EFDN Highlights: December 2022

EFDN Highlights: December 2022

As 2022 comes to an end, EFDN invites you to look back on this year’s top activities, projects and news stories. Take a look at some highlights from December.

SIDFOOT conference in Sevilla

The Ciudad Deportiva Luis del Sol ( training ground of Real Betis Sevilla) was the venue for the closing day of SIDFOOT, a project co-financed by the European Union’s Erasmus + Program, led and coordinated by the Real Betis Foundation during the last 30 months. 

The European Football Development Network (EFDN), the University of the Balearic Islands, Liverpool City Council, Aalborg BK, Wiener SC, Save the Dream, the Brasov Metropolitan Agency for Sustainable Development and Fare are the other project partners.

The goal of the SIDFOOT program is to promote physical activity and social inclusion in disconnected neighborhoods through sport. Community coaches play a key role in the SIDFOOT methodology. The community coach (CFD) is a person who acts as a role model and motivates children and youth from disadvantaged neighborhoods to move, play and adapt to a healthier lifestyle.

Read the full article here!

SV Werder Bremen achieves top ranking

SV Werder Bremen has achieved a top ranking in the “GSBS Report 2022”, a global sustainability report by the independent non-profit organisation “Global Sustainability Benchmark in Sports”. The Green-Whites are in 8th place out of more than 50 professional organisations from the world of sport that were examined.

“SV Werder Bremen impressed us with its organisational structure, the number of staff members dedicated to the topic, its general approach to sustainability and its transparency,” reads the report, which was published on Wednesday, 30.11.2022 and gives Werder a score of 66 out of a possible 100. It also emphasises that Werder “recognised the importance of sustainability at a very early stage”.

In the reporting, a total of 51 organisations are evaluated in four dimensions (organisational factors, environmental factors, social factors and governance factors), 20 from North America and 31 from Europe. Included are 15 federations, leagues or competitions.

SV Werder is included in the ranking for the first time and, in addition to the top ten ranking, is also one of twelve organisations to achieve the best category ‘industry leader’.

“We are of course very pleased with the result, even though the values only represent the current situation to a limited extent and our ambition is to continue to improve strongly,”

Anne-Kathrin Laufmann, Director CSR and Member of the Executive Board at SVW, with a view to the survey period, the 2020/21 season or the year 2021.

She points in particular to Werder’s milestones in 2022. In the current year, Werder has, among other things, joined the UN initiative “Sports for Climate Action” and committed to achieving the ‘net zero target’ by 2040. In addition, the Green-Whites were the first professional club in Germany to become a club member of “Common Goal” and, as members of “Fußball kann mehr” (Football can do more), are explicitly committed to promoting women in all areas of the company.

SV Werder Bremen’s CSR work is implemented with the support of CSR partners. They have been sponsoring the projects and programmes for years and thus make a valuable contribution to the implementation of the social and societal commitment of the Green-Whites.

Photovoltaic park from OL Foundation

Carried out by Reservoir Sun, this vast solarization project began in September 2021 on the southern part of the OL Vallée site, with the coverage by solar shades of the outdoor car parks of Groupama Stadium, owned by Olympique Lyonnais. Today, 3 outdoor car parks are equipped for an annual production of 9 GWH, pending the finalization of the last phase under development.

The roof of the Groupama OL Training Center, the mixed training center for the professional teams of Olympique Lyonnais, has also been equipped with 4,200 m² of photovoltaic panels.

In the coming months, other panels will be installed on the roof of the LDLC Arena, whose delivery is scheduled for the end of 2023, on a plot north of OL Vallée.

Ultimately, this photovoltaic park built on sports facilities, with an area of ​​around 50,000 m², the equivalent of 7 football pitches – which makes it unique in Europe – will produce local, low-carbon electricity with a power of 12 GWH/year, corresponding to the annual energy consumption of 2,700 households.

This solar self-consumption device will meet part of the electricity needs of Groupama Stadium and the LDLC Arena and save up to 2,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, in order to meet new energy challenges and the objectives of OL Groupe to reduce its environmental footprint and the use of fossil fuels.

In the coming months, charging stations for electric vehicles will be activated under the shades in order to improve the comfort of visitors to the OL Vallée site and to support the development of carbon-free mobility.

“The inauguration of our photovoltaic park is another essential step in our +20/-20 plan, which should allow us to further increase our energy production by 20% in order to meet the needs of our activity, while reducing drastically by 20% our consumption. We are convinced of the merits of our approach, which is in line with history, by proposing new production methods and reducing the use of fossil fuels. In the long term, our self-consumption objective should allow us to guarantee the continuity of our activity while limiting our impact on the environment.”

Jean-Michel Aulas, Chairman and CEO of OL Groupe

“We are proud to inaugurate today this unique car park solarization project at Groupama Stadium, emblematic of OL Vallée. This partnership allows the development of local renewable energies, by providing a decarbonization solution based on self-consumption as close as possible to needs. It is the concrete illustration of the commitment of our Group, the region and the world of sport for the energy transition.”

Cécile Prévieu Deputy Managing Director of ENGIE in charge of Energy Solutions activities

“Reservoir Sun is very proud to support Olympique Lyonnais in the solarization of its assets and in the quest for its energy independence. This car park shade project was a total success from its development with the municipality of Décines and the Metropolis of Lyon until its commissioning.”

Mathieu Cambet, Managing Director of Reservoir Sun