The new internet portal "Green Champions 2.0 for Sustainable Sports Events" is up and running as of today. The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) developed the portal with funding from the Federal Environment Ministry (BMUB) and in collaboration with the German Sport University Cologne (DSHS Köln) and the Öko-Institut Darmstadt. The website www.green-champions.de provides useful tips and instructions for organisers and interested parties for planning and executing sustainable sports events. The website is filled with checklists and practical examples for different types of events.
Thousands of sports events are held in Germany every year: from club championships to marathon races that attract tens of thousands of participants to world championships with international audiences. It is important for both small and large-scale events to take sustainability aspects into account in the planning stages. The website was therefore designed with a filter function that allows users to obtain information and instructions on the different phases of an event; right from application through to execution and evaluation. Users can also adjust the filters to match the type of event e.g. winter or summer event, competitive or mass sports event.
In addition, measures are categorised into different areas e.g. traffic and noise, energy and climate protection, construction and resources, waste, catering and merchandising, nature and landscape and sustainability management. The Green Champions 2.0 portal is based on the guidelines entitled "Green Champions for Sports and the Environment. Guidelines for environmentally friendly large sports events”, which was developed by the Institute for Applied Ecology in 2007 together with the German Sport University Cologne and funded by the Federal Environment Ministry and published by the DOSB.