The aim is to show that it is possible to organise and host multisport and transnational events by following a responsible economic policy with socially sustainable criteria while respecting the environment.
Sustainability is the key word for the 16th edition of the European Youth Olympic Festival, which will take place in Friuli Venezia Giulia from 21 to 28 January 2023. The organising committee aims to show how an international multisport and transnational festival can be organised by adapting to the different characteristics of the 10 regional ski resorts involved in the competitions, thus creating long-term transformative benefits. And how? Through an organisational strategy based on three concepts: Recycle, Reuse and Save, and on a fair and sustainable balance between economic activities, environmental responsibility and social progress. Holding an international multi-sport event organised according to a sustainable logic must not only minimise the environmental impact on the territory, but also leave a positive legacy for the current and future communities involved’, explains the President of the EYOF 2023 FVG Organising Committee, Maurizio Duennhofer. Therefore, we are convinced that the benefits of a sustainable event concern the optimisation of the economic and financial resources invested, the reuse of facilities and equipment, the transmission of values, contents and messages that contribute to the strengthening of a regional identity, and the active involvement of the communities hosting the festival.
From the very beginning, attention was paid to mobility and its impact on the environment by planning a more sustainable portability plan, calling for methane-powered buses in the tenders for contracting the extra-urban transport service of the participants, whose emission levels were to be reduced, promoting car sharing as a form of shared mobility among the staff, and commissioning the University of Udine to set up a mobility monitoring system to determine the carbon footprint during the event. But that is not all. Careful strategies have been developed to minimise the production of waste generated at each venue and to optimise its disposal and recycling. A whole series of operational provisions are already in place, concerning the use of FSC-certified paper, the exclusive production of gadgets and uniforms for staff and volunteers from recycled materials, and the unprecedented decision, compared to previous editions, to make all the Technical Operational Manuals required by the European Olympic Committee digitally accessible in a dedicated extranet section of the official website www.eyof2023.it, in order to limit the consumption of paper and ink. Also in terms of social sustainability, the Organising Committee has established a series of cooperation protocols with some non-profit social cooperatives in Friuli Venezia Giulia, such as Via di Natale of the Aviano Oncological Reference Centre for the collection of plastic caps and HattivaLab of Udine for the packaging of 100% recyclable lunch boxes. A project for the recycling and distribution of surplus food based on subsidiarity and neighbourhood criteria is also being studied.
A strategy also based on a sustainable management of human resources”, emphasises General Director Giorgio Kaidisch, “based on the valorisation of human capital by facilitating the satisfaction and full and comprehensive expression of work, professional and human qualities, together with respect not only for roles, but above all for people, by motivating virtuous behaviour”. In each organisational context, we introduce human resource management that focuses on core strategic processes based on individual capabilities and ensuring the competitive advantage of the whole organisational machine.
The image shows the EYOF2023 polo shirt made from recycled material.