Fifteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Sport is a unique context in which to study sustainability, with broad reach (Spaaij, 2009). Culturally, sport is enrooted in society such that fans associate themselves with teams and players, and dedicate much time and money to sport consumption (Sartore-Baldwin & McCullough, 2018). Environmentally, sport’s impact is evident in the sizable ecological footprints of sport organizations and consumers. As Casper and Pfahl (2015) point out, the effects of the sport industry (e.g., vehicle emissions, waste, water and energy use) highlight the urgency of creating change in the industry, but also the opportunity to leverage sport as a platform for environmental education. Over the past two decades, sport and sport organizations have begun addressing their impact on the planet (McCullough, Pfahl, & Nguyen, 2016). Many sport organizations are now implementing environmental initiatives (Trendafilova, Babiak, & Heinze, 2013). Concomitantly, research has demonstrated the potential for sport to increase awareness of environmental issues (Brymer, Downey & Gray, 2009; Schmidt, 2006) and influence environmentally-friendly behaviors (Inoue & Kent, 2012; Kellison & Kim, 2014; McCullough & Cunningham, 2011). Many research topics within sport ecology lend themselves to advancing the broader sustainability literature, namely: athlete advocacy, using sport facilities as living labs for sustainability education, understanding climate vulnerability of sport organizations (Orr & Inoue, 2018), and developing green sponsorship models. This study includes a survey of the sport ecology literature along with a discussion of the opportunities that exist for research-practice partnerships, and interdisciplinary research in the sport ecology domain.