Special Olympics Environmental Sustainability Impact
The Environmental Sustainability Impact project breaks new ground as it focuses on how to make Special Olympics events and operations more environmentally sustainable. Funded through Erasmus, the project will last for 24 months in total, finishing on the 30th November 2024. The partners in this project will be SO Europe Eurasia, Special Olympics Italy and Special Olympics Belgium.
Project Objectives/Activities
The project will initially analyse sustainability best practices that will be used to develop a comprehensive Sport Sustainability Framework (SSF). This will be done in 2 stages:
One
After an initial research phase, a draft Framework documented will be developed by the consortium and will be tested for proof of concept at various Special Olympics events in Belgium and Italy. The Special Olympics World Games in Berlin was used to gather information primarily on how the LOC in Berlin approached sustainability and what lessons can be applied to the project.
Two
After the above testing phase, a final Framework document will be developed with best practices and recommendations that can be shared with SO programmes and other sports organisations.
Three
The Final Framework document will then be disseminated to the Special Olympics network to encourage other Special Olympics National Programmes in the SOEE region to take on the key findings in their own programmes and become operationally more sustainable with their environmental footprint.
News Media
Earth Day 2024: Special Olympics Drive Sustainability in Italy and Belgium
The following is an excerpt from Inside the Games’ article on Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023’s sustainability project
1 Min Read
Earth Day 2024: Special Olympics Sustainability Project Is Making Waves in Belgium And Italy
What impact do Special Olympics sports events—from food and travel to branding and waste—have on the environment? More importantly, what can we do about it?
3 Min Read
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 European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.