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The carbon footprint of active sport participants
Abstract
Researchers examining carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions (carbon footprint) in sport have focused on sport events and, to a lesser extent, sport teams, but provided only average or aggregate values. The author takes the perspective of active sport participants and considers the heterogeneity of individual sport participation behavior. Using online surveys, adult active sport participants (n = 6537) in 20 different sports with main residence in Germany were asked to report their sport-travel behavior in 2015, including traveling in the context of regular (weekly) activity, sport competitions/tournaments, league games, day trips, and training camps/vacations. Annual carbon footprints were estimated using information about travel distances and transportation means. The results revealed an average annual carbon footprint of 844 kg of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions, with individual sports producing more emissions than team/racket sports. Participants in nature sports had the highest emission levels. Regression analyses revealed that environmental consciousness significantly reduced carbon footprint in individual sports, but not in team/racket and nature sports, supporting the existence of an environmental value-action gap. Activity years, club membership, weekly exercise hours, performance level, and income were mainly positively associated with annual carbon footprint, while gender was insignificant. The findings have implications for policy makers and managers in sport associations and clubs. © 2018 Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand
... CBM assesses behavioral changes based on changing circumstances (i.e., infrastructural enhancement, changing travel distances) (Whitehead & Wicker, 2018). In existing sport travel research, the contingent behavior method has been applied to league game day travel (Whitehead et al., 2013) and participatory sport events like cycling and running events (Whitehead & Wicker, 2018;2019). However, CBM has not yet been applied to pro-environmental travel behavior. ...
... The travel cost method has frequently been employed to assess the monetary value of nature sport destinations (for an overview, see Orlowski & Wicker, 2019), but it has not yet been used to examine pro-environmental travel behavior. Such behavior has typically been examined using carbon footprint analysis (e.g., Collins et al., 2009;Wicker, 2019). These studies relied on surveys where participants reported about their travel behavior and specifically travel distances and transportation means. ...
... These studies relied on surveys where participants reported about their travel behavior and specifically travel distances and transportation means. This information was converted into carbon footprint estimates using emission factors of different transportation means, with low carbon emissions indicating high levels of pro-environmental behavior (Wicker, 2019). For example, existing studies examined the carbon footprints of active sport participants (Wicker, 2019), sports club members (e.g., Thormann & Wicker, 2021), snow sport tourists (Wicker, 2018), and spectators of sport events (e.g., Collins et al., 2009) or league games (Cooper & McCullough, 2021). ...
Drawing on a rational choice framework, this study investigates fans’ stated preferences for (more) environmentally-friendly stadium travel (bicycles/e-scooters) on game days. Data from fans of a German Football Bundesliga club were collected using an online survey in 2021 ( n = 1,652). Travel preferences were assessed using the contingent behavior method. The results of regression analyses indicate that the likelihood of using environmentally-friendly transportation means increases with perceived benefits, while perceived costs decrease this likelihood. Specifically, perceived environmental benefits and being an environmental role model had a positive effect, while monetary, convenience, and time-related costs had a negative effect.
... Scholars note that ecological and carbon footprint methods are commonly used to measure CO 2 emissions (e.g. Pereira et al., 2019Pereira et al., , 2020Cooper & Alderman, 2020;Cooper & McCullough, 2021;Dolf & Teehan, 2015;Grofelnik, 2010;Triantafyllidis et al., 2018;Wicker, 2018Wicker, , 2019. These studies each place focus on carbon capture and ways of offsetting one's carbon footprint. ...
... While seemingly expected, there is clear evidence that those who travel longer distances to participate at sporting events usually produce more CO 2 than those who travel shorter distances (see also, Dolf & Teehan, 2015;Pereira et al., 2019;Triantafyllidis & Davakos, 2019;Cooper & McCullough, 2021). Moreover, Wicker (2018Wicker ( , 2019 and Thormann and Wicker (2021) also indicate factors that influence different generations of active sport participants' carbon footprint. These include income, education, gender, environmental consciousness, and level of performance. ...
... Cooper & Alderman, 2020;Cooper & McCullough, 2021;Dolf & Teehan, 2015;Loewen & Wicker, 2021;Pereira et al., 2019Pereira et al., , 2020Triantafyllidis et al., 2018) or personnel (Ito et al., 2022) who travel to sporting events. Additionally, Wicker (2018Wicker ( , 2019 used it to determine differences in the annual carbon footprint of active sport participants in different sports. Wicker's studies determined that participants in individual and nature sports have higher than average carbon footprint, of which more than 50% has been driven by vacation-related travel. ...
Sporting events continue to be one of the most popular types of tourism today. With this, more attention in scholarly research needs to focus on carbon footprint in relation to how people transport themselves to events. This empirical paper is concerned with the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of active sports tourists who travel to participate in outdoor events. More specifically, it aims to calculate the overall travel carbon footprint of trail runners and examine the factors that influence their travel carbon footprint. Surveys were conducted with running participants at the 100 Miles of Istria ultra-trail event held in Croatia. 21.2% of the event participants (209 of 988) completed the study. Multiple regression analysis is used to assess socio-economic and demographic data factors associated with individual travel carbon footprint. Trip distance, income and experience use history are positively associated while the number of participants in vehicle and age are negatively associated with participants’ travel carbon footprint. Education, environmental consciousness, and gender did not affect participants’ travel carbon footprint. Findings imply strategies and initiatives for sporting event organizers and policymakers to encourage pro-environmental consumer behaviour and reduce CO2 emissions.
... This view ignores that many physical activities and sports also have impacts on planetary health [33]. These effects are often negative and arise from travel (e.g. from fossil fuel emissions caused to travel to sport/exercise facilities) [34], land use and energy consumption of facilities [35], and the effects of sports on biodiversity [36]. For example, alpine skiing has been shown to cause high CO 2 emissions due to the high levels of energy required to produce artificial snow and seriously affects vegetation on slopes [34,37,38]. ...
... These effects are often negative and arise from travel (e.g. from fossil fuel emissions caused to travel to sport/exercise facilities) [34], land use and energy consumption of facilities [35], and the effects of sports on biodiversity [36]. For example, alpine skiing has been shown to cause high CO 2 emissions due to the high levels of energy required to produce artificial snow and seriously affects vegetation on slopes [34,37,38]. Golf has been criticized as not being eco-friendly due to its land-use, the use of water, and the use of chemicals [39,40]. ...
... Similarly, water consumption is a problem for tennis, as the annual consumption of drinking water for watering tennis courts is more than 450,000 liters per court per year in some world regions [41]. For many other sports, transportation to and from sporting venues creates a high carbon footprint (even on a recreational level) [34]. Due to these negative effects of PA on the environment, it seems to be highly relevant to include planetary health as an additional outcome beyond the sole individual health effects of PA. ...
... This view ignores that many physical activities and sports also have impacts on planetary health [27]. These effects are often negative and arise from travel (e.g. from fossil fuel emissions caused to travel to sport/exercise facilities) [28], land use and energy consumption of facilities [29], and the effects of sports on biodiversity [30]. ...
... For example, alpine skiing has been shown to cause high CO2 emissions due to the high levels of energy required to produce artificial snow and seriously affects vegetation on slopes [28,31,32]. The land-use of golf has been criticized as not being eco-friendly [33], and the annual consumption of drinking water for watering Tennis courts is more than 450,000 liters in some world regions [34]. ...
... The land-use of golf has been criticized as not being eco-friendly [33], and the annual consumption of drinking water for watering Tennis courts is more than 450,000 liters in some world regions [34]. For many other sports, transportation to and from sporting venues creates a high carbon footprint (even on a recreational level) [28]. Due to these negative effects of PA on the environment, it seems to be highly These are physical activities that, by their very nature, have important environmental co-benefits. ...
Due to the many benefits of physical activity for human health, its promotion has established itself as an important public health topic. Global warming is influencing how and when people can be physically active, requiring adaptation measures to combat heat. At the same time, many physical activities, particularly when it comes to sport and exercise, cause carbon emissions and effect environments negatively, which opens discussions on potential ways of mitigation. This commentary lays out a framework for research priorities in the field of physical activity promotion from a perspective of planetary health. Its intent is to stimulate discussions on how research in this field can be aligned with planetary health.
... Since transport is one of the major contributors to pollution, the presence of thousands of fans every week at the most diverse sporting events is an enormous source of pollution [18]. The importance of transport is seen in its global dimension, representing 1/5 of global emissions of greenhouse gas (GHG) [19]. The transport of people is the most direct contributor to these emissions, and analysing this factor can help make sporting events more sustainable [7]. ...
... Regarding behaviour expressed as a means of travel, sportingly, this has been carried out in different contexts, such as spectators [7,[22][23][24], tourists [25,26], or sportsmen [19,27]. The sports context varies from university [12] to semi-professional [11] and professional [13]. ...
... Concerning the type of audience, investigations are mostly executed with spectators [3,7,11-13,21] except for a stakeholder study (i.e., members, sponsors, and collaborators) [28] and one for sports practitioners [19]. ...
This research focuses on the analysis of the travel behaviour of paid members of a professional sports organisation (PSO) on the route taken between their areas of residence to the stadium. The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between the type of transport, fuel, and number of occupants members selected for this displacement. An online survey was distributed among PSO’s paid members, and a total of 5694 responses were obtained. Data were analysed through descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. Most members travel to the stadium by car (66%); public transport (subway, train, and bus) is used by 23.5%, and only 5.1% use vehicles powered by more environmentally friendly energies. There is a relationship between the distance travelled between members’ residences and the selected means of transport, the fuel used, and the number of people transported. Globally, it is necessary to define policies that promote the use of public transport to the detriment of an individual vehicle. Individually, paid members are required to become aware of the pollution generated when travelling to the stadium, promoting new behaviours (e.g., using a car with more occupants). PSOs can generate new forms of communication to attract new members and alternative sources of income.
... By pushing supporters to adopt sustainable behaviours, sports organisations can improve their reputation and credibility (Baena, 2018), enhance customer loyalty (Bauer et al., 2008) and broaden their customer base (Trail & McCullough, 2020). This is because supporters, as sports event participants, are increasingly becoming conscious of their environmental impact (Wicker, 2019) and are more likely to support organisations that align with their values (Trail & McCullough, 2020). ...
... However, an active contribution of supporters is crucial to maximise the benefits from the sports organisations' adoption of sustainable practices (Casper et al., 2020;Wicker, 2019). In fact, supporters' behaviours are crucial for the success of many practices, especially during sports events (Daddi et al., 2021). ...
... Consequently, several professional football clubs are adopting green practices to improve their environmental performance and reputation. To this end, they need to engage supporters to reduce the environmental impacts of professional football matches (Wicker, 2019). In fact, effective green marketing campaigns aimed at directly involving supporters in environmental behaviours are crucial for clubs to increase their possibility of carrying out successful environmental strategies. ...
This paper aims to investigate how supporters perceive and react to environmental messages that call for reducing the environmental impact of sporting events. Based on prospect theory, we randomly provided 1423 supporters attending football events in Europe with (1) a negative (perceived loss for supporters), (2) a neutral (no perceived gain or loss) or a (3) a positive (perceived gain for supporters) environmental message and measured their attitudes towards the message, pro‐environmental behavioural intentions and perceived consumer effectiveness. Our results reveal that supporters show traits of collective behaviour during sports events that may lower the in‐stadium effectiveness of environmental messages. The environmental commitment of the favoured sports club increases the influence of green marketing on supporters with higher levels of environmental values and knowledge, but only when they depart from a collective identity. This paper contributes to green marketing literature revealing that modelling collective behaviours of members of groups exposed to highly emotional situations should be coordinated with information and awareness‐raising campaigns in everyday life. We also contribute to the prospect theory showing that loss aversion prevails in risk‐free conditions even though it does not directly shape supporters' behavioural intentions.
... 18 Emissions were especially caused by the transportation required for sport practices, but also by the energy consumption (heating, cooling) of sport and exercise facilities. 18,31 Wicker calculated that individual sports, such as gym-based exercise programmes, carry a rather small carbon foot print (228 kg per person per year) when compared with the average carbon footprint of 20 different sports (844 kg). 31 Popular sports such as water aerobics, on the other hand, have a rather large carbon footprint, due to the high energy consumption of heated indoor pools. ...
... 18,31 Wicker calculated that individual sports, such as gym-based exercise programmes, carry a rather small carbon foot print (228 kg per person per year) when compared with the average carbon footprint of 20 different sports (844 kg). 31 Popular sports such as water aerobics, on the other hand, have a rather large carbon footprint, due to the high energy consumption of heated indoor pools. 31 Boussabaine and colleagues estimated that heated indoor swimming pools consume 1.250-1.750 ...
... 31 Popular sports such as water aerobics, on the other hand, have a rather large carbon footprint, due to the high energy consumption of heated indoor pools. 31 Boussabaine and colleagues estimated that heated indoor swimming pools consume 1.250-1.750 kWh/m 2 of energy per year, compared with the substantially lower energy consumption of gyms (210-350 kWh/m 2 per year). ...
Background
Fighting the climate crisis is the greatest challenge of our time and will touch all aspects of people’s lives. In this context, the United Nations (UN) have called on the sport sector to reduce its negative impacts on the environment and show ‘climate leadership’. While some efforts have already been made with regards to mega sport events, there is still a dearth of approaches on limiting the climate impact of recreational sport and exercise programmes.
Methods
Based on the UN-Framework ‘Sports for Climate Action’, literature reviews and additional desk research, a checklist to support local level stakeholders in providing climate-friendly sport and exercise programmes was developed.
Results
The proposed checklist consists of five dimensions that need to be considered when designing and offering a climate-friendly sport and exercise programme: (i) active transport to exercise programmes, (ii) the carbon footprint of different types of exercises, (iii) low carbon sport clothing and equipment, (iv) instructors as champions for climate action and (v) advertising and communication. These five dimensions result in a 16-item checklist that supports the planning, advertising, implementation and evaluation of climate-friendly sport and exercise programmes.
Conclusions
The proposed checklist intends to facilitate the development of climate-friendly sport and exercise programmes. However, additional work is needed to test the implementation of the checklist at the local level. While the sport sector can make its own contributions to reduce its climate impact, intersectoral action is needed to improve infrastructure for active transport and to build sustainable sport facilities.
... Nevertheless, and referring to the value-action gap, EC does not necessarily lead to PEB as the potential effect of PEB to, e.g., reduce global greenhouse emissions might be underestimated (Cologna, Berthold, & Siegrist, 2022). The environmental value-action gap describes the gap between environmental attitudes and related behavior (Blake, 1999) and can be explained by the low-cost hypothesis assuming that environmental attitudes are more likely to result in PEB under conditions of low cost and low inconvenience (Diekmann & Preisendörfer, 2003;Wicker, 2018Wicker, , 2019. As eating no meat is a low-cost initiative that even saves approximately 20-30% in food expenditure (Springmann, Clark, Rayner, Scarborough, & Webb, 2021), the value-action gap for this PEN facet might be comparably low. ...
... Table 5 in the Appendix). This EC scale is established in previous sport ecology research (Thormann & Wicker, 2021b;Wicker, 2019;Thormann, Wicker, & Braksiek, 2022), and was validated in previous research (Diekmann & Preisendörfer, 2003). The reliability of this scale was tested by calculating Cronbach's α, which is 0.894, thus indicating a very good reliability (Hair, Black, Babin, & Anderson, 2013). ...
Concerns about consequences of everyday nutrition have led to a gender gap in pro-environmental nutrition (PEN), implying that women decide more often to limit their meat consumption than men. For sport and football managers who increasingly deal with environmental sustainability while aiming to increase female audiences, the question arises of whether the gender gap in PEN also applies to football fans. Based on socialization theory, the safety-concerns hypothesis, ecofeminism, and a conceptual model on prosocial behavior, this study analyzed gender differences in environmental consciousness (EC) and everyday PEN and examined how gender moderates the impact of these two factors on the interest in vegan food in football stadiums. An online survey ( n = 1605) of fans of a German Football League club was conducted to assess fans’ interest in the offer of a vegan sausage or burger. Empirical findings confirm the gender gap in EC. Women are significantly more likely to adopt PEN everyday if they have a high EC. Furthermore, women are significantly more likely to eat often/always a vegetarian diet everyday than men. Finally, women have a significantly higher interest in the offer of vegan food in the football stadium than men, irrespective of the EC level. Although we confirm the gender gap in EC and everyday PEN, sport managers learn from our findings that the growing female audience at football games is generally more interested in the availability of vegan food at the stadium than men are, irrespective of their EC or PEN in everyday life.
... Through this large number of participants, sport not only has positive impacts but can have negative impacts on the environment, e.g. the destruction of natural habitats or travel impacts (Collins, Jones, & Munday, 2009;McCullough, Orr, & Watanabe, 2020). In Germany, sport travel has an average annual carbon footprint of 844 kg of CO2-equivalent emissions per person (Wicker, 2019). However, sport is also influenced by environmental changes (e.g. ...
... Outdoor sport interacts more with and is naturally more dependent on an intact environment than indoor sport (e.g. Mourey, Perrin-Malterre, & Ravanel, 2020), but outdoor sport has a higher carbon footprint due to travel requirements than indoor sport (Wicker, 2019). It was therefore expected that outdoor sport federations could have a strong incentive to consider environmental policies. ...
Since national sport federations (NSFs) represent sport clubs and engage in sport policy issues, they could play a crucial role in establishing measures to ensure the environmental sustainability of sport. Several Swiss sport federations have already launched such programmes. However, sport federations are primarily committed to the interests of their member clubs and the sport as their core business and environmental sustainability is generally not their primary issue. With regard to the usually limited resources, their environmental engagement does not appear to be evident. Therefore, this study investigated the extent to which environmental policies are generated by NSFs and which factors are relevant for policy genesis (agenda setting and decision coupling). We conducted an in-depth case study of the Swiss Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association based on the multiple streams approach with two coupling phases. The findings showed that whereas agenda setting of policies regarding biodiversity and access to nature primarily occurs through national regulations, climate protection policies are mainly pushed by engaged policy entrepreneurs. Nevertheless, member interests, functional issues (as opposed to normative arguments) and the practices of similar federations were found to be crucial for all environmental policies. Because decisions regarding environmental policies require knowledge that does not necessarily belong to the core topics of the board of management, the support of environmental officers is key for the decision coupling of such. An understanding of environmental policy genesis is essential because it is prerequisite for the subsequent implementation of such policies and their effects.
... In recent years, these environmental concerns have been associated with the sports industry (Mallen and Chard, 2011;Martins et al., 2021). One of the most important parts of the climate change problem due to carbon footprint is the sports sector (Wicker, 2019;Cooper, 2020;Wilby et al., 2023). Because the sports sector is one of the areas where human activities are most intense. ...
... The study conducted by Wicker (2019), focusing on the carbon footprint of active sports participants in Germany, revealed an annual average of 844 kg carbon dioxide equivalent emission carbon footprint. Another study by Pereira et al. (2019) focused on the carbon footprint of English Premier League teams over a season. ...
Today, the sports industry is one of the most important sources of concern due to its negative environmental effects. Especially due to the intense competition schedule, teams and fans have to travel constantly. In this context, the aim of this study, which aims to fill the gap in the literature, is to calculate the carbon footprints of the teams in the Turkish and Lithuanian national basketball leagues based on their travels in the 2021–22 season. The research was limited to Turkey and Basketball national basketball league teams. In the study, the travel distances of the teams in both countries during the 2021–22 basketball season were used as a data set. In the study, the values used in the carbon footprint calculation of 2022 by the United Kingdom Government GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting and accepted as the IPCC carbon dioxide emission factor were used. While the carbon footprint, which is obtained by multiplying the emission factor directly by the distance covered by the vehicle type, is presented in tons; The average value calculated for each person was calculated in kg. In the sports sector, basketball is one of the most important sources of transportation-related carbon footprint due to its being one of the team sports and its intense competition schedule. According to the results of this research conducted specifically for Turkey and Lithuania, the total carbon footprint calculated for both countries is 53,029 tons. To make an assessment for both countries, in order to reduce travel based on sports; Arranging league calendars to include less travel, dissemination of green and clean energy-using (electric) vehicles, raising the awareness of club managers, developing environmental assessment policies specific to basketball federations, and increasing cooperation through awareness and training activities seem feasible for sustainable environment and basketball goals.
... Nevertheless, the carbon footprint is a tool used to assess the sustainability of different industries, individual consumption, and communication [75], as well as green policies' development and implementation processes [76]. Moreover, this tool has also been used lately in the analyses of sports and recreational activities, including active sports participants in general [77], sports tourism [78], skiing and snowboarding [79], university team sports events [80], football fandom [81], and-what is most interesting from the point of view of the topic of this paper-marathon runners [82]. There is also relatively a significant number of analyses of sports mega-events' carbon footprints, especially FIFA World Cup events [83][84][85][86][87]. ...
... Only an extensive survey focusing on the exact lifestyle of leisure runners could provide relevant data enabling the measurement of the environmental impact of such forms of activity. The studies that resulted in the specific estimation of carbon footprint of sports participants, such as Wicker's study [77], were based on the data collected in a survey. An average yearly footprint of 844 kg of carbon dioxide emissions has been estimated, and this study was restricted to active sports participants in Germany in 2015. ...
This study addresses the social impact of the popularity of recreational running (called: running boom). Four dimensions are classified: (1) economic, (2) health and psychological well-being, (3) environmental and (4) social (in narrow sense). The first three of these were included in the analysis performed. The analysis relates to Polish society in 2018 and is based on a thought experiment assuming that 3.4 million recreational runners engage in leisure activities as passive and indifferent to their surroundings as possible instead of running. What economic, health, and environmental consequences would this have? The interdisciplinary analysis uses and combines existing scientific findings. The economic effects of the running boom include at least PLN 1.7 billion spent annually on the purchase of running equipment (not including effects related to employee health, development of running tourism, etc.). The health effects include at least a 30% reduction in the risk of death in the next 15 years for the population of runners. Finally, the carbon footprint of Polish amateur runners can be estimated at 2.9 million tons of CO2.
... Alltagsmobilität untersucht wurden (Mascarenhas et al., 2021). Eine aktuelle Studie für Deutschland untersuchte beispielsweise Emissionen aufgrund des Mobilitätsverhalten von Hobby-Sportler_innen und fand eine hohe Korrelation zwischen höherem Einkommen und mehr Emissionen sowie substanziell höhere Emissionen von In-dividualsportler_innen sowie naturbezogenen Sportarten im Vergleich zu Teamsport (Wicker, 2019). Studien zu den bei Sport und Hobbys genutzten Gütern und Dienstleistungen sind teilweise produktspezifisch auffindbar, eine systemische Betrachtung der Klimafreundlichkeit verschiedener Hobbys und Sportarten, welche auch die gesamten Implikationen für Emissionen erfassen, fehlen bisher. ...
Zusammenfassung
Koordinierende_r Leitautor_in
Barbara Smetschka
... The study's primary objective was to investigate the relationship between the transformational inner qualities of connectedness and sustainable attitudes and behavior in athletes of different sports. This study extended the study of Wicker (2019) in that way, that first, only athletes who have practiced their sport for more than eight years and several times per week (see Jansen, Hoja, & Meneghetti, 2021) participated, second, the combination of the two dimensions individualteam sports and indoor-outdoor sports is investigated as well as the relevance of the connection factor towards other people, the pro-socialness. 1 In detail, the following hypotheses were investigated: 1. ...
Variables of connectedness (prosocialness and connectedness to nature) are related to sustainable behavior and attitude. This study investigates if athletes of different types of sport differ in their sustainable
attitudes and behavior. Two-hundred twenty-five athletes participated, 53 from
individual indoor sports, 46 from individual, outdoor sports, 65 from team-indoor sports, and 61 from team outdoor sports. All athletes completed questionnaires on prosocialness, connectedness to nature, and sustainable attitudes and behavior. The
results provide evidence for the relationship between connectedness and sustainable attitudes and behavior. Sustainable attitudes were predicted by connectedness to nature (β= 0.287, p< 0.001) and age (β= 0.230, p= 0.048), sustainable behavior by connectedness to nature, (β= 0.250,
p= 0.001) and prosocialness (β= 0.268, p= 0.003). There is no difference in prosocialness in athletes from individual vs teamsports. However, athletes practicing outdoor sports are more connected to nature than those practicing indoor sports. Moreover, athletes from individual outdoor sports show the highest values in sustainable attitude and behavior. The underlying mechanism for this result might be worth to be investigated in more depth.
... Beijing and its surrounding regions, namely the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, have long suffered from severe air pollution problems, mainly caused by coal burning, industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust, dust storms, and biomass burning [8][9][10]. Hosting the Winter Olympics may have exacerbated the air pollution problem in this region, as it required the massive construction and renovation of sports venues, transportation infrastructure, accommodation facilities, and other supporting services [11]. Moreover, hosting the Winter Olympics may have also increased the demand for heating, electricity, and transportation during the winter season, which may have further increased the emissions of greenhouse gases and particulate matter [12]. ...
Major sporting events, such as the Olympic Games, can harm air quality due to the construction of large stadiums and other sporting facilities, the transportation of athletes and spectators, and the consumption of energy and resources. To successfully host the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chinese government has taken measures to improve air quality in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, such as limiting car use, closing polluting businesses, and increasing clean energy. Whether these measures have effectively improved the air quality in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region and whether they have had a sustained impact are the concerns of this study. In this study, based on air quality statistics for 24 Chinese cities from 2014–2022, including 2592 observations, we investigated the impact of the Beijing Winter Olympics on the air quality in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region using the difference-in-difference (DID) method. Our empirical findings indicate that the Beijing Winter Olympics significantly impacted the air quality in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. We observed a 25% reduction in the air quality index (AQI) and a 28% reduction in the levels of PM2.5, holding all other factors constant. Trend analysis further suggests that the Beijing Winter Olympics contributed to the region’s long-term trend of air quality improvement. We performed a series of robustness tests, all indicating the reliability of our basic conclusions. In addition, the heterogeneity analysis shows a significant effect of the pollution level and the distance from the capital on the effectiveness of air quality improvement, while economic development had no significant impact. Our findings have important implications for policymakers and other stakeholders interested in improving air quality. The significant improvements from the Beijing Winter Olympics suggest that implementing similar initiatives in other regions may also have positive effects.
... However, this study confirms that excessive travel duration is not associated with increased well-being in FSE tourism contexts, 60 which may be explained by travel stress and fatigue in tourism. 71 Thus, the relationship between the well-being of event tourists, time, and frequency was revealed, providing a basis for subsequent research to explore other important influences on the well-being of event tourism. ...
Introduction:
This study explores the well-being dimensional components of event tourists and their identification processes in validating the well-being occurrence mechanism of event tourism and the correlation between the well-being of event tourists and the frequency and length of event tourism.
Methods:
This study adopted a sequential mixed-methods design that followed a pragmatic paradigm through a photo interview with event tourists and festival travel organizers (N=16). The qualitative research method provided evidence to explore the framework of content and dimensional identification of event tourists' well-being according to Seligman's PERMA model. The quantitative research phase (N=475) focused on identifying and validating the PERMA model in the event tourist well-being dimension through descriptive statistical analysis and validated factor analysis, followed by a one-way analysis of covariance to explore the effects of the frequency and endurance of FSE tourism.
Results:
The results show quantitative differences in the well-being dimensions and framework presentation of the PERMA model (Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationship, Meaning, and Achievement). R (relationship) and A (achievement) are identified and validated as dimensions of well-being outcomes for event tourists, while single-day or short trips of 2-3 days were most significant for event tourists' perceived well-being.
Conclusion:
This study provides an empirical argument, thus providing an empirical argument for uncovering the deeper influencing and exhibiting factors of the PERMA theoretical framework and a research paradigm for PERMA theory in more tourism behaviors and psychology. Second, this study provides an in-depth explanation of the five dimensions of well-being in the PERMA model. The findings show the salience of the relationship and achievement in FSE tourism well-being, providing theoretical insight into existing studies integrating positive psychology models for in-depth tourism well-being research.
... Also, winter sports deal with their endangered playground once there is less snow and ice (Taylor, 2019). While the sports sector is a victim of global warming's impact, it is also a contributor: adult active sports participants have an average annual carbon footprint of 844 kg of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions, with individual sports producing more emissions than team/racket sports (Wicker, 2019). Thus, finding solutions that reduce the sports industry's environmental impact is crucial. ...
participants have an average annual carbon footprint of 844 kg of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions. Thus, it is crucial to find solutions that reduce the sports industry's environmental impact. In this context, the circular economy emerges as a possible alternative. This paper analyses a sports production and retail company transitioning to the circular economy. First, we identified 154 internal circular projects concerning 89 product categories and classified them into different circular strategies and approaches. Then, we conducted interviews with 33 project representatives. Our results show that repair & maintenance is the most employed loop, but sharing economy and recycling also have an essential role. Each circularity loop presents specific challenges, but personal conviction is the common motivator. However, there is a need for greater allocation of resources such as time and budget. Additionally, strong governance is essential to structure these initiatives.
... A first part of the developed self-administered questionnaire included a set of items referring to the impact of the event (Ahmed, 2017;Kim et al., 2015;Perić, 2018). The second part assessed respondent's level of environmental consciousness by using the environmental consciousness scale (Wicker, 2019). The third part aimed to measure local residents' support (Lee & Krohn, 2013;Reis & Sperandei, 2014). ...
The tourism industry has been exposed to different crisis situations, which reveal tourism’s vulnerability and jeopardise its development through the damage they inflict as well as through their unpredictability. Tourism has shown resilience in rebounding in the aftermath of crises. In a changing globalized world where crises are affecting people’s lives, managing them is an integral part of effective destination management. The main goal is to research the readiness of the tourism system for crises and to underline the importance of crisis management in order to strengthen the resilience of tourism to the effects of crises. To find out about existing crisis management plans and measures, content analysis was used by searching the official websites of Croatian tourist boards and published documents, as well as secondary data sources, including scientific journals, conference papers and reports. The findings show that crisis management is characterised by the awareness, responsibility, and cooperation of relevant tourism stakeholders, who must be involved in undertaking timely proactive and reactive activities to successfully manage crisis situations. The limitation of the paper is that it is based on previous research and on a literature review. Primary research is recommended in future studies.
... A first part of the developed self-administered questionnaire included a set of items referring to the impact of the event (Ahmed, 2017;Kim et al., 2015;Perić, 2018). The second part assessed respondent's level of environmental consciousness by using the environmental consciousness scale (Wicker, 2019). The third part aimed to measure local residents' support (Lee & Krohn, 2013;Reis & Sperandei, 2014). ...
In the post-epidemic era, rural tourism with low consumption, close proximity and high frequency is favored. Most rural tourism products need to break the closed conditions of development and design, comprehensively and systematically understand the motivation, needs and behavior characteristics of rural tourists, and match with rural tourism products and services, so as to achieve the breakthrough of tourist loyalty and the sustainable development of rural tourism. This study aims to provide countermeasures for the development and management of rural tourism destinations from the aspects of stimulating demand and eliminating obstacles, so as to improve the overall competitiveness and sustainable development of rural tourism destinations in China. This study conducted semi-structured interviews and exploratory research on tourists from tourism demonstration villages with deep farming culture in central China and obtained the components of rural tourism motivation and perceived constraints in the context of the normalized epidemic situation. This paper further reveals the interaction mechanism between motivation and “negative motivation”, discovers the independence between core tourism motivation factors and key structural constraints of rural tourists, and constructs a complete mechanism model of the influence of motivation demand on behavioral intention.
... A first part of the developed self-administered questionnaire included a set of items referring to the impact of the event (Ahmed, 2017;Kim et al., 2015;Perić, 2018). The second part assessed respondent's level of environmental consciousness by using the environmental consciousness scale (Wicker, 2019). The third part aimed to measure local residents' support (Lee & Krohn, 2013;Reis & Sperandei, 2014). ...
Ecological cultural tourism can promote local tourism and economic development, but also can play an important role in the local inheritance and protection of ecological culture. Therefore, the interactive research of ethnic minority ecological culture activation and tourism development in western regions is of important significance to the protection of ecological and cultural tourism resources in western ethnic minorities. Ecological cultural tourism is an important way to activate ecological culture and is of great significance in realizing the economic revitalization of ethnic minority areas. This paper analyzes the overview of the resources and the development process, analyzes the problems, the relationship between ecological culture activation and tourism development, constructs the development mode for ethnic minorities and tourism activities in western region to promote the common development of ecological culture activation and tourism development in western region.
... In addition, the sports practiced by the athletes from the list include American football, baseball, basketball, boxing, football [=soccer], golf, racing, and tennis. All these sports generate a substantial ecological footprint, either by the organization of mass events that gather people traveling from different parts of the world or by the large use of resources (e.g., water and electricity) to maintain pitches and grounds where the sports are practiced (Collins et al., 2009;Grant, 2014;Wicker, 2019). For example, the stadiums of the two most popular football teams in Spain, Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona, can hold over 80000 people each, and these teams can play 2-4 times a year filling the maximum capacity of the stadiums every time. ...
Public figures like actors, musicians, and professional athletes can reach a wide audience and so, convey an important message to preserve our natural resources. However, there are differences among all these types of public figures regarding their environmental awareness and activism. Despite substantial earnings coming from their salary or endorsements, pro-environmental actions do not seem to be part of the agenda of many high-paid athletes and environmental activism among professional athletes remains low. Instead of making a significant contribution to protecting the planet, many athletes invest their money in the acquisition of expensive objects or mansions, become businesspeople, or even squander their profits. Thus, this is a call for professional athletes to get involved in environmental activism and adopt an environmentally friendly lifestyle.
... Collins et al., 2012). Yet, there is very limited research on regular, especially grassroots sport-related events, participation, and mobility Bunds & Casper, 2018;Cooper & McCullough, 2021;Herold et al., 2019;Wicker, 2019). Consequently, there are gaps in research dealing with organizational and managerial motivation/resistance to accept ecological responsibilities and to address (negative) environmental impacts (Breitbarth & Herold, 2018;Schaltegger & Burritt, 2018). ...
Research Question
Climate change continues to be a critical issue that impacts the ways we produce and consume sport. The extent to which sport responds to climate change (e.g. minimizing carbon emissions, adapting to climate impacts) will become more dire. Thus, it is crucial for sport to respond now to address current and emerging sustainability challenges. The popularity of sport can create opportunities to promote and influence individual behaviour change and drive organizational efforts to be environmentally sustainable.
Research Methods
The sport management academy is currently limited in its efforts to highlight, examine, and educate industry and students on the issues raised due to changes in the natural environment and the impact on the sport sector. The five articles included in this special issue aim to begin to bridge this gap.
Results and Findings
Sport is not inherently sustainable or unsustainable. We introduce this special issue to provide an overview of the current and future environmental challenges in sport management.
Implications
We encourage sport researchers to critically assess existing practices and enhance the management knowledge that not only influences the world of sport and sport managers, but also policymakers and sport fans on mitigating the impacts of climate change. We hope the following articles spark ideas, discussions, and further research projects.
... The management of resources such as water also present challenges for the sustainability of sport activities as the climate continues to change [21]. Researchers have also examined the carbon footprint of various sport activities, including the amount of carbon produced by community ice hockey teams [22], as well as those from sport tourists and participants [5,23]. Despite this recent surge in research utilizing environmental measures to examine the impact of sport on the environment, few studies have used secondary data to measure actual effects [24]. ...
(1) Background: Prior research has found that large-scale sporting events may potentially impose negative consequences on the environment, thus impeding the sustainability goals of the sport industry. Along these lines, the current study extends the literature by examining the impact that National Football League (NFL) games have on local-area air pollution. (2) Methods: Air Quality Index (AQI) data measuring six major forms of air pollution were gathered from air monitors positioned close to NFL stadiums and matched with the number of attendees at games. From this, multiple regression analysis was utilized to estimate whether the number of fans was related to changes in air pollution. (3) Results: The regression models found that Ozone and Nitrogen Dioxide levels increased as more individuals attended NFL games. Additional robustness checks and falsification tests suggest that the average NFL event results in an approximately two-percent increase in Ozone levels. (4) Conclusions: The findings from this study contribute to the literature by providing evidence that highly attended sporting events increase pollution levels in the areas near stadiums. Thus, governments and sport organizations should consider low-emission methods to get fans to travel to games in order to reduce their environmental impact.
... Secondly, sport management research on the natural environment is dominantly about the 'inside-out' perspective by understanding how activities in the sport context have impacted the environment (e.g., Wicker, 2019). In comparison, the 'outside-in' perspective where the environment impacts sport activities and organisational operations has been understudied (Orr & Inoue, 2018). ...
This paper seeks to answer the question: what impacts athletes’ decision-making to continue or withdraw from an endurance sport event under environmental uncertainty amid the rise of extreme weathers? Underpinned by prospect theory and the framework of risk information seeking, qualitative data were collected via 14 in-depth semi-structured interviews with amateur and professional athletes and coded using thematic analysis. Findings suggest that endurance sport athletes do consider withdrawal as an option before and during an event. The severity of weather and a lack of physical and psychological preparedness may lead to the decision of withdrawal. Additionally, different decisions can be made under an interplay between weather conditions and physical and psychological status. Event organisers, family, friends and fellow participants may also influence athletes’ decision-making. Finally, based on personal goals set for an event, both risk-seeking (continue) and risk-aversion (discontinue) behaviours may occur when facing the same environmental uncertainty. The paper calls attention to protecting athletes’ wellbeing by undertaking timely withdrawals under environmental uncertainty. By highlighting the vulnerability of endurance sport athletes to environmental uncertainty, this study encourages event organisers to evidence their ability to face environmental uncertainty and enhance/preserve their reputation in event risk management.
... The first part consisted of 45 items related to the impact of events (adapted from Ahmed, 2017; W. Kim et al., 2015;Perić, 2018). The second part assessed the respondents' level of environmental consciousness using the 7-item scale originally developed by Preisendörfer (1999) and validated by Diekmann and Jann (2000) and Wicker (2018Wicker ( , 2019. The third part aimed to measure local resident support (four items based on Hritz & Ross, 2010; S. Lee & Krohn, 2013;Prayag et al., 2013;Reis & Sperandei, 2014). ...
Even when held during the COVID-19 pandemic, motorsport events can have a wide range of impacts on host communities. Based on the case of 2021 World Rally Championship race that was hosted in Zagreb, Croatia, this study examines whether respondents' level of environmental consciousness and place of residence influence perception of impact and support for the event and sport tourism. 462 valid responses were collected, of which 194 respondents were from Zagreb (host city) and 268 were from Rijeka (non-host city). An exploratory factor analysis reduced the number of event impacts to seven factors. Social and indirect economic impacts outweighed direct economic impacts. Both environmentally conscious respondents and non-host city residents perceive most impacts as more intense than less environmentally conscious respondents and host city residents. In particular, environmentally conscious non-host residents tend to overestimate the impact of the event and give it the most support.
... It is well documented that mega-sport events and their associated fan mobility are accountable for significant emissions related to sports (Collins et al., 2009;United Nations, 2022), and grassroots and amateur sport participation has an impact on the environment (Wicker, 2019). An early industry response to the increased stakeholder pressures came right after the 1992 Albertville Olympic Games which were renowned for their environmentally destructive nature (Gold & Gold, 2021). ...
With the effects of the global climate crisis being difficult to ignore, the word “sustainability” is being used increasingly within the sport ecosystem and beyond. In the sport industry, the pressures, challenges and opportunities that sport ecology bears are often the topic of discussion, sometimes paired with some, albeit minimum, actions on behalf of sport organisations. In this commentary we focus on sport ecology and the “buzzword” of sustainability in sport, to examine sport sustainability in practice and the potential scenarios for the industry’s inevitable, due to recent legislation, future actions.
... Holding competitions in different cities and countries in the same year causes everyone to travel more and causes increased carbon dioxide emissions from transportation [67]. In this respect, in a study that was conducted by Wicker (2019) on a German population investigating the travel-related carbon footprints of active sports participants, the average carbon footprint of each individual was calculated as 844 kg for a year [68]. In the study of Loewen and Wicker (2021), in which the travel-related carbon footprint of football fans in Germany was investigated, the carbon footprint was calculated as 311.1 kg CO 2 -e per person during one season [69]. ...
The aim of this study is to calculate the average carbon footprint per capita from the transportation of the Ice Hockey League in Turkey and Lithuania in the 2021–2022 season. In addition, we identified the opinions of team managers of the national hockey leagues in Turkey and Lithuania regarding the problems and possible solutions related to the sustainable environment and persons’ right to a clean and safe environment in the sport sector. In this study, which was limited to the Turkish Ice Hockey Intercity Super League and the Lithuanian National Ice Hockey League in the 2021–2022 Season, eight teams from Turkey and five teams from Lithuania took part in the research. The type of vehicle used by each team and the total traveled distance were used for the collection of data. Interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview format seeking to identify problems and solutions proposed by sports managers regarding environmental sustainability and the implementation of persons’ right to a clean and safe environment in the sport sector. Five managers from Turkey and two managers from Lithuania were randomly selected for the research. The average carbon footprint per person was calculated as 88.23 kg/CO2-e due to the travels of the Ice Hockey Super League teams participating in the 2021–2022 Season matches in Turkey. The average carbon footprint per capita was calculated as 0.5229 kg/CO2-e, as Ice Hockey Super League teams in the 2021–2022 Season traveled to participate in matches organized in Lithuania. For solving the above-mentioned problems, the sports experts offered recommendations such as energy saving, less waste generation and reducing water consumption in order to achieve the environmental protection goals of the sports leaders. Since both teams often travel due to the intense league schedules, the Ice Hockey Super League goal should be to reduce carbon emissions, especially those related to transportation. Energy conservation policies should also be implemented, and environmentally friendly practices should be emphasized.
... It is also crucial for event organisers to realise that their environmental responsibility is something triathletes take note of; staging an event that has less of an environmental impact on the destination will be something that can increase the loyalty of triathletes and the competitive advantage of the event. Pickering et al. (2010) and Wicker (2019) indicated that athletes who tend to participate in a natural environment setting would be more knowledgeable and conscientious about environmental concerns. Therefore, triathlon events must have the necessary infrastructure and facilities (e.g., recycling bins, public transportation, and proper waste and water management) to promote this pro-environmental behaviour (Kollmuss and Agyeman, 2002). ...
... However, their footprint is considerably higher than that of nonowners, as the number of long-haul trips is not different but the flown distance is higher for owners than for other groups. Wicker (2019) investigates the carbon footprints of sports activities in Germany based on the number of trips and distance and finds that nature sports (1455 kg CO 2 per year) cause more emissions than individual (1006 kg) or team sports (514 kg). All these studies reveal a high heterogeneity of GHG emissions between tourists. ...
Europe accounts for 51% of international tourist arrivals and the tourism industry provides about 10% of workplaces in Europe. Tourism will be impacted by climate change in a diverse number of ways. At the same time, tourism is also a significant contributor of greenhouse gas emissions. The aim of this article is, therefore, to provide an assessment of climate and carbon risks for the European tourism industry based on a systematic literature review. Climate risk is the dominant category with 313 papers (74%), while 110 papers (26%) were on carbon risks. The following gaps were identified: geographical gaps, especially in countries of the former Soviet Union and former Yugoslavia; a lack of coherent studies on national tourism’s and its sub-sectors’ emissions; research addressing how climate policies might affect tourism demand; assessments of the integrated carbon and climate risks; lack of evidence on the link between tourism climate indicators and tourism demand; lack of climate change and tourism studies addressing policy and institutional tools for adaptation and implementation of adaptation measures in destinations; and research on rising sea levels and coastal erosion and its impacts on tourism destinations and demand.
... a Unfertilized plot monitored for 31 days.The extraordinary CFs of MSEs may capture attention, but even a single match, such as the 2003/04 FA Cup Final (soccer) in Cardiff, had a CF equivalent to the annual emissions of ∼110 (UK) citizens.45 Sports equipment, such as running shoes, may appear to have a modest impact until it is realized that ∼1 billion pairs are sold worldwide annually (although it is uncertain how many of these are actually used for running).As evidenced byTable 1, CFs can be calculated for people (e.g., individual participants,46 teams, 47 and fans 48 ); equipment used to play sport (e.g., rackets, boats, skis, nets, bats, balls, footwear, and clothing 49 ); facilities construction and operation (e.g., stadiums, 50 athletics tracks, 51 cricket and football playing fields, 52 golf fairways,53 and athletes' villages 54 ); and sporting events (e.g., individual races, 55 league matches, FIFA World Cups, and Olympics). Others have derived CFs for selected sports (e.g., travel for skiing56 and Marathon competitors57 ) or for associated spectator activities (involving hotels, transport, con-sumables, and waste management58 ). ...
As a global industry, sport makes potentially significant contributions to climate change through both carbon emissions and influence over sustainability practices. Yet, evidence regarding impacts is uneven and spread across many disciplines. This paper investigates the impacts of sport emissions on climate and identifies knowledge gaps. We undertook a systematic and iterative meta‐analysis of relevant literature (1992–2022) on organized and individual sports. Using a defined search protocol, 116 sources were identified that map to four sport‐related themes: (1) carbon emissions and their measurement; (2) emissions control and decarbonization; (3) carbon sinks and offsets; and (4) behavior change. We find that mega sport events, elite sport, soccer, skiing, and golf have received most attention, whereas grass‐roots and women's sport, activity in Africa and South America, cricket, tennis, and volleyball are understudied. Other knowledge gaps include carbon accounting tools and indicators for smaller sports clubs and active participants; cobenefits and tradeoffs between mitigation‐adaptation efforts in sport, such as around logistics, venues, sports equipment, and facilities; geopolitical influence; and scope for climate change litigation against hosts and/or sponsors of carbon‐intensive events. Among these, researchers should target cobenefits given their scope to deliver wins for both climate mitigation and risk management of sport. Sport makes potentially significant contributions to climate change through both carbon emissions and influence over sustainability practices. Evidence regarding impacts is uneven and spread across many disciplines. This systematic review and meta‐analysis investigates the impacts of sport emissions on climate and identifies knowledge gaps. Researchers should target co‐benefits given their scope to deliver wins for both climate mitigation and risk management of sport.
... However, sports, games and movement offer a variety of opportunities for pedagogical reflections within the framework of ESD (Gieß-Stüber and Thiel, 2016), for example,. about norms and values in sports and society (Bondin et al., 2020) or the ecological footprint of sports activities (Wicker, 2019). PE may also play an important role in the promotion of sustainable, active living (Nigg and Nigg, 2021) or mindfulness, which is associated with ecologically sound behavior (Geiger et al., 2017). ...
Purpose
Physical education (PE) and PE teacher education have great potential to target goals that are important from an education for sustainable development (ESD) perspective. However, ESD has not been studied extensively in the PE context. The purpose of this paper is to explore subjective theories of PE teacher educators about the concepts of sustainability and ESD because they are important precursors of implementing ESD in PE teacher education.
Design/methodology/approach
This study was conducted using a qualitative cross-sectional design. Subjective theories about sustainability and ESD from N = 9 PE teacher educators from a university in Germany were assessed in a multistage process, including semistructured interviews and the structure-formation technique. Subsequently, subjective theories were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.
Findings
The results reveal a wide range of subjective theories about the concept of sustainability. PE teacher educators described the dimensions of the sustainability concept (ecological, economic, social and political) to different depths and placed different emphases in terms of the levels of action needed to reach sustainable development. The subjective theories regarding the concept of ESD mostly include instrumental and emancipatory aspects of ESD. These subjective theories differ in that they emphasize different forms of ESD.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to examine subjective theories regarding the concepts of sustainability and ESD in the context of PE teacher education. This study is one of only a few studies to provide detailed insights into the subjective theories of teacher educators in the area of sustainability and ESD.
... The variation in eating practices in different social environments is vital for investigating whether climate goals can be achieved in food consumption. Research on the climate impact of athletes has mainly focussed on things other than their food: how active people transport themselves, foods served in the arenas, and equipment materials within specific sports (Cunningham et al. 2020;Wicker 2019). Athletes' food consumption has not yet been studied from a climate perspective. ...
Abstract
A high food intake can contribute to increased greenhouse-gas emissions, and therefore consumers with a high energy intake are important to include when exploring sustainable foodways. In this paper, semi-structured interviews and a seven-day food record were used to understand the climate impact of food, analyse mundane food practices, and identify sustainable routines among high-energy consumers represented by a group of recreational athletes. Social practice theory and the interdependent relationship between competence, material, and meaning unfold an Athletic performance-related food practice with a focus on performance, time-saving strategies, structured eating, and a possible Climate-conscious athletic performance-related food practice where the food practice also includes important sustainability aspects. The results indicate a high carbon footprint from high energy and dairy and whey protein intake. Some recreational athletes demonstrate an awareness of the climate impact of food, but they need to be convinced that more sustainable ways are possible without jeopardising athletic performance.
... A first part of the developed self-administered questionnaire included a set of items referring to the impact of the event (Ahmed, 2017;Kim et al., 2015;Perić, 2018). The second part assessed respondent's level of environmental consciousness by using the environmental consciousness scale (Wicker, 2019). The third part aimed to measure local residents' support (Lee & Krohn, 2013;Reis & Sperandei, 2014). ...
... For this purpose, the FIFA World Cup"s "Green Goal" and Olympic Games" "Green Games" are presented as visual examples of efforts to raise environmental awareness and education among nations hosting future large sporting events (Ahmed and Pretorius 2010). Any major sports event has a significant environmental impact, including constant travel of teams and spectators by planes, buses, and cars, a massive amount of waste at competitions, and the destruction of natural areas for the construction of sports facilities such as stadiums (Wicker 2019). The majority of previous studies have focused on the positive effects of sporting events on the environment, society, economy, culture, and politics. ...
The International Olympic Committee, as the main sports organization in the world, has several criteria for handing over the Olympic Games to the host city. One of the most critical concerns in hosting sports events is paying attention to environmental aspects and sustainable development. In fact, the applicant cities must have practical environmental goals and action plans. Basically, the host cities have made significant initiatives to improve the environment in previous Olympic Games, but according to the data and studies, this major sporting event has also had detrimental consequences on the environment. Given the importance of sustainable development and environmental protection, this study examines the negative impacts of mega-sporting events on the environment. Therefore data were collected from qualitative interviews, library studies, and previous research. Fifteen experts in the sports and environment field were selected as a sample by snowball distribution method and the interview steps were performed until the theoretical saturation was reached (20-40 min in 3 sessions). After summarizing and analyzing the data, it was found that the negative environmental externalities mainly occur in the Infrastructure and construction, Transportation, and Waste management domains. Emphasizing the findings, the result of this research can be used to identify key local environmental concerns, and pressure points and provide part of the solution for organizers seeking to use their time and resources as efficiently as possible in achieving environmental goals.
... As Dionysis kept searching the literature, he found that the connection between nature-based sport events and environmental protection has recently received attention in the sport management literature due to people's systemic awareness of environmental problems (Cunningham et al., 2020;Du Preez & Heath, 2016;Sato et al., 2017;Triantafyllidis & Kaplanidou, 2019). Dionysis observed understanding the relationship between nature-based sport event participants' environmental perspectives, and their willingness to engage in pro-environmental behaviors that enhance environmental protection programs of sport organizations (Trail & McCullough, 2020;Triantafyllidis & Kaplanidou, 2019;Wicker, 2019) was rather important. Environmental perspectives can be understood by exploring people's connection with the natural environment, their thoughts and feelings about the nature-based place where sport events are happening, and the degree of their ecological identity. ...
Mountain running events have increased, making efforts toward a more environmentally sustainable organized context. This case study examines the environmental orientation and the carbon offsetting behavioral intentions among participants of the Olympus Marathon, the annual mountain running event in Mount Olympus, Greece. The organizers of Olympus Marathon are interested in developing an environmentally friendlier approach to the event by implementing a new pro-environmental plan which targets the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions generated by their consumers’ (runners) travel behaviors. This case study provides students the opportunity to (a) analyze mountain runners’ environmental orientation to justify the implementation of pro-environmental practices in nature-based sport events, (b) investigate mountain runners’ voluntary carbon offsetting behavioral intentions, and (c) develop effective a voluntary carbon offsetting emission marketing plan to support pro-environmental actions in sport events.
Introduction
In light of escalating concerns regarding global warming and environmental pollution, the pursuit of carbon neutrality has emerged as a pivotal strategy to address climate change on a global scale. As society becomes increasingly conscious of its ecological impact, various sectors, including sports, are urged to embrace environmental responsibility. This study seeks to explore the integration of a carbon neutral framework utilizing artificial intelligence's attention mechanism within the realm of football, with the aim of contributing to football's adoption of carbon neutrality.
Methods
The study commences by introducing an end-to-end architectural framework capable of unifying and optimizing all facets of football to realize a comprehensive carbon-neutral objective. This architecture serves as a consolidated platform for enhancing carbon emission reduction within football pedagogical activities, fostering synergy among diverse constituents while concurrently assessing the equilibrium between carbon reduction and pedagogical effectiveness. Subsequently, attention mechanisms are leveraged to heighten the efficacy and comprehensibility of carbon-neutral strategies. The application of attention mechanisms enables the model to autonomously focus on attributes or regions closely associated with carbon neutrality objectives, thereby facilitating precision and efficacy in recommending carbon neutral strategies. By employing attention mechanisms in football, a more thorough understanding of carbon emissions' dynamics is attained, allowing for the identification of pivotal emission contributors and tailored suggestions for emission mitigation. Furthermore, the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) method is employed to analyze football time-series data. Given football's intricate sequence of actions, the LSTM technique adeptly captures long-term dependencies, offering improved analysis and optimization of carbon emissions during football activities.
Results
The integrated end-to-end architectural framework offers a holistic approach to carbon-neutral football strategies. Attention mechanisms effectively enhance the focus and interpretation of carbon-neutral strategies, contributing to precise and impactful recommendations. Employing LSTM for time-series analysis aids in comprehending carbon emission dynamics, enabling the identification of efficacious carbon neutral strategies. The study underscores the potential of AI-driven attention mechanisms and LSTM in fostering carbon neutrality within football.
Discussion
The study's findings underscore the viability of integrating AI-driven methodologies, specifically attention mechanisms and LSTM, to promote carbon neutrality within the football domain. The end-to-end architecture serves as a foundational platform for comprehensive carbon emission reduction, offering potential for broader application in other sectors. The combination of attention mechanisms and LSTM engenders deeper insights into carbon emissions' intricate temporal dynamics, informing the development of targeted strategies for emission mitigation. The study's outcomes provide theoretical underpinnings for advancing sustainable football practices and inspire the broader adoption of carbon neutrality principles across diverse domains.
In this research, we provide an overview of the increasing area of environmental sustainability in the sports management field and discuss future research opportunities. Through a division of topics that we consider most impactful, a selection of the research that has been implemented is presented, as well as their results and possible future directions. We conclude with a final reflection to extend and deepen sustainability studies in sport management.KeywordsEnvironmental sustainabilitySport managementMarketing
The major goal of green technology is to lessen the greenhouse effect and control global warming. Hence, the main idea is to come up with new inventions that do not deplete natural resources. The research, here, is attempted to examine the factors influencing consumers to purchase hybrid cars like environmentally friendlier automobiles that are gaining more popularity. Hybrid car is a vehicle that uses at least two or more power supply as to make the vehicle move. The combination of an internal combustion engine and electric motors is one of the uniqueness owned by hybrid cars. This study discusses various theoretical models and proposes a conceptual model based on those theories, especially on UTAUT2 (Extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology) which adapted and identified seven independent variables (performance expectancy, social influence, environmental concern, price value, hedonic motivation, facilitating conditions, and health benefit) and one dependent variable (behavioral intention to purchase) from the related literatures. Though there is huge importance or advantages of hybrid cars, there have been many people in Bangladesh till now who are not currently buying/using hybrid cars. This study is significant and rationale in environmental, marketers, and economic perspective. The expected outcome of this study will enhance new understanding on the profile of Bangladeshi consumers in purchasing hybrid cars as well as marketers, and policymakers can take opportunity to take decisions by utilizing the findings of this study.KeywordsHybrid carUTAUT2Conceptual modelBangladesh
Background
Humanity faces dual existential crises of biodiversity loss and global warming. Acknowledging the environmental impact of sports, the United Nations calls for the sports sector to lead in fighting climate change and adopting climate-neutral practices. To this point, research on greenhouse gas emissions of amateur league play remains scarce.
Methods
Travel distances for the 2022/23 season of play for 339 football and handball amateur teams playing in different leagues in Bavaria were calculated. The program Gurobi was utilised to optimise how teams are placed in groups in order to allow for shorter travel distances.
Results
The study showed that playing in a higher amateur league resulted most often in longer travel distances in both sports for women’s and men’s leagues. Some amateur teams had to travel up to 2,958 kilometres for one season of play. Optimising in which groups teams play reduces overall travel distances by up to 19.7%.
Conclusions
Our findings indicate that travel distances in amateur football and handball, though smaller than those of professional teams, are still significant. Given the larger number of amateur teams and the imperative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it is crucial to explore ways of reducing travel in amateur sports. Optimising how teams are placed in groups could be an initial step towards a substantial reduction in travel emissions from amateur sports.
This paper aimed to (1) develop a hierarchy for understanding the impacts of active and non-active transport modes on the environment and (2) analyse the adoption of active transportation between older and younger people. A narrative review with two parts was adopted to develop the hier-archy. In the first part, a framework was adopted to map active and non-active transport modes onto three operational boundaries of greenhouse gas emission to develop the hierarchy. In the second part, an intergenerational theoretical framework was developed to analyse the adoption of active transportation between older and younger people. The review suggests that the only active transport modes with no or negligible carbon footprint are walking, running, and swimming without a product that adds to atmospheric greenhouse gases. The evidence that younger people perform higher active transportation behaviour is inconsistent and is, therefore, inconclusive. This review suggests a need for manufacturers to prioritise the production of active vehicles (e.g., wheelchairs and scooters) that are biodegradable, recyclable, and small.
Während Bewegung und Gesundheit zu traditionellen Forschungsfeldern von Sportwissenschaft und Public Health gehören, rückt die systemische Beziehung von Bewegung, Gesundheit und Nachhaltigkeit erst in jüngerer Zeit in den Fokus der Wissenschaft. Bewegung umfasst in einer ganzheitlichen Sichtweise körperliche Alltagsaktivitäten, aktive Freizeitgestaltung und den organisierten Sport und weist in diesen Facetten unterschiedliche Potenziale und Herausforderungen für planetare Gesundheit und Nachhaltigkeit auf. Für die Transformation in eine nachhaltige Gesellschaft müssen diese auf politischer Ebene erkannt und durch entsprechende strukturelle Maßnahmen flankiert werden. Dieser Beitrag zeigt auf, welche Rolle Bewegungsförderung für die Erreichung der globalen Nachhaltigkeitsziele spielen kann, und gibt einen Überblick über systemische Zusammenhänge und Wechselwirkungen zwischen Bewegung, individueller und gesamtgesellschaftlicher Gesundheit und ökologischen Rahmenbedingungen.
University students will play an important role in making decisions that will affect the environment, as future leaders of our society. Their level of sensitivity and environmental knowledge will play an important role in adequately facing future challenges. This article aims to measure the sustainability awareness of a sample of future graduates in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences in Spain. The literature supports that the sensitivity of these students can be estimated by using the Spanish adaptation of the SCQ-S. This allows for establishing the level of knowledge, attitudes and behaviour pertaining to sustainability in three dimensions: environmental, social and economic. The sample consisted of 170 students (58.8% males; 41.2% females) with a mean age of 20.5 years (±4.039). The overall Cronbach's alpha showed a fairly good value (α = 0.836). The same was true for the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test values (KMO = 0.816) and Bartlett's sphericity test (p < 0.001). The knowledge construct (4.56 ± 0.53) was the highest descriptive, followed by attitude (4.12 ± 0.59). The lowest value was behaviour (3.79 ± 0.66). By gender, girls obtained the highest sensitivity indexes. In addition, the place of habitual residence and physical activity in the natural environment were related to the overall behaviour of the university students. It is concluded that being in active contact with the natural environment allows us to have a higher level of awareness.
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to examine fans' perceptions of pro-environmental sustainability initiatives promoted by a professional sport club and the ensuing effects on a triple bottom line (TBL) approach (i.e. fans' socially, environmentally and economically favourable behaviours).
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected in two different steps using an online self-administered questionnaire ( n 1 = 1,043; n 2 = 2,167) distributed to fees-paying members registered in the club's database. The analysis was carried out though structural equation modelling.
Findings
The results indicate good psychometric properties of the scale used to measure fans' perceptions of a club's pro-environmental sustainability initiatives (perceptions of pro-environmental sustainability initiatives in sports; p-PESIS). Additionally, there is a positive effect of p-PESIS on fans' social behaviours as well as on their daily environmental actions. Furthermore, p-PESIS also shows a positive effect at improving fans' economic activities towards the club.
Originality/value
Extending previous research, the authors tested a scale to measure fans' responses to pro-environmental sustainability initiatives in sport and examined their links to the TBL dimensions. Pro-environmental sustainability initiatives in sport benefit not only the club itself (by reinforcing fans' activities with the club) but also society as a whole, as it can promote fans' conscientiousness and likelihood to behave in environmentally and socially favourable ways.
The number of people consuming sporting events has long interested economists. Although imperfect, it is a measure of the demand for a 'peculiar' type of good or service - the sporting
event. It also provides some measure of the social pressure on individuals performing. That pressure can be supportive, but it can also contribute to negative outcomes like choking on the part of performers. The extent to which a crowd is supportive or otherwise, however, is not always clear. In this paper we introduce a novel dataset detailing reported numbers of away fans at matches in England over recent years. We spend time characterising the dataset, and considering potential uses for it. We find evidence suggestive of different preferences for home and away fans; public holidays are a much stronger driver for away fan attendance, as is a team's league position. For away fans, whether or not the team remains in contention for end-of-season prizes matters much more than for home fans, and away fans are attracted by the novelty of a fixture more than home fans. We find some evidence that the expected number of away fans may have a small impact on match outcomes.
Artificial turf is widely used as a playing surface for many sports, including football. In Sweden the use of artificial turf allows people to play football in regions where the climate would otherwise prevent it, and is seen as a positive development from a football perspective. However, the widespread use of artificial turf pitches comes at a cost, with microplastic pollution a prime example. The integration of environmental sustainability in the management of artificial turf is dependent on a number of factors, including a complex policy terrain, which includes different kinds of policies over several policy levels. The purpose of this paper is to investigate barriers that prevent actors within artificial turf, who are generally positive towards sustainable practices, from acting in accordance with their intentions. Therefore, the value-action gap is chosen as a frame of refence to interpret semi-structured interviews with actors managing and using artificial turf. Sportification is also an important concept, since football, and organized sport in general, has a very important role in driving the proliferation of artificial turf pitches. The results compare the view of practitioners and users, describing a number of contextual obstacles to integrating environmental sustainability in artificial turf pitch management and usage. In addition, this study also identifies a number of technical and procedural improvements, and makes recommendations to provide practitioners with ways of improving their work with artificial turf pitches.
Carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions related to spectator's transportation to collegiate football events is a significant consideration in the overall carbon footprint of collegiate sporting events. Transportation mode affects CO 2 emissions per spectator and stadium location, specifically on-and off-campus locations affect the transportation mode chosen by spectators. The quantity of CO 2 emissions generated from spectators' transportation to collegiate sporting events at an on-campus university stadium is compared to off-campus stadium. The transportation modes and miles traveled by spectators were modeled with GREET 2016 to estimate CO 2 emissions. Significant differences were found between the two stadium locations regarding the spectators' choice of transportation mode and distance traveled. Implications are presented for environmental sustainability and planning.
Das Buch dient dazu, einen Einblick in den Stand und die Entwicklung des Umweltbewußtseins und Umweltverhaltens der deutschen Bevölkerung im Verlauf der 90er Jahre zu vermitteln. Empirische Datenbasis sind die in den Jahren 1991-1998 im Auftrag des Umweltbundesamtes und des Bundesumweltministeriums durchgeführten Bevölkerungsumfragen "Umweltbewußtsein in Deutschland".
This paper pioneers the assessment of tourism's total global resource use, including its fossil fuel consumption, associated CO2 emissions, fresh water, land, and food use. As tourism is a dynamic growth system, characterized by rapidly increasing tourist numbers, understanding its past, current, and future contributions to global resource use is a central requirement for sustainable tourism assessments. The paper introduces the concept of resource use intensities (RUIs), which represent tourism's resource needs per unit of consumption (e.g. energy per guest night). Based on estimates of RUIs, a first assessment of tourism's global resource use and emissions is provided for the period 1900-2050, utilizing the Peeters Global Tourism Transport Model. Results indicate that the current (2010) global tourism system may require c.16,700 PJ of energy, 138 km3 of fresh water, 62,000 km2 of land, and 39.4 Mt of food, also causing emissions of 1.12 Gt CO2. Despite efforts to implement more sustainable forms of tourism, analysis indicates that tourism's overall resource consumption may grow by between 92% (water) and 189% (land use) in the period 2010-2050. To maintain the global tourism system consequently requires rapidly growing resource inputs, while the system is simultaneously becoming increasingly vulnerable to disruptions in resource flows.
Three parallel lines of inquiry regarding individuals' support for the environment have developed within the environmental social sciences. These include individuals' concern for the environment, research on private sphere pro-environmental behaviour (PEB), i.e. household actions seeking to improve the environment (e.g. buying better light bulbs), and more recently, ecological and carbon footprints. Researchers have noted that the correlates of this third form of support for the environment are not necessarily the same as the predictors of the first two forms. Using Canadian survey data, this study examines the relationships among, and predictors of, all three forms. Evidence that there is not a link between private sphere PEB and household carbon footprints, and that measures of socio-economic status (education and income) have different effects on different types of support for the environment, invites a discussion of whether environmental social scientists are really counting what counts.
In drawing from the theory of planned behaviour, the purpose of this research project was to examine factors that influence sport spectators| intentions to recycle plastic bottles. In Study 1 (n = 144 students), the authors developed and provided validity evidence for a questionnaire measuring recycling behaviour. In Study 2, data were collected from adult spectators (n = 129) who were attending a weekend-long youth baseball tournament. Results point to the importance of subjective norms and other spectators| recycling expectations. In all, the model explained 30% of the variance in recycling intentions. Implications for theory and policy development are discussed.
Ecofeminism suggests that women are more active than men regarding
environmental issues for a variety of social, cultural, and biological reasons. In
support to these arguments, women predominate within the overall grassroots of
the Environmental Justice movement. However, claims have been made that
environmental education theory and research are overlooking gender differences
in environmentalism. Although literature research reports that women show
stronger environmental concern and attitudes than men and although there has
been a growing awareness of the importance of gender in the willingness to act
environmentally, we argue that there has been relatively little recognition of its
potential in the context of environmentally responsible behavior. Finally, we
suggest that by incorporating findings about gender differences in motivation,
attitudes, and behaviors, Environmental Education would be in a position to
inspire women from all race and class backgrounds to engage in effective
ecological and political action.
This study examined the values, beliefs, and norms of undergraduate sport management and recreation administration student’s related to environmental awareness and personal actions utilizing Stern’s (2000) value-belief-norm (VBN) framework. Students ( N = 341) in sport-related programs at two universities completed the survey. Structural equation modeling found the VBN framework explained both personal and organizational environmental behavior. Values were a significant predictor of environmental beliefs. Beliefs significantly explained personal norms, but not behavior. Personal norms were the strongest indicator for proenvironmental action and predicted personal and organizational conservation behavior equally. This study extends research related to environmental behavior and provides a departure point to improve understandings of the current foundational environmental perspectives held by future sport and recreation managers.
The city of Montreal has taken recent initiatives to significantly reduce overall greenhouse (GHG) emissions from the transport sector and has made large investments in alternative transportation. In particular, the city has called upon the participation of all businesses and institutions to further these goals. In light of these recent plans, this study identifies with two objectives: first, to develop a methodology for estimating GHG emissions generated by commuters to McGill University’s downtown campus; and secondly, to better understand who, how, and when each commuter to McGill generates travel-related GHG. Mode split, travel distance, age, gender and job category were uncovered by a 2011 travel survey that we conducted across the University, from which daily individual GHG emissions are estimated. Details about these trips not only reveal who the largest polluters are and where they are coming from, but also the seasonality of their emissions. These associations are then used to narrate scenarios which present alternatives to the structure of individuals’ commutes by examining the outcomes of selected shifts in travel behavior on total GHG emissions.
This paper suggests the need for a broader view of `gender and transport' by presenting a study of gender differences in car use for maintenance travel. Although many more women are now entering the labour force than a few decades ago, they still have to undertake the larger share of household-related work. The main objective of this paper is to assess the impact of these changing gender roles on travel patterns and in particular on car use for maintenance travel. We used the survey and trip diary data of 949 respondents living in two urban and two suburban neighbourhoods of the Cologne metropolitan area. The empirical findings suggest that labour market and maintenance activities influence car use in different directions. While parenthood reduces the odds of car use by women, it increases men's car use. Labour force participation on the other hand, especially when part-time, intensifies car use for both genders. In short, a levelling influence of paid work and a traditionalizing influence of parenthood regarding car use for maintenance travel was found.
Does the association between household characteristics and household CO2 emissions differ for areas such as home energy, transport and indirect emissions? This question is policy relevant because distributional implications of mitigation policies may vary depending on the area of emissions that is targeted if specific types of households are likely to have higher emissions in some areas than in others. So far, this issue has not been examined in depth in the literature on household CO2 emissions. Using a representative UK expenditure survey, this paper compares how household characteristics like income, household size, education, gender, worklessness and rural or urban location differ in their association with all three areas as well as total emissions. We find that these associations vary considerably across emission domains. In particular, whilst all types of emissions rise with income, low income, workless and elderly households are more likely to have high emissions from home energy than from other domains, suggesting that they may be less affected by carbon taxes on transport or total emissions. This demonstrates that fairness implications related to mitigation policies need to be examined for separate emission domains.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from motorised travel are hypothesised to be associated with individual, household, spatial and other environmental factors. Little robust evidence exists on who contributes most (and least) to travel CO2 and, in particular, the factors influencing commuting, business, shopping and social travel CO2. This paper examines whether and how demographic, socio-economic and other personal and environmental characteristics are associated with land-based passenger transport and associated CO2 emissions. Primary data were collected from 3474 adults using a newly developed survey instrument in the iConnect study in the UK. The participants reported their past-week travel activity and vehicle characteristics from which CO2 emissions were derived using an adapted travel emissions profiling method. Multivariable linear and logistic regression analyses were used to examine what characteristics predicted higher CO2 emissions. CO2 emissions from motorised travel were distributed highly unequally, with the top fifth of participants producing more than two fifth of emissions. Car travel dominated overall CO2 emissions, making up 90% of the total. The strongest independent predictors of CO2 emissions were owning at least one car, being in full-time employment and having a home-work distance of more than 10 km. Income, education and tenure were also strong univariable predictors of CO2 emissions, but seemed to be further back on the causal pathway than having a car. Male gender, late-middle age, living in a rural area and having access to a bicycle also showed significant but weaker associations with emissions production. The findings may help inform the development of climate change mitigation policies for the transport sector. Targeting individuals and households with high car ownership, focussing on providing viable alternatives to commuting by car, and supporting planning and other policies that reduce commuting distances may provide an equitable and efficient approach to meeting carbon mitigation targets.
This study was undertaken against the background of tourism as an active contributor to climate change, to explore how tourists and 'tourism experts' perceive climate change and forest carbon sinks as a means to offset carbon dioxide emissions. Three different surveys were undertaken in Australia and New Zealand that contained the same two questions: is climate change an issue for tourism, and would tourists be willing to participate in tree-planting to offset their greenhouse gas emissions. About half of all tourists questioned a link between climate change and tourism, but the willingness to plant a tree was surprisingly high among tourists (48%), who associated much broader benefits with trees than their function as carbon sinks. The study identified five groups of tourists that require different approaches for the development of educational campaigns. The degree to which cognitive or affective factors play a role for each group will be critical for the success of such campaigns. Tourism experts saw a changing climate as a potential threat for tourism, but did not necessarily see tourism's fossil fuel consumption and the resulting carbon dioxide emissions as a contributor to climate change.
Recent meta-analytic reviews have documented that the sexes typically differ in a variety of social behaviors, including aggression, helping, nonverbal behavior, and various aspects of inter-action in task-oriented groups. In general, these findings are consistent with a social-role theory of sex differences, which emphasizes the causal impact of gender roles-that is, of people's beliefs about the behavior that is appropriate for each sex. To move beyond the demonstration of consistency between role expectations and social behavior, meta-analyses have examined the moderators and mediators specified by this theoretical model The outcomes of these moderator and mediator analyses are illustrated from several meta-analyses of gender and social behavior. These meta-analyses thus show that quantitative reviewing is not limited to the mere summarizing of research findings; the technique also allows reviewers to examine the plausibility of theories that are relevant to these findings.
The term 'carbon footprint' has become tremendously popular over the last few years and is now in widespread use across the media – at least in the United Kingdom. With climate change high up on the political and corporate agenda, carbon footprint calculations are in demand. Numerous approaches have been proposed to provide estimates, ranging from basic online calculators to sophisticated life-cycle-analysis or input-output based methods and tools. Despite its ubiquitous use however, there is an apparent lack of academic definitions of what exactly a 'carbon footprint' is meant to be. The scientific literature is surprisingly void of clarifications, despite the fact that countless studies in energy and ecological economics that could have claimed to measure a 'carbon footprint' have been published over decades. This commentary explores the apparent discrepancy between public and academic use of the term 'carbon footprint' and suggests a scientific definition based on commonly accepted accounting principles and modelling approaches. It addresses methodological questions such as system boundaries, completeness, comprehensiveness, units, and robustness of the indicator.
The low-cost hypothesis predicts that the strength of effects of environmental concern on environmental behavior diminishes with increasing behavioral costs. Thus, environmental concern influences environmental behavior primarily in situations and under conditions connected with low costs and little inconvenience for individual actors. In a first step, we develop and specify this hypothesis. Referring to two procedures, we then test it on the basis of an environmental survey of a random sample of 2307 respondents from the German population. The empirical evidence is positive. The low-cost hypothesis is not confined to the area of environmental research. It points to general limits of attitude-research (in high-cost situations) and to general limits of rational-choice theory (in low-cost situations), and suggests a strategy for integrating research in social psychology, sociology, and economics.
Numerous theoretical frameworks have been developed to explain the gap between the possession of environmental knowledge and environmental awareness, and displaying pro-environmental behavior. Although many hundreds of studies have been undertaken, no definitive explanation has yet been found. Our article describes a few of the most influential and commonly used analytical frameworks: early US linear progression models; altruism, empathy and prosocial behavior models; and finally, sociological models. All of the models we discuss (and many of the ones we do not such as economic models, psychological models that look at behavior in general, social marketing models and that have become known as deliberative and inclusionary processes or procedures (DIPS)) have some validity in certain circumstances. This indicates that the question of what shapes pro-environmental behavior is such a complex one that it cannot be visualized through one single framework or diagram. We then analyze the factors that have been found to have some influence, positive or negative, on pro-environmental behavior such as demographic factors, external factors (e.g. institutional, economic, social and cultural) and internal factors (e.g. motivation, pro-environmental knowledge, awareness, values, attitudes, emotion, locus of control, responsibilities and priorities). Although we point out that developing a model that tries to incorporate all factors might neither be feasible nor useful, we feel that it can help illuminate this complex field. Accordingly, we propose our own model based on the work of Fliegenschnee and Schelakovsky (1998) who were influenced by Fietkau and Kessel (1981).
Concerns related to the environment are evident in the increasingly ecologically conscious marketplace. Using various statistical analyses, investigats the demographic, psychological and behavioral profiles of consumers who are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products. Finds that this segment of consumers were more likely to be females, married and with at least one child living at home. They reported that today’s ecological problems are severe, that corporations do not act responsibly toward the environment and that behaving in an ecologically favorable fashion is important and not inconvenient. They place a high importance on security and warm relationships with others, and they often consider ecological issues when making a purchase. Managerial implications for green marketers and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Increasing greenhouse gaseous concentration in the atmosphere is perturbing the environment to cause grievous global warming and associated consequences. Following the rule that only measurable is manageable, mensuration of greenhouse gas intensiveness of different products, bodies, and processes is going on worldwide, expressed as their carbon footprints. The methodologies for carbon footprint calculations are still evolving and it is emerging as an important tool for greenhouse gas management. The concept of carbon footprinting has permeated and is being commercialized in all the areas of life and economy, but there is little coherence in definitions and calculations of carbon footprints among the studies. There are disagreements in the selection of gases, and the order of emissions to be covered in footprint calculations. Standards of greenhouse gas accounting are the common resources used in footprint calculations, although there is no mandatory provision of footprint verification. Carbon footprinting is intended to be a tool to guide the relevant emission cuts and verifications, its standardization at international level are therefore necessary. Present review describes the prevailing carbon footprinting methods and raises the related issues.
This study examines the monetary value of nonmarket benefits to participants of an active sport tourism event, such as happiness and pride from participating in an event. Willingness to travel (WTT) greater distances for future events is assessed and converted into willingness to pay (WTP) estimates using travel costs. Using survey data from the 2014 and 2015 Blood Sweat Gears bike ride, the intended visitation models show that changes in travel cost have a significant negative effect. WTP to revisit the event was between $41 and $57. The likelihood of return visit decreases as travel costs increase, indicating that WTP estimates are internally valid. WTP estimates stemming from two years of data collection are stable, suggesting that they are also temporally reliable. This study demonstrated the feasibility of using stated preference WTT questions to assign a monetary value to nonmarket benefits of active sport tourists.
The negative impacts of carbon emissions from human activities continue to dramatically reshape the environmental, political, and social landscape. These impacts coupled with cap and trade schemes iterate the importance and need to properly measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon Footprint Analysis: Concepts, Methods, Implementation, and Case Studies provides up-to-date technical information and practical guidance on measuring and reducing energy and GHG emissions. Presenting a comprehensive framework for carbon management, this book:
Provides definitions, concepts, benefits, and background information regarding carbon footprint analyses
Discusses the GHG accounting methods
Outlines the general systems framework for conducting an audit
Features four case studies in higher education, service, and manufacturing organizations
The book includes detailed discussions of the concepts and explains how the different concepts fit together. It supplies the necessary background as well as systematic tools and procedures for organizations to measure and reduce their carbon footprints and begin to adapt to a carbon-constrained world.
Recognizing the shared responsibility all entities with a vested interest in keeping the Earth habitable possess, this work proposes ways in which sport organizations can take action by incorporating ecocentric management principles within their organizational practices and thus become more ecologically just. First, by drawing upon the tenets of the systems thinking paradigm and the four levels of thinking model, the underlying beliefs and values guiding current practices within sport organizations are identified. Next, a series of propositions are offered to suggest that by adopting an equity-based perspective, recognizing the interdependent relationships between humans and the natural environment, and acknowledging the manner in which sport organizations hinder the opportunities of the natural environment to thrive, sport organizations can contribute to the health of the planet and all of its inhabitants through their own organizational practices. Additionally, sport organizations can also serve as ecologically just exemplar for organizations in other industries to emulate.
This study estimated the annual carbon footprint of active sport tourists caused by snow-sport-related travel in the context of day trips, vacations, training courses, and competitions in 2015. Information about individual travel behaviour, sport profile, environmental consciousness, and socio-economic characteristics was collected using a nationwide online survey of adult skiers and boarders living in Germany (n = 523). The average annual carbon footprint of snow sport tourists was 431.6 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions in 2015. Boarders had a higher carbon footprint than skiers. Regression analyses revealed that income and number of snow days had a significant positive effect on annual carbon footprint, while environmental consciousness was insignificant. This finding can be explained with the value–action gap and the low-cost hypothesis, suggesting that environmental attitudes were not associated with pro-environmental behaviour in terms of a lower carbon footprint because snow-sport-related travel was perceived as a high-cost situation by respondents. Segmenting respondents by snow-sport-related travel behaviour yielded two clusters, frequent travellers (56% boarders) and occasional riders (43% skiers), which differed with regard to annual carbon footprint, club membership, number of snow days, and performance level. This study contributes to the literature on active sport tourism and carbon footprinting.
The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which environmentally themed activities within an intercollegiate sport context impact fan engagement. A total of 557 fans responded to an online survey measuring fan connection to the athletic department, environmental values, expectations for environmental activities, event and at home environmental behaviors, perceptions of profile enhancement, and recall of environmental sponsors and major initiatives. Results found that fans expected athletic department environmental action and they help with favorable perceptions about the athletic program and university and influenced at event and home behaviors. Cluster analysis identified two clusters based on high pro-environmental and low pro-environmental perceptions. The high proenvironmental cluster was skewed female, had lower connection to the athletic program, and had higher recall of official environmental sponsors and athletic initiatives. The results provide a fundamental and foundational understanding of how environmental activities impact fan engagement and the value of such efforts.
The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework surrounding the typology of environmental sustainability efforts made within the sport industry. We draw from multiple theoretical frameworks (i.e., institutional theory, diffusion of innovation) to understand the increased similarities of environmental sustainability efforts through organizational learning as environmental sustainability efforts become more purposeful and sophisticated across the sport industry. The paper uses examples from various sport organizations and leagues to classify the efforts of sport organizations into waves of sport environmental sustainability efforts and important implications arising from them.
The relationship of sport to sustainability management is relatively unknown. Despite the increasing recognition of the growing role of athletics in regard to environmental sustainability, it remains unclear what role athletics departments have with regard to environmental action and what is currently being done now. The purpose of this study is to examine American intercollegiate athletics department personnel in relation to their organization's sustainability practices, organizational strategies, and personal perspectives at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) universities. Athletics department members (N = 97) who were most responsible for sustainability initiatives responded to a survey designed to assess awareness levels and concern for environmental issues and the strategies and practices at work in their respective athletics departments. Findings based on prioritization, planning, decision-making, and use of initiatives using frequencies and means are reported. Differences, using t tests were also compared based on BCS or non-BCS standing. Results show that although environmental concern is high, there is disconnect between concern and action perhaps due to a lack of communication between the athletics department and the general university, cost concerns, and a lack of knowledge about sustainability initiatives. Implications related to the need for better communication between the athletics department/university and improved planning and prioritization is discussed.
Despite the wealth of information which exists concerning environmental behavior, it is not known which variable or variables appear to be most influential in motivating individuals to take responsible environmental action. A meta-analysis of environmental behavior research was undertaken in an attempt to determine this. An exhaustive search of the empirically based environmental behavior research conducted over the past decade yielded a substantial number of studies representative of a broad academic base. The characteristics and findings of these studies served as the data for the meta-analysis. As a result of the meta-analysis, the following variables were found to be associated with responsible environmental behavior: knowledge of issues, knowledge of action strategies, locus of control, attitudes, verbal commitment, and an individual's sense of responsibility. A model of predictors of environmental behavior is proposed.
Fossil fuels used in automobiles have generated over 15% of the carbon emissions worldwide (Nascimento et al., 2009) and driving represents the human activity contributing the most to air pollution (Barkenbus, 2009; Wiederkehr, 1995). As such, the purpose of this study was to generate understandings concerning the environmental impacts of ice hockey at the community level. Specifically, interviews with parents (n = 32) of minor "rep" ice hockey players on two teams (16 parents from "A" level and 16 parents from "AAA" level) in Ontario, Canada were conducted to elicit information on automobile usage for "away" game travel. Using this information, two carbon footprint calculators were employed (CarbonZero and PlanetAir) to ascertain the carbon footprint of these hockey players. The results of the investigation show that the teams journeyed 44,036 ("A" team) and 33,477 ("AAA" team) kilometres, respectively, for "away" games and the total environmental impact of this travel was approximately 20 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). Organizational and individual behavioural initiatives, to mitigate impacts, are discussed as are future research initiatives about this important issue.
Over the past two decades, a continuously expanding list of footprint-style indicators has been introduced to the scientific community with the aim of raising public awareness of how humanity exerts pressures on the environment. A deeper understanding of the connections and interactions between different footprints is required in an attempt to support policy makers in the measurement and choice of environmental impact mitigation strategies. Combining a selection of footprints that address different aspects of environmental issues into an integrated system is, therefore, a natural step. This paper starts with the idea of developing a footprint family from which most important footprints can be compared and integrated. On the basis of literature review in related fields, the ecological, energy, carbon, and water footprints are employed as selected indicators to define a footprint family. A brief survey is presented to provide background information on each of the footprints with an emphasis on their main characteristics in a comparative sense; that is, the footprints differ in many aspects more than just the impacts they are addressed. This allows the four footprints to be complementarily used in assessing environmental impacts associated with natural resource use and waste discharge. We evaluate the performance of the footprint family in terms of data availability, coverage complementarity, methodological consistency, and policy relevance and propose solutions and suggestions for further improvement. The key conclusions are that the footprint family, which captures a broad spectrum of sustainability issues, is able to offer a more complete picture of environmental complexity for policy makers and, in particular, in national-level studies. The research provides new insights into the distinction between environmental impact assessment and sustainability evaluation, properly serving as a reference for multidisciplinary efforts in estimating planetary boundaries for global sustainability.
The carbon footprint of spectator and team travel was analyzed at small-scale varsity sports events held at the University of British Columbia. Sport management literature suggests a need for quantitative environmental impact studies of events, in particular to seek out transport footprint reduction opportunities. This study applies a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)-based approach to increase methodological rigour and transparency. We analyze travel patterns of spectators and teams and put forward several scenarios for impact reduction. Results show that UBC spectators had a smaller footprint than teams on a per person basis but a larger overall carbon footprint. Although only 4% of the spectators travelled by air, this constituted 52% of total spectator impact. We find the biggest opportunities for footprint reductions by spectators and teams alike are strategies that (a) reduce long-distance air travel, (b) increase vehicle occupancy rates, and (c) encourage low-emission travel mode choices.
The article proposes a conceptual model of quality in event sport tourism wherein
perceived quality of sport tourism (Sport Tourism Quality) is said to influence tourist
satisfaction which, in turn, influences the tourist's intention to return to the place of the event
and/or the event itself. Sport Tourism Quality is indicated by four primary dimensions each of
which is defined by two or more subdimensions. The primary dimensions are (a) access
quality (composed of access to destination, sport venue, hotel),(b) accommodation quality ....
.
This paper examines two related methods for estimating selected environmental effects of tourism consumption associated with major events. Monitoring and evaluation procedures for major events require that event promoters and managers understand how levered tourism consumption creates both economic and environmental effects. This process is however far from straightforward. The article focuses on the case of the UK stages of the 2007 Tour de France and describes two interrelated methods for examining environmental effects. The article shows that the methods adopted can be linked to more common economic impact assessments. With respect to the Tour de France event, the paper demonstrates that the approaches when combined provide useful information for policy makers, particularly in terms of how changes in travel behavior could significantly reduce the environmental consequences of major events.
This article identifies several reasons for an interest in gender patterns in environmental concern and knowledge. It then describes the different responses to environmental issues among Year 10 boys and girls in Victorian secondary schools. Although higher environmental consciousness is associ ated with higher parental education, particularly among boys, girls exhibit greater environmental responsibility than boys from the same socio-economic levels. The literature does indicate that wilderness experience contributes to greater environmental concern but the current study suggests that it is mediated by, and is less significant than, gender and socio-economic factors. The current study also suggests that if environmentally responsible behaviour is to be increased, attention should be paid to matters of gender identity and environmental attitudes as well as environmental knowledge.
Sport management should contribute to making sport accessible for people
of all ages. Therefore, sport management research must analyse the impact of different
managerial opportunities. A special focus lies on the effects of infrastructural
conditions. In this paper, the impact of sport infrastructure on sport participation
has been analysed using data from a population survey in the city of Stuttgart, which
are related to infrastructural data. The results show that the availability of sport
infrastructure, regardless of individual socio-economic conditions, influences patterns
of sport activity significantly. However, the influence of certain types of sport
infrastructure varies between age groups. For example, the availability of swimming
pools is important during childhood and adolescence, whereas the availability of fitness
centres, gymnasia and sports fields is of greater importance in young adulthood. These
findings have significance for the ways in which sport managers can influence patterns
of lifelong sports activity.
Tourism requires environmental resources as core ingredients and compelling backdrops for the production of tourism experiences. Paradoxically it also depends on the protection of the ecological integrity of these features for sustained competitiveness. This ‘resource paradox’ has epitomized relationships between tourism and the environment for decades. However, unprecedented reportings of the frequency, severity and persistence of adverse weather conditions; climate change; natural disasters; disease outbreaks; and various forms of environmental pollution, cumulatively highlight the urgency for more systematically managing tourism's resource paradox. This paper characterizes the industry's environmental and sustainability performance, and suggests planning and management approaches that will be needed to move it towards a more sustainable future. It uses a case study of ‘sustainability-focused’ tourism destination planning to illustrate the type of collective actions that must occur if the industry is to successfully manage tourism's challenging environmental relationships. It is argued that more collective and vision-oriented approaches to tourism industry planning are needed to address broader and more pervasive environmental and sustainability challenges.
This paper is concerned with debates over the implementation of sustainability objectives. In particular, it focuses on policies that address the ‘value‐action gap’ in environmental policy. Using evidence from the author's research connected with the UK Going for Green Sustainable Communities Project in Huntingdonshire, the paper highlights the tensions between national policies that are based on an ‘information deficit’ model of participation, and local research and experience that posits a more complex relationship between individuals and institutions. While this suggests the need to develop more differentiated policies based on the restructuring of socioeconomic and political institutions, the paper warns against knee‐jerk calls for more local, community or public participation which simply replace one set of generalised appeals with another. The paper concludes that greater emphasis must be placed on the negotiation of partnerships that are more sensitive to local diversity, and which involve a more equitable distribution of responsibility between different environmental stakeholders.
This article develops a conceptual framework for advancing theories of environ- mentally significant individual behavior and reports on the attempts of the author's research group and others to develop such a theory. It discusses defini- tions of environmentally significant behavior; classifies the behaviors and their causes; assesses theories of environmentalism, focusing especially on value-belief-norm theory; evaluates the relationship between environmental concern and behavior; and summarizes evidence on the factors that determine environmentally significant behaviors and that can effectively alter them. The article concludes by presenting some major propositions supported by available research and some principles for guiding future research and informing the design of behavioral programs for environmental protection. Recent deve