#THIS ARTICLE IN DUTCH

by: Emma Meertens | 15 September 2022

On 2 November SRO Amersfoort will hold its annual congress, this year under the title ‘It is Sports’ Move!’ SRO is responsible for the management and upkeep of municipal property including sports centres. At the congress Egbert Mulder, founder of Circular Leadership, will speak on how sports organisations should anticipate the Paris Agreement made in 2015. Mulder thinks it will be nigh impossible to realise the climate goals.

Originally a sociologist specialised in residential accommodation and building, Egbert Mulder decided to combine his expertise with his passion for sports. In 1985 he founded Marktplan Adviesgroep (acquired by Grontmij in 2005), a company that advises public authorities on the design, installation and upkeep of sports accommodations. For a long time he was operating this type of accommodations, but these days Mulder is engaged in leadership training programmes on sustainability.

‘In many places earth’s liveability has been affected, and the future looks grim. Remember that these are developments that lead to wars and major migration flows. For that reason I am convinced that sustainability should top the agenda of leaders’, the founder of Circular Leadership argues.

Use of Virtual Reality
Based on that conviction, Mulder has created a leadership model that does not revolve around making more money, but around sustainability. In one of the modules of the leadership training programme, he uses a virtual reality programme to emulate the experiences of astronauts in space. Why? ‘Over half of astronauts become environmental activists on their return to earth. The reason is the so-called “Overview Effect” when you see earth from space. Sharing this experience with the participants in the course gives them a strong sense of involvement and urgency.’ During the workshops Mulder shows there are 33 reasons why people do not take action. The main reasons are discussed, to give leaders new insights into how to take decisions in a more sustainable manner.

This is also relevant to leaders in sports organisations, as they are not exactly sustainability trailblazers. Mulder is an advocate of changes in two areas: sports accommodations to be newly built and existing sports accommodations. The latter leave the largest carbon footprint in the world of sports. Skating rinks and (outdoor) pools are the biggest polluters. And on top of that these are the venues that have a long life. Chances are that the accommodations built today will be standing in 2050, when the Netherlands should long be climate neutral. The solution? ‘Demand that the sports accommodations built today are climate neutral and shortly make existing accommodations sustainable.’

Lack of Focus
But we haven’t reached that point yet. Money is not the issue, for the government has set aside some 3.5 billion Euros for these plans. Is there a great deal of opposition? ‘It is a lack of focus, rather. If you look at the NOC*NSF’s agenda for 2030 it is about one thing and one thing only: we want to be the most sports-minded country in the world. There is just one line devoted to sustainability.’ This has two consequences: Today’s sports accommodations keep contributing to CO2 emissions and soaring energy prices will get sports accommodations into trouble. In the worst case scenario, sports accommodations will be forced to close their doors. Mulder: ‘That would not have happened if they had been made sustainable earlier, they would have consumed much less gas and electricity and could even have generated some of their own energy, and would not have faced these issues.’

The main issue that gets in the way of making sports accommodations more sustainable is the shortage of installers of solar panels and heat pumps, for instance. ‘Projects like these have to be procured years ahead, in a manner of speaking. Response was simply too slow.’ Grants from local authorities that sports associations can use to buy solar panels are worthy initiatives but not the means to all ends. And: ‘Even if you have a roof full of solar panels, it is not enough.’ It is Mulder’s opinion that the government should come up with a plan that local authorities can execute. Local authorities, after all, usually own or operate sports accommodations. 'The government should not only provide local authorities with information on how to make buildings sustainable. Local authorities should be required to only build new accommodations that are climate neutral and to make sure that all current accommodations satisfy this criterion before 2030. ‘It is not just sports organisations that leave a huge footprint, so do companies like Tata Steel. ‘But these are industrial companies, and they only get a licence to operate if they make their production processes sustainable within the foreseeable future.’

Need for Long-Term Perspective
Mulder hopes to trigger the public at the SRO congress. Attendees mostly include public servants concerned with sports and administrators and managers at local authorities and sports federations. These are precisely the people who can make a positive change in making sports accommodations more sustainable. Mulder hopes to instil the message that making sports accommodations more sustainable is urgently necessary to realise the Paris climate goals. ‘We call on leaders to have a long-term perspective and to not just solve today’s and tomorrow’s problems.’

For more information: SRO Congres - Sport is aan zet