Education and awareness from an early age are essential levers for cultivating a generation aware of environmental issues and ready to commit to a more sustainable future. Thus, there are different strategies to raise awareness among young people about a more environmentally friendly sport.
5 DIFFERENT ACTIONS TO TAKE IN PLACE TO RAISE AWARENESS TO YOUNG PEOPLE:
- Integrate environmental education into sports clubs:
Sports clubs play a crucial role in the lives of young athletes. By integrating environmental education programs into their activities, clubs can raise awareness among young athletes of the environmental issues that affect their sport.
These programs could include workshops, conferences, or educational outings to raise awareness about biodiversity, conservation, waste management, and carbon footprint.
- Organize eco-responsible sporting events:
Competitions and sporting events are excellent opportunities to promote more sustainable practices. Organizers can adopt eco-friendly measures such as recycling, using renewable energy, reducing plastic waste, and raising public awareness of the importance of these initiatives. Participants will thus witness responsible practices, and this will encourage their adoption in their own sporting practice.
- Highlight athletes committed to sustainable development:
Renowned athletes often have a significant influence on the younger generation. Highlighting athletes who are involved in sustainable development projects or who speak out in favor of the environment can inspire young people to follow their example.
Inspiring stories of athletes fighting for environmental causes will strengthen the connection between sport and sustainable development in the minds of young people.
- Encourage outdoor sports:
Favoring outdoor sports helps to better connect young people to nature and develop a real interest in the environment in them. Activities such as hiking, cycling, kayaking, or climbing lead them to appreciate the beauty of nature and raise awareness of its preservation.
- Use “gamification”:
Gamification is a powerful tool for engaging young people in a fun and interactive way. By integrating play elements into sustainable sport initiatives, learning about the environment becomes fun and engaging in this context.
By integrating this approach into sporting activities, it helps motivate young people to become active players in preserving the environment, while creating unforgettable memories around sustainability and sport. Something that Flycup allows by inserting a QR Code on our packaging, referring to a game centered around sporting eco-responsibility for example.
Furthermore, Weeztr also allows a game system linked to a questionnaire to be completed in a fun and playful way in order to calculate your carbon footprint. The more engaged the supporter is, the more points they earn. These points are subsequently transformed into a voucher that can be used with a committed partner such as Adidas, Nike, etc. A good compromise for young people between adopting a responsible attitude and benefiting from items from their favorite brand.
This allows Weeztr to create a link between the partners' brand events and the fan supporter through gamification via a questionnaire, and also to collect DATA.
- Involve schools and parents:
Schools and parents play a key role in raising awareness among young people about sustainable sport. School curricula can include modules on the environment and sustainability related to sport, while parents can encourage their children to engage in environmentally friendly sporting activities. The engagement of these key stakeholders will strengthen the impact of awareness raising.
CONCLUSION
Raising awareness among the new generation about more sustainable sport is an investment in the future of our planet. By integrating environmental education into sports clubs, organizing eco-responsible events, highlighting committed athletes, promoting outdoor sports, and involving schools and parents, we can cultivate a generation passionate about sport and determined to preserve the environment.