Equipping organisers with a novel toolkit to reduce the environmental impact of major sport and cultural events

Interdisciplinary research at Cardiff University has transformed how policy-makers, event organisers, and consultants understand and evaluate event environmental impacts, leading to more sustainable events in five continents. 

 

Issue

There has been a shortage of assessment tools and evidence to evaluate the environmental impact of events, as business cases for hosting major sporting and cultural events have traditionally focused on economic impacts.

 

Approach

The Cardiff research team integrated existing methods from geography and environmental planning with economic approaches, including Environmental Input-Output Analysis and Ecological Footprint, to assess both the environmental and economic impacts of events.

 

Impact

Cardiff research has transformed event impact evaluations through the ‘eventIMPACTS’ toolkit, now extensively used by UK sport.

Around 3000 individuals and organisations have registered to use the toolkit and resources have informed planning and operating decisions to stage more sustainable sporting and cultural events.

In 2016, Cardiff research influenced the development of the first international sustainability standard for golf tournaments. The standard is directly informing the International Olympic Committee for Olympic sports.

 

More information 

• Read the full impact case study in the REF 21 database 

• Improving the environmental impact of major events - Cardiff University 

Institution: Cardiff University 

Researchers: Dr Andrea Collins, Dr Crispin Cooper, Professor Andrew Flynn