Slippery Slopes Report

How climate change is threatening the Winter Olympics

Produced in partnership with Loughborough University London

and Protect Our Winters UK.

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Sports for Nature: Setting a Baseline

A UNEP report, authored by many SEG members:

Madeleine Orr, Jack Pippard, Ugo Arbieu, Jonathan Casper, Tim Kellison, Jordan Howell, Walker Ross, Jessica Murfree, Brian McCullough, and Sylvia Trendafilova.

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Research

Here, we cover all research related to sport and the natural environment: the recent, the relevant, the revolutionary.

Our goal is to synthesize sport ecology research in one place, so researchers and practitioners have access to the latest information.

If you would like more information about any of the studies included here, please contact our team!

For students: We will help you find the original work (full length texts). Get in touch.

For academics: if you've published something about - or related to - sport ecology and we've missed it, get in touch.

Note: The SEG does not own the intellectual rights nor copyright to the texts discussed herein. We share summaries of relevant research, and cite the original work, to make academic articles more accessible to people outside the academic community.

This database is searchable - Start here

Environmental Health Risk: Asthma Risk in Youth Sport (2019)

This study saught to understand how users and providers of sport in Ontario understand and manage the links between allergic disease, the environment and physical activity. Using a place-based conceptual framework, this research investigates asthma risk perception determinants and outcomes amongst organized team sport stakeholders in Ontario. Two online surveys (coaches, n = 94; parents of athletes diagnosed with allergic disease, n = 90) were utilized. Additionally, qualitat

Challenging indoorization in Italian rock climbing (2019)

The study focused on rock climbing in Italy and was based on 40 interviews. Participants included both indoor facilities suppliers and rock climbers. Data analysis identified three themes: nature as an outdoor environment; naturalness as a matter of the emotions and sensations involved; and naturalness as a wild lifestyle. Results revealed that climbing and nature remain closely connected. However, practitioners evoke nature not only as a specific context for their practice (

CO2 emissions and sustainable transportation in the sports industry (2018)

This paper discusses the role and significance of CO2 emissions policies and how these ought to influence sport event and facility management. The main sources of CO2 emissions at events are facility operations and transportation (fan transport and team transport). As such, these areas should be given extra attention and mitigated internally, through innovative technologies such as renewable energy sources and electric car charging stations. However, in addition to internal m

Ensuring Natural Grass Sports Fields Are Safe (2016)

This study presents and evaluates the Good Practice Sports Ground Inspection Form (GPSGIF), which is a checklist designed to help sport organizations, policy makers, and field managers identify injury hazards on natural grass fields. Additionally, it offers training in the use of the GPSGIF, which was determined to reach consensus decisions on field risk assessment in over 80% of its use. In order to see the full version of the GPSGIF one must consult the Australian National

Why sustainability went wrong in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi (2015)

Sustainability knowledge is often shared from one organization to another. This is especially true in the context of the Olympic Games where organizers share their knowledge on sustainability efforts with organizers of future editions of the Games. Through 51 interviews with IOC staff and Olympic Games organizers, observations, and document analysis this paper discusses how sustainability policy in the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games was unable to attain all of the sustainabi

The green waves of sustainability (2016)

This paper summarizes the various waves (or types) of environmental sustainability efforts made within the sport industry. These waves are identifed by evaluating their common levels of environmental consciousness and complexity of engagement. Institutional theory, diffusion of innovations, and organizational learning perspectives were utilized as theoretical frameworks in evaluating these waves as well. Three waves in total were identified and are broken down as follows: Dur

Examining environmental fan engagement initiatives (2019)

Are intercollegiate sport fans who care more the environment more receptive to sponsored sport sustainability initiatives? This study examined values and norms related to the natural environment and perceptions of fan engagement sustainability initiatives that influence sustainable at-home behaviours. An online, panel-based survey of 267 college basketball fans evaluated awareness and influence of environmental sustainability fan engagement campaign over a season. Norms relat

Environmental sustainability in collegiate athletics (2019)

This case study explores the identification and formation of a “Green Team,” or green committee, on a college campus using a case study methodology. This paper is a business case study for individuals/work teams to use as an exercise. Each individual/work team should brainstorm their own ideas and conclusions to solve the problem based on the information provided in this case study. Ultimately readers should be able to discuss and share their findings to better understand th

Constraints on sustainability behaviors (2018)

Engaging sport participants (e.g., runners) in sustainable behaviors can significantly reduce the environmental impact of the organization or event. However, various constraints limit the engagement of participants in sustainable behaviors, including both internal constraints (e.g. lack of knowledge and lack of worth) and external constraints. This study explored the role of lack of access to sustainable options, lack of time to engage with sustainability. This study surveyed

The effect of weather on sport (1977)

This 1977 review study explored the influence of weather on sport, in both indoor and outdoor environments. Specifically, Thornes explored the ways weather influenced sport in terms of participant (athlete) comfort, the quality of spectator comfort, the quality of playing surfaces, and so on. Thornes introduces the notion of weather advantages, which are when athletes or competitions enjoy better or more competitive weather conditions than others. For instance, if there is a

Marathon running - an all-weather sport? (1996)

Given the strenuous nature of marathon running, the weather can have positive or negative impacts on performance, comfort, and safety. This is especially true of humidity, wind, and temperature, as the body's thermoregulation system is an inefficient heat management system, wherein muscles that are working hard produce up to 11x more heat than muscles at rest. As such, the timing of marathon races (e.g. morning) and the scheduling of marathon races (e.g. predominantly spring

Visualising sustainability at the Olympics (2019)

Visual products are an important tool for articulating sustainability initiatives. Through maps, models, renderings, and sketches, urban planners seek to persuade local stakeholders that the Olympic Games, or other project, will produce positive long-term legacies and impacts. Generally, these visual products portray a hypothetical future success story that encapsulates the benefits of the event, and downplays the drawbacks. This study collected visual products used to visua

Sport, nature and worldmaking (2008)

In his 1993 presidential address to the Philosophic Society for the Study of Sport, aptly titled ‘Sport, theater, and ritual: Three ways of worldmaking’, Gunter Gebauer argued that sports create worlds that represent fundamental sets of attitudes and shared values, and thus are reflective of the culture in which they emerge (e.g. American culture), and contribute to the creation of subcultures (e.g. the subculture of NFL sport viewing on Sundays in the U.S.). Gebauer’s work

Combating the Climate in British Sport (2006)

Building on Thornes' (1977) review on the impacts of weather on sport, Kay and Vamplew explore the relationship between weather and sport. Specifically, they discuss three categories of outdoor sport: those that depend on specific weather (e.g. sailing, skiing), games largely played on grass (e.g. rugby, soccer, tennis), and those for which weather conditions may result in an unfair advantage (e.g. athletics and golf, which are played over longer periods of time). Kay and Vam

Environmental action by nature-based sport participants (2011)

In this study, Humberstone explored the connections between body, affects, emotions and the senses as the body engages with natural elements during sport activities. Specifically, by studying windsurfers and other water sport athletes, Humberstone drew connections between participating in nature sports, spirituality, and the concept of kinetic empathy and shows that those who participate in nature-based sports can be inspired by their engagement with nature to also engage in

Rhythm and harmony in extreme sport participation (2009)

Extreme sport is often viewed as the ultimate form of control over the natural environment, wherein the basic laws of physics and nature do not apply to the athlete. Other perspectives on extreme sport suggest that society leads people to feel powerless and insignificant, so extreme sport athletes use their activity to prove to themselves that they are, in fact, in command of their own destinies. In this study, the authors conducted interviews with experienced extreme sport a

Weather and supply chain performance in sport goods (2016)

This paper discusses how variations in weather affect demand and supply chain performance in sport goods. The study includes several brands differing in supply chain structure, product variety and seasonality. Using longitudinal data on supply chain transactions, weather conditions are analysed. The underlying hypothesis is that changes in weather affect demand, which in turn impacts supply chain performance, and this hypothesis was supported by the results. In all, weather a

Organizational resilience of sport clubs impacted by disasters (2013)

A survey study of 200 community sport organizations in Queensland, Australia explored resilience following a natural disaster (floods and cyclones). Organizational resilience is “the maintenance of positive adjustment under challenging circumstances such that the organization emerges from those conditions strengthened and more resourceful” (Vogus & Sutcliffe, 2007, p. 3418). Organizational resilience has four main components: - Robustness: “the strength, or the ability of el

The carbon footprint of active sport participants (2018)

Dr. Pamela Wicker explored the carbon footprint of adult active sport participants in Germany in 20 different sports and proposed several variables that influence a sport participant's overall carbon footprint: environmental consciousness, gender, income, and education level. The study measured weekly travel activity to practices, league games, competitions, tournaments, and day trips related to participation in sport. The average annual carbon footprint was 844 kg of carbon

The environmental impact of golf (2006)

Drs. Wheeler and Nauright provide an overview of the history of golf and the intricacies of the coupled human-nature relationship on a golf course, followed by a review of the environmental impacts of the sport. First, there are some positive environmental attributes of golf courses: these spaces represent useful and positive recreational land uses, provide wildlife habitats, protect underlying soils from water and wind erosion. However, as golf is linked with nature, many co

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NEW! Research Round Ups.

Each time our team members attend an academic conference to present our work, we will aim to share a Round-Up of the relevant new research here.

First installment:

NASSM 2020 Research Round-Up