Sustainable contracts and charred forests full of life

The second round table of the Sports, sustainability and climate emergency conference, organized by the Master in Sports Management of the UPF Barcelona School of Management in collaboration with the consultancies Summa Sport and L'Origen, was entitled Measure and Understand: initiatives in the organization of events and has been moderated by Toni Aira, director of the Master in Political and Institutional Communication at UPF-BSM.

Carles Vallés, event coordinator of the Institut Barcelona Esports, has participated in this second roundtable. He has worked in the organization, among many others, of the Zurich Marató or the Tour de France; and Jordi Pinillos, from the organization Give a forest away.

Vallés has told what the public administration does in the organization of large sporting events and has spoken specifically about the Mitja Marató in Barcelona. This sporting event renews its contract that lasts six years in 2020 and in the new clause the environmental dimension is the one with the highest proportional growth: “This gives us an idea of ​​the concern of the Barcelona City Council in relation to respect for the environment environment, "said the spokesman.

"The objective is to leave behind images of polyurethane sponges on the ground and plastic bottles, which disappear in this edition", he stated and detailed that "despite the fact that in other races they have already been eliminated, it could not be done in this case until the contract is finalized ”.

Vallés has described the backbone of the environmental plan for this sporting event, which are regulations, communication and dissemination, prevention and 3R, environmental training, environmental indicators, GEH compensation and sustainable mobility.

Vallés has detailed that the contractor that carries out the career project has to define the negotiation with brands that can meet all these environmental requirements, with terms such as, for example, in the field of sustainable mobility, the promotion of public transport, promotion of the use of electric vehicles, offering parking for private bicycles, etc.

The contract also details the compensation of greenhouse gases: the contracting companies will have to calculate the carbon footprint and later purchase the corresponding credits to offset the emissions.

The organization is also committed to environmental training with its workers, volunteering and in terms of runners. The clause goes down to the detail of all aspects of the race, from the bag that is given to the participants -with the number and the shirt-; digital and paperless communications; the bottles, which disappear and are replaced by biodegradable glasses or even the fruit that is given, which must be from local producers.

Vallés has completed the explanation by recounting the experience with the collaboration of the bidder, which has led to improvements such as the distribution of the isotonic with a container that dissolves with saliva and LED information panels replacing the plastic ones.

Un bosque quemado lleno de deporte

Ha seguido el acto hablando Jordi Pinillos, de la organización Regala un bosque, con más de 25 años en la industria del deporte. Pinillos ha contado el origen de la organización nacida en 2003, cuando empezaron diversos incendios forestales cerca de Barcelona. “En nuestro país más de 100.000 hectáreas de bosque han sido calcinadas cada año por las llamas en la última década”, ha explicado Pinillos. Unas zonas que los corredores usaban para entrenar. “Muchas marcas deportivas usan imágenes de bosques en su publicidad, pero cuando se queman no hacen nada”, ha afirmado. Regala un bosque es Regala un bosque es un una campaña de sensibilización 100% solidaria, que pretende unir el deporte con el medio ambiente.

La iniciativa responde al objetivo claro de concienciar a la población de los efectos devastadores del fuego en nuestros bosques. El proyecto se desarrolla a través de una campaña de sensibilización en los medios, con la colaboración de personajes públicos del mundo del deporte -han contado con embajadores olímpicos como Luis Enrique, José Luis Blanco, etc.- y organizando una serie de carreras por distintos bosques quemados de la geografía española.

La participación en los eventos deportivos trata de tener un alto impacto en los atletas y caminantes, ya que el itinerario discurre por zonas totalmente devastadas por el fuego. De esta forma, una carrera o una caminata, que tendría que resultar muy agradable, se convierte en un ejercicio para la reflexión.