Kick off meeting with the partners of the european project for the environmental sustainability of canoe events

Born with the aim of developing and implementing environmental standards and tools to be applied practically to the organization of sporting events, the project sees at the forefront the Italian Canoe Kayak Federation, leader of an international network composed of the School of Sport – Sport Impact of Sport e Salute Spa, the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, the  National Canoe Sports Federations of Greece,  Croatia and Slovenia, the International Canoe Federation. 

On 27 and 28 March, these seven organizations, belonging to sports, university and managerial fields, and representing five nations as well as the international world of canoeing, met at of the School of Sport in Rome to start a discussion on the first actions to be put in place. It has been established that a preliminary analysis of the state of the art of the environmental governance system and the maturity among the participating sports organizations will first be carried out to identify the most significant gaps and related areas for improvement. We will then collect, evaluate and test the main best practices implemented during canoe events to create a real information database with this. Finally, a sustainability assessment tool will be developed to support all sports organizations in analysing the environmental performance of events. Each project partner will therefore be committed to including the model in their events, in order to ensure a correct application of the good practices framed, promoting therefore a long-term impact of the results.

During the two days of work, the official logo of the project, created by the School of Sport, was also chosen as an integral part of the promotion and dissemination plan of the project.

After the Kick-Off, the project will continue in Milan within the International Speed Race of Milan on 15-16 April, an event during which the first data will be collected for the analysis of the environmental impact of the competition.

Studies and data that will continue also in the second appointment of Ivrea where, on 29 and 30 April, the International Race of canoe slalom will be staged.

The project, in its entirety, will last 30 months, and will end with the application of the final protocol at the Canoe Speed World Championship in Milan, in August 2025.