Green Audit for Sport and Fitness Clubs

This 2-year project (2022-23) aims to develop a digital Green Audit scheme for fitness and sport clubs. Its objectives are to enable a pilot of European fitness and sport clubs (1) to assess comprehensively their environmental impact, (2) to reduce this impact towards a sustainable and carbon neutral position by 2030 through a developed programme of actions arising from the audit, (3) to support them to become climate sustainable by highlighting key areas of environment improvement, and (4) to advance policy recommendations for greener fitness and sport sectors. The project is composed of 4 phases: (1) research and development; (2) test and trial in DE, ES, IE, NL, PT; (3) feedback and review; (4) finalisation for broader dissemination and market launch. These phases are punctuated by 4 partners meetings, 2 Project Quality Team meetings, 2 Technical Expert Group meetings and a Final Conference. The consortium is composed of 7 partners and 2 external consultants, ensuring complementarity between experience in EU project management, cutting-edge expertise on green and sustainability issues, and a strong foothold in the field of fitness and sports clubs. The expected results are that (1) at least 25 clubs go through the green audit process and (2) commit to solutions proposed by the audit tool to a more sustainable and carbon neutral position; (3) the green audit tool will be ready for a broader market launch upon completion of the project; (4) a set of key policy recommendations to align the fitness and sport sectors’ sustainability strategy with those of the European Commission and the United Nations is drafted and disseminated. The main outputs of the project are the Green Audit scheme content and digital platform (prototypes, then final versions); a set of key policy recommendations for greener fitness and sport sectors; a handbook supporting partners in the implementation and dissemination, Final Conference snapshots and an external evaluation report.