Deal and Sustainable Development Goals. The participants in the panel discussions united behind the thesis that sports clubs and mass sports events organisers, as part of the community, can contribute to the protection of the environment by reducing their footprint on the planet. “Green sport is the sport that, along with taking care of our health, contributes to the health of our planet. The main topic of the event was partnership, as the efforts of only one sector or organization are not enough to achieve long-term sustainable change,” said Laska Nenova, founder of BG Be Active – “The other topic of the conference was the barriers and opportunities for sports organizations to make their activities more environmentally sustainable”. “Sport for Planetary Health” provided participants with several key concepts and outlined directions for work to create a united sports network and support the idea of using sport as a tool to engage communities towards a more sustainable future:
The conference featured an Active Zone in its program, where the participants had time during the coffee breaks to try and learn new movements. There were open demonstrations in martial arts DaDao, table tennis, football, waveboard, trampoline training, stilts and boxing.
The organizers shared that the conference was the first event aimed at improving the sustainable practices of the sports sector and invited all those interested to follow the channels for the next events. The panel discussions were recorded, and the videos will be shared on the pages of BG Be active in social networks with a wider community to benefit from the discussions.
Finally, BG Be Active expressed their gratitude to all participants, speakers and partners for their active participation and contribution to the event, and invited sports organizations and related sectors to follow the organization’s channels for future events.
The event was supported by the media partners: Mediacafe.BG; Podtepeto.com; Bulgarian National Television – BNT1 and BNT2; The New Parents; Marica.BG.
Sport #WithoutWaste is funded by the European Union. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or EACEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.
Active Neighbourhoods for Climate Mitigation is part of the project “Catalyst of Change: Protecting the Union values by supporting a resilient, engaged and vocal civil society for the promotion of women’s rights, environmental justice and anti-corruption” by the Netherlands Helsinki Committee. Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or The Netherlands Helsinki Committee. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority (the NHC) can be held responsible for them.
The partner of the event is the Municipality of Plovdiv, “Culture, Archeology and Tourism” department.
Find out more:
LinkedIn – BG Be Active
Email: beactive@bgbeactive.org
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