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On 25th April, we headed to the annual BASIS Conference in Bristol to launch our brand new Sports Kit, an adaptable, complete Carbon Literacy Toolkit for the sports sector. Developed and piloted with support from UK Sport and BASIS and adapted from an original Carbon Literacy course created by members of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games organising committee, the Sports Kit provides the sector with a resource that can kickstart Carbon Literacy training within sports organisations.

The BASIS Conference

The conference was attended by over 200 sports sector professionals and participants. Some were experienced in this space, working hard towards a sustainable sports sector, while others were beginning their journeys and seeking advice and inspiration.

The conference provided us with a brilliant opportunity to speak about Carbon Literacy and the Sports Kit with a new audience. The reception to the Sports Kit launch was incredible – our representatives at the conference, Natalia (our Head of Advocacy), and Jack (our Museums Coordinator), were busy chatting with interested people at our stall all through the day, and the post-event interest has been equally as strong.

Our conversations demonstrated that there is incredible passion within the sports sector – but also a perception that things need to change for the sector to reduce its planetary impact.

It was brilliant to be able to offer a tangible solution to the needs of many organisations – a training resource that will help to develop a confident, low-emission, and Carbon Literate sports sector.

Inspiring action already underway

We had the opportunity to watch the presentations from other organisations and hear about the great work underway elsewhere in the sector. We heard our sector partners UK Sport speak about their inspiring new environmental sustainability strategy, which details how they will reshape their operations, support the sector to reduce its environmental impact, and leverage the influence of elite sports to further the cause.

Excitingly, Carbon Literacy training was identified as one of the key support opportunities being provided to the sector by UK Sport as part of their strategy.

We also had the pleasure of hearing from keynote speaker Rob Hopkins, the founder of the Transition Towns movement, a global network of communities and projects working towards a low-carbon, socially just, resilient future.

Rob’s talk was all about the power of and need for imagination within the transition to a low-carbon, socially just future, and the bell hooks quote he referenced was particularly resonant: “What we cannot imagine cannot come into being”.

Next Steps

The Carbon Literacy Sports Kit is now launched and available to support your organisation or club’s low-carbon future. If you would like to gain access, please email sport@carbonliteracy.com, and a member of our team will arrange a brief introductory meeting.