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 justice in stadium design and construction

Historically major sports stadiums produce limited environmental benefits to those living in the neighborhoods nearby. Like landfills polluting factories and other heavy industrial facilities associated with environmental hazards stadiums may perpetuate existing inequities that further disadvantage communities of color. Conversely, in this short commentary, Kellison discusses how today’s sports stadiums may be used to support environmental justice reforms through innovative s

Sustainability in the Australian phys ed curriculum

Inspired by the activism of young people in response to growing calls for climate justice, this discussion examines the rich possibilities to more meaningfully engage with the interconnections between human and environmental health in the AC:HPE. The authors explored how the Sustainability cross-curriculum priority is articulated throughout the Health and Physical Education learning area of the Australian Curriculum (AC:HPE). Adopting an ecofeminist framework based on the wor

Environmental sustainability in Grand Slam tennis

The purpose of this study was to examine the structure and scope of environmental sustainability efforts of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments as communicated via their websites. Results indicated Grand Slam events focus primarily on energy and water conservation initiatives, increasing sustainable food choices and improving spectators' knowledge about environmental sustainability. Most sustainability programs indicated that formalized strategic planning is largely missin

Do motorsport fans care about environmental issues?

Using the revised New Ecological Paradigm (NEP), the author examined the environmental attitudes of those attending a series of major racing events in Monterey County, California. Despite the fact racing events are traditionally considered not to be environmentally sustainable, the author found respondents' NEP scores were similar to those found in other event and nonevent research. No significant differences in sustainability attitudes were found based on personal characteri

Olympic Games for Legacy and Sustainability

This research explores the links between remediating land for Olympic event spaces and the pursuit of legacy. In order to compensate for the costs and inconvenience originally incurred in hosting the Games, it explores ways in which the redevelopment of the sizeable spaces planned for the event takes its position in larger strategies intended to offer long-term benefits to the host city and community. The research explores six areas: 1) diverse nature of brownfield land and

STARS and Collegiate Athletics

The research examined higher education’s (focus on the NCAA) participation in (AASHE’s) Green Athletics category in the sustainability tracking, assessment and rating system (STARS) sustainability report while evaluating how well collegiate athletic departments engage in the various categories within Green Athletics. A quantitative content analysis using descriptive statistics, Chi square, and Pearson r correlation was conducted. The analysis found that of the 335 institutio

Football fans' political and environmental attitudes: Opportunities to overcome differences (2020)

Based on the political partisanship often tied to climate science and sustainability, Kellison and Cianfrone examined how fan attitudes toward an professional American football team differed based on fans' self-described levels of environmentalism. The researchers analyzed qualitative empirical material from 167 season ticket holders and categorized the data into three groups: environmentalist, non-environmentalist, and shared. The results of the study indicate environmentali

Environmental impacts of empty stadiums during COVID (2020)

A section of this paper examines the environmental impact of empty stadium competition and bubble competition during the COVID-19 pandemic from a resource utilization and byproduct creation perspective. The small pause in professional sport competition and activity should give the natural environment a chance to recuperate after decades of constant activity has worn down its natural defenses. However, while the resumption of competition in empty stadiums and bubble competitio

Venue tours, green teams, and living labs: Transformative experiences (2020)

Research in the field of environmental education has shown that Transformative Sustainability Learning (TSL) is a useful framework for designing learning experiences that inspire students to change their perspectives on the natural environment. TSL is an elevated form of experiential learning wherein hands-on experiences drive social or environmental change. Instructors design TSL interventions to specifically engage the student's head, hands, and heart. The learning experien

Testing the sport participant sustainability behavior model (2019)

Sport and event managers have engaged in environmental sustainability efforts for the last several years with increasing sophistication. These fan engagement campaigns have varying outcomes from bringing awareness to the organization or event’s environmental sustainability initiatives to promoting sustainable behavioral change at events or in everyday life. It is common to know the exemplar organizations, but what is less common is understanding what makes campaigns successfu

Sport ecology: Conceptualizing an emerging subdiscipline within sport management (2020)

This paper is the first formal introduction to sport ecology as a subdiscipline in sport management. Through a review of relevant literature, the authors reaffirm the notion that the relationship between sport and the natural environment is bidirectional, and trace the research that's been published to date along both sides of the bidirectional relationship (i.e. the environmental impact of sport, and the environment's impact on sport.) Then, the authors present arguments f

Measuring externalities: The next step to sustainability assessments (2020)

In this conceptual paper, the authors propose that there are two challenges with how sport organizations assess their environmental impact. The first challenge is inconsistent reporting. Compared to organizations in other industries, sport organizations do not subscribe to consistent reporting measures, leading to difficulties with measuring progress both within organization and across the sport industry. The second challenge is the scope of the assessment. The authors point

Comparing Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Games (2019)

As an understanding of "sustainability" and its application to the Olympic Games evolves, this study considered the sustainability objectives and outcomes of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in comparison to the sustainability plans for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Using a weighted sum assessment, the authors compared the sustainability scores for each host city's sustainability plans on along the various dimensions found in the Rio 2016 sustainability plan. Stories that have emer

Sustainability in mega-events: Beyond Qatar 2022 (2019).

This paper aims to survey previously published research's findings on environmental sustainability in sport mega-events and apply such lessons to the environmental sustainability plan for the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup to be held in Qatar. In particular, this paper attempts to summarize such research to determine areas of opportunity, growth, challenge, and conflict for the environmental sustainability plan for this World Cup in order to ensure the best opportunity for the cre

Not everything is a contest: sport, nature sport, and friluftsliv (2019)

In this article, Howe engages in the debate of whether all sports are games and all games are contests. The latter argument is particularly controversial, as it implies that individuals engage in games in order to determine who is most skillful. Howe challenges these assumptions using the concept of friluftsliv, “an approach to nature-oriented activity in which the experience of the environment and self-in-environment is paramount” (p. 11), while cautioning readers of the inh

Determinants of sustainability in ski resorts (2019)

Using survey data from 113 ski resort managers in Europe and North America, Kuščer and Dwyer respond to two research questions: (1) Which sustainability indicators are part of pillars and requirements of ski resort sustainability and (2) Which types of ski resorts are more effective in managing sustainability? The results of the study suggest larger ski resorts are better equipped to reduce environmental impacts per visitor; the authors reason that larger resorts tend to be m

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 (

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

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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