Shortlist Spotlight: Sport for Sustainable Cities and Communities Award
The Beyond Sport Global Awards are less than two weeks away. The event will take place at the One World Observatory, One World Trade, New York City – one of the most prestigious venues in the world’s most iconic city. The evening will be an opportunity to celebrate all shortlisters and honour the winners.
All of our Awards are aligned to at least one of the Sustainable Development Goals. SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities inspired the Sport for Sustainable Cities and Communities Award. This week we profile those organizations using sport to make a long-lasting impact on their communities.
Etnoliga. Open Football - Open City - Fundacja dla Wolnosci, Poland
In Poland, ethnic and religious minorities are the most frequent targets of racially motivated attacks and discrimination, which are rarely investigated. In Warsaw, Poland's capital and biggest city, it is estimated that 10% of the city’s population is immigrant. Etnoliga is a long-term social program, set up in 2005, that is based on activation of diverse communities through football. It promotes a multicultural understanding, building a broad and inclusive anti-racism movement. Their aim is to match different communities, develop a platform for the integration of newcomers, break stereotypes about migrants, women and the LGBT community, and increase interest in sport as a social tool.
Northeast Kids - Hutt City Council, New Zealand
The communities of Taita, Pomare and Stokes Valley face some of the harshest socio-economic conditions in New Zealand. Frequently over-represented in adverse poverty, population health, and crime statistics, students in these communities face a range of distractions to their education. Northeast Kids looks to tackle the difficulty of engaging students as they progress through school by utilising sport to provide more compelling and relevant class content. The project was developed by Hutt City Council in 2014 in close collaboration with local educators and Sport NZ as the major funding partner.
Regent Park Athletic Grounds – MLSE Foundation, Canada
The Regent Park Athletic Groundsproject is in Toronto, Ontario Canada. Located in downtown Toronto, Regent Park is Canada's oldest, largest and poorest social housing project. Until the construction of RPAG, the community did not have a dedicated athletic space. MLSEF partnered with Toronto Community Housing, City of Toronto, Daniels (the developer) and corporate partners to reimagine an athletic space for the community. These safe and multi-purpose facilities have encouraged diverse sport-based projects including People’s Basketball, Hockey In the Neighbourhood, Toronto Youth Development, Neighbourhood Women Striving in Sport and Inner City Rugby.
Safe Spaces - love.fútbol, Latin America
love.fútbol creates community soccer fields that act as catalysts for sustainable social change. Their work empowers communities to build low-resource, high-impact fields that encourage informal, creative soccer, act as hubs for social programs, generators of social enterprise, and theatres of self-expression. A love.fútbol field is a safe and dependable outlet for youth to play and liberate their passion for the game. love.futbol is working in partnership with ESPN and closely with local organizations in cities across Latin America to engage the surrounding community to create a true sense of ownership of Safe Spaces and thereby enabling ongoing sustainable and impactful use.