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Sustainability’s biggest opportunity?
Posted by david in blog August 1, 2011Over 2,500 years ago on the sandy shores of Greece men pitted their athletic abilities against each other in the name of Zeus. Legend has it that the first competition was held by Hercules himself.
The term ‘Games’ belittles their stature. These events were so important to ancient Greek civilisation that archaeologists believe wars between Grecian states were put on hold for them to take place.
The idea of competition and the celebration of human endeavour, super-human focus and dedication to achieve things that have never been done before, still captures our imagination. 2,500 years ago this was the event of the civilised world.
Next year the Games come to London. A city in a country that talks a lot about sustainability. It puts its fair share of blood and sweat in too in my opinion.
The event still captures the imagination of the world. 1.3 billion people will watch the opening ceremony. Teams from 204 countries will compete. But when I’ve talked to people about how this jaw-droppingly huge opportunity can be used for sustainability, I’m met with a number of excuses. Most along the lines of…
‘…people are interested in sport, not sustainability’
‘…there’s going to be so much marketing and media hype around that there’s no point in trying. We should focus on something else instead.’
So we should wait for people to get interested in sustainability just when the media hasn’t got anything else to talk about? It’s like they can’t hear the clock ticking…
But you know what? Sustainability isn’t boring or unworthy of hype. It’s the thing that connects every individual in the stadiums and swimming pools; everyone watching it on screens from sofas, bars and bedrooms around the world. Sustainability is about people achieving amazing things. It’s about people getting together and doing things that have never been done before. Things that need to be done; now. Sustainability is the idea that’s turning air into energy, extracting gold from garbage and taking the impact out of consumption.
That’s why we’ve researched and written Games Theory, which was sponsored by Defra. It looks at the surprisingly scant evidence base for using large scale events to drive behaviour change on sustainability. It’s practical and to the point, have a look here.
Rather than discuss the content of the report, I’m going to ask you a question -
What, for sustainability are you looking forward to seeing happen at the Olympics next year?
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14:09
What would I like to see? The UK having ‘a bit of a tidy up’ before the guests come over!
So that visible recycling, electric vehicles, solar and wind power, cycling, green spaces etc become intrinsically part of our pride in our nation.
I’d love us all to feel a burning desire to live up to our ‘green and pleasant’ land image in the eyes of the world. That’s a legacy.
07:59
Thanks Soli, the house analogy is a brilliant one that taps into British culture in a really simple and strong way.
06:16
Special bike routes that encourage more of us to pedal our way to Stratford and back – let’s use the ‘VIP priority traffic lane’
; )
08:36
Yes, games in London will be a great opportunity to display sustainability messages. London games are aiming to set new standards, creating positive, lasting change for the environment and communities.
07:52
A clear communication strategy for guests regarding food and drink at events and multi- lingual signage for recycling all of the plastic waste from the spectators