After the launch of the SHARE 2.0 initiative by the European Commission earlier in the year, the first of the thematic Community of Practice events was held on June 18 as a capacity building event on the topics of Green and Sustainable Sport.

The session was opened by Martin Fischer, representing the Sport Unit of the European Commission, who briefly introduced the initiative, this Community of Practice (COP) and the virtual capacity building event. Three invited speakers then shared their experiences, projects and activities in the field of green and sustainable sport.

First, the Turnfest Leipzig 2025 event was presented by Frieda Prochaska, focusing on the sustainability aspects from the view of Health, Mobility, Resource Management and Participation. Education in preparation of the event as capacity building activities was highlighted as well.

Joao Zamith presented the Bluesurfest festival, focusing on wider community participation. Several educational activities were highlighted, including exhibition, conference, putting special efforts on dissemination, results and learning.

Benjamin Coubard presented French models on delivery of sustainable sport events. Three tools were presented: 15-pledge charter, covering the fields of environment, economy, fighting discrimination and development; Coach Climat carbon footprint events monitoring tool, legacy of Paris 2024 Olympic Games; and Optimouv, aimed at optimising mobilities.

The participants were then able to beak into smaller groups, discussing their viewpoints and experiences. European University Sports Association (EUSA) and the EUSA Institute were represented at the event as well. EUSA is using a gradual systematic approach towards greener and more sustainable sports events, also on policy field through EUSA Green Policy.

Project-wise, after taking part of Green Sports Hub Europe (GSHE) project collaboration partnership in the field of sport, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, where EUSA Institute partnered in and the resources are fully available, we are now taking part in European Week of Winter Sport (EWWS), focusing on winter sport and sustainability, co-funded by the European Union as a KA2 cooperation partnership in the field of sport; as well as coordinating the Fit4Green project, co-funded by the European Union as a pilot project which will focus on sustainable and green sports in university campus environments.

SHARE 2.0 initiative will continue with other community of practice capacity building online events on other topics throughout June, with a larger SHARE 2.0 conference planned for September 11 in Brussels. For more information, please visit https://sport.ec.europa.eu/initiatives/share-20