BASIS Annual conference

Cardiff, UK: May 2022 –BASIS (British Association for Sustainable Sport) welcomed 130 representatives from across the sports and sustainability sectors to their annual conference, which took place at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on 17^th May 2022.  

The conference was opened by Dr Pavel Cenkl, Head of Schumacher College who gave valuable insights into sustainable practice for transformative actions based on 30 years of regenerative learning at Schumacher college. This was followed by insights from Prof Mike Bruford [Cardiff University], Paula Chin [WWF] and Prof Mark Maslin [UCL] on the current climate and ecological emergency we are all facing.

The late morning plenary sessions moved into practical examples and approaches being taken and included an informative presentation on “how to stay green whilst in an energy crisis without costing the earth” from Professional Energy Services, how to plan and deliver a greener game jointly presented by Southampton and Arsenal Football Clubs, and how to drive sustainability through motorsport from motorsport UK. At the same time the conference also hosted workshops on sports clothing and equipment and sustainable sports surfaces.

Panel sessions  included  informative discussions on managing waste with a  focus on food and packaging with speakers from Suez, Levy and the Bread and Butter Thing and how to engage with sports audiences and tell our sustainability stories  with speakers from BBCSport, SkySports and Shoot the Company.

If that was not enough, the delegates also heard from the head of sustainability at the Birmingham 2022 commonwealth games and the event director of the world coastal rowing championships event taking place for the first time this year in Wales.

One of the highlights of the day came from Olympic sailor Laura Baldwin whose powerful and emotive call to action highlighted that there was no time left to talk and it was the responsibility of all to take action now.

BASIS has always believed in the importance of harnessing the power of sport in order to create a more sustainable future and welcomed an update on the UNFCCC sport for climate action on how sports organisations can become more involved and join over 300 global signatories, the session was supported by BASIS member representatives from the AELTC and the RYA.

Dr Russell Seymour, CEO of BASIS, “The event was a huge success, and we hope it has helped all those that took part, and beyond, to think about how they can address their environmental impacts and improve their sustainability performance”.

The event was supported by Recup, supplier of reusable cup solutions to events, the film company “Shoot the company,” and Seacourt Printing.

BASIS has been supporting sports clubs, venues and governing bodies with advice on sustainability for more than a decade, it has a community of over 1,500, including The FA, England Rugby, the ECB, the R&A, England Athletics and British cycling.

Applications for entries for the BASIS Sustainable Sport Awards is now open via www.basis.org.uk with the event taking place this autumn.