SDG Striker project kicks off online

SDG Striker project kicks off online

On 23 February, the organisations participating in the SDG Striker (Scoring Goals for Sustainability) project, met online to officially start the project.

SDG Striker

SDG Striker is a project coordinated by Ecoserveis (ECO), a non-profit organisation specialised in environment and energy which has been working at the local and environmental level to promote sustainability since 1992 and is a leading reference in energy culture in Spain. The project is funded by the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union. Its goal is to increase the organisational capacity for Good Governance in grassroots sports organisations by assisting them to implement and communicate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This will be achieved through ad hoc action at the local level so they can align themselves with European national and local public policy on the SDGs and by developing a joint understanding about best practices before, during and after being tested, and assess their potential for replication across the national Federation and beyond national borders.

To reach this goal, the project will:

• elaborate one compelling sport organisation-oriented practical guideline for the three focus areas of energy efficiency/poverty, photovoltaic (PV) units and turf filler,
• design and implement three pilots as an example of incorporation of the SDGs as a CSR framework for improving the good governance in three grassroots sport organisations,
• launch a campaign to increase the efficiency of sports facilities and raise awareness on energy poverty,
• conduct a feasibility study to evaluate the costs, return and other social and economic impacts of installing solar panels in sports facilities,
• create a document on greener alternatives to microplastics being used as infill material for articicial football pitches,
• design a strategic guideline for practicioners on how to replicate and overcome barriers in terms of implementation, targeting FAs, grassroots clubs and leagues level including a set of recommendations for FAs and clubs to draw local, national and European decision makers’ attention on the potential of sport as an SDG enabler, and to
• organise 8 multiplier events, conferences and direct meetingsto disseminate the main outcomes ofthe project, with a special emphasis on club managers and pitch owners so they consider to incorporate some of the tested actions at domestic level.

Partners

For the project, ECO is partnering up with five partners from five European countries. The Energieinstitut an der Johannes Kepler Universität Linz, a non-profit research organisation consisting of about 35 scholars whose sole focus of inquiry is the energy sphere and EFDN are technical partners.

The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), which will implement a pilot on PV potential and feasibility on sport facilities, the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF), which will implement a pilot on microplastics, and the Scottish Football Association (SFA), which will be in charge of the coordination of the pilot on reducing energy bills in facilities and vulnerable families.

Agenda

After reviewing the meeting objectives and agenda, the participants introduced themselves and shared their expected outcomes and whishes. All participants have a diverse professional background which led to a wide variety of emphasised topics all connected to the project in their unique way. The participants appreciated that the project leads to more knowledge and offers the possibility of networking while they were all wishing to avoid greenwashing. Afterwards, general information on coordination and management of the project was provided by ECO. Then, each technical partner and Football Association presented their tasks and implementation plan to the others.