Active Partnerships commitment to Environmental Sustainability
The Active Partnerships network has unveiled its brand new Environmental Sustainability Commitment which all 43 Active Partnerships located across England, as well as the Active Partnerships National Organisation (APNO), have signed up to.
The commitment has been created with input from representatives from across the network (also known as the ‘Climate Crew’) and it will be embedded in the work that Active Partnerships do to help everyone lead active lives and enjoy the benefits of sport, physical activity and movement. The network recognises that the people who face the greatest inequality are most impacted by climate change and biodiversity loss, and as always, tackling these inequalities is at the top of the network’s agenda.
What will the Environmental Sustainability Commitment focus on?
Collectively, the Active Partnerships network is committing to unlocking the sector, strengthening the network and enabling each organisation to help combat climate change. It will focus on five key elements:
- Embedding Environmental Sustainability
- Joining the movement against climate change
- Designing and promoting more Active Environments
- Advocating for improved access to quality blue and green spaces
- Addressing Inequality
The importance of the commitment
The network’s Climate Crew Chair, David Gent, also CEO of Active Humber, explained why the commitment is so significant: “Despite the information that continues to be shared on climate change on a daily basis, as a society, we often choose to ignore it and not commit to do anything about it. As a network, we are now clearly demonstrating our commitment to doing what we can to tackle this huge issue.
“This is not a new strategy, as we have Sport England’s Every Move Strategy, which was launched earlier this year, to guide the sector, but this is a commitment for us all to act now and it brings to life what we intend to do and where we think we can have the biggest impact.”
The commitment was launched to the network at a connection event held earlier this month which also incorporated the Active Partnerships National Organisation’s AGM, and as a panellist at that event, Sport England Chair, Chris Boardman, who led his organisation’s launch of the Every Move Strategy earlier this year, took the opportunity to share his thoughts on the commitment.
Chris said: “The commitment has the potential to be country changing, especially as the Active Partnerships is a network of 1,000 people, so that is a lot of voices providing their support.
“Those of us that work in sport and physical activity are also embedded in communities and we are connected to more than 75,000 clubs, so when this sector decides to commit to something in this way, we can shine a light on what is and isn’t happening, and we can create a pressure for change. Our commitment to tackling climate change needs to become an intrinsic part of everything we do.”
Because every local area is different, with Active Partnerships, for example, supporting urban, rural and coastal communities across England, it will be up to each of the 43 individual organisations to create its own local plan to implement the Environmental Sustainability Commitment as Nicki Couzens, the Active Partnerships National Organisation’s Strategic Lead for EED & I, explained.
Nicki said: “This is a network wide commitment, the overarching agreement that all 43 Active Partnerships and the national team has signed up to, but locally, Active Partnerships are the experts on their local areas and know where they can have the most impact, so the local plans that they are developing will reflect and highlight that and outline specific actions that they will take.”
The new commitment and unlocking collective action were key topics of conversation at a recent event in London which was organised by the network’s Climate Crew and which also provided a platform for discussions about climate inequality, green and blue spaces and active travel and sustainable environments.
Active Norfolk’s approach to the Environmental Sustainability Commitment
Our locality approach helps us to respond to the local context across Norfolk, and over this coming year, we will be refining our action plan and seeking out more ways to improve environmental sustainability alongside our partners and communities.
Collectively we have so much potential to tackle inequalities and ensure that everyone can lead active lives. Addressing our local environmental challenges is part of that response.
You can read the full commitment from the Active Partnership network below.