Football for the Goals

 

De Montfort University (DMU) is one the UK’s leading institutions involved in championing the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It has been chosen by the United Nations to be a global hub for SDG 16 to promote peace, justice and strong institutions. 

 

Within the context of DMU’s work across the SDGs, the university has also maintained a longstanding commitment focused on work that helps to reduce carbon emissions, led primarily by the Institute of Sustainable Development (ISD). 

 

Mark Charlton, DMU’s Associate Director of Sustainable Development Goal Impact/Net Zero Research is leading a project to utilise the voices and actions of young people and adults engaged in football as a vehicle to encourage community led sports solutions to accelerate key messaging about the climate change crisis. 

 

Specifically, the project will focus on community based football clubs working across the globe to highlight activities that clubs are undertaking to reduce their carbon footprint, introduce other environmental considerations, and to educate young people about climate change. 

 

The project will use the concept of citizen led research to capture the work of football clubs in this area, and as a means of unearthing the impacts of climate change on the communities and the environments in which they operate. 

 

At the heart of the project will be a project website which will host examples of the objectives and activities that participant clubs are pursuing. 

 

Embark CSR LLP has been invited to support the project with help to draft, assemble and present information about the project in the website, and to provide other support as necessary. 

 

Embark Director Chris Shaw says "As a football nut this was right up our street. The focus on sustainability ticks lots of other boxes too, and it's a great example of how sport can be used to impact critical environmental issues too."