This year’s new flagship Blue Mile event was held in London. With so much going on with Olympic test events, venues have been difficult to source, but we managed to secure a new venue in north London, just a few miles from the Olympic Park. Stoke Newington West Reservoir is used as Watersports centre and was the site of a new eco-regeneration programme. It is a small, but intimate venue with great facilities and suited our needs well for the first London event.

Check out the video to see the Blue Mile in action on the 4^th September. http://vimeo.com/28992403

Back down the M4 to Plymouth and the 2^nd America’s Cup World Series Event which took place from the 10^th-18^th September. We set up an exhibition for the Blue Climate and Oceans Project as part of the America’s Cup sustainability programme, with the goal to encourage as many people as possible to sign up to make a Blue Pledge for the environment.  We also ran a competition for a family of four to win tickets for next year’s Blue Mile event which was very popular.

It was great to spend some time with Craig Thompson, CEO of America’s Cup Event Authority (ACEA) to discuss the value of sport as a tool for greater public engagement with our blue environment. There is a lot to be done here and the AC seems very focused on its ocean advocacy activity. The sustainability forum which took place early in the event was interesting and it was fantastic to be part of the panel alongside Dr. Sylvia Earle, who is one of our greatest ocean heroes and a real champion of the blue environment.

Check out the America’s Cup youtube channel to see the highlights of the ACWS Plymouth http://www.youtube.com/user/AmericasCup

So, we now turn our attention to the Beyond Sports Awards which take place in Cape Town in early December. We have a wonderful opportunity to take our foundation, Blue Environment on the next part of its journey with our Blue Ambassadors leading the way. I’m delighted to be able to announce shortly our new Board team that will shape its mission over the next few years.

Check out Blue Ambassador, Dave Cornthwaite record breaking 2404 mile Mississippi SUP journey http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOtdOSxRavw

Conrad Humphreys

Whilst I would agree that Plymouth has been slow to realise its potential for hosting world class sailing events, times are changing and it does support a full events programme that includes the UK’s largest firework show and one of the country’s biggest half marathons.  The real challenge for a City that is in the midst of a major re-brand and a government squeeze, is how to ensure that the America’s Cup World Series plays its part in supporting a vision for Plymouth as the UK’s leading Marine City.

Conrad Humphreys

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Elain Bunting: Yachting World, Plymouth’s lost opportunities .Will America’s Cup World Series deal wake Plymouth Council to what’s already on their patch?

©sportenvironment.com/Roy Riley
Having spent a rumoured €500,000 on attracting the America’s Cup World Series to Plymouth, let’s hope Plymouth City Council have some ideas of how to get value from and promote the event. In the last few decades their track record of enthusing the public about major sailing events on their patch has been sketchy at best.

The Rolex Fastnet Race was mentioned as one of the highest profile event traditionally attached to Plymouth. But even this legendary race seems to have failed to excite the city fathers. The last Fastnet Race ended, as usual, in an ultra low key winner’s arrival at Queen Anne’s Battery (QAB) Marina, attended by a few RORC race officials, a handful of journalists and some family and friends on the pontoons. That was it. QAB marina is a hike from the city centre, almost impossible to park at and not somewhere you can easily drop by to soak up the atmosphere. Not that there was any to soak up. There was almost no indication for the public as to what the race was all about or any reference to its rich and illustrious history.

Likewise, great and once crowd-pulling events such as the OSTAR and the Round Britain Race attract only a handful of casual observers before race starts. I’ve been to them all in recent years and it’s a sad sight and a wasted opportunity to promote British sailing. There was no buzz, no atmosphere, no access to the pontoons, no public conferences, no explanatory displays, no race village, and no apparent investment, support or even interest from the city.

Famous events that would cost little to promote have been allowed to wither as spectator sports. It is little wonder that the UK has seen a catastrophic erosion in the profile of its indigenous sailing events and international reputation. At the same time it has become progressively harder for top British sailors to raise sponsorship.

The shining exception to this in recent years was the Artemis Transat Race in 2008 (spectators pictured above), when Mark Turner’s then OC Events used all its expertise in organising the Barcelona World Race and the iShares Cup to spectacular effect. OC Events took the single-handed transatlantic race to the heart of Plymouth, the Barbican, and replaced the traditional billowing press marquee with a multi-storey race centre with a champagne bar, café, VIP areas and a Formula 1 style venue for bluechip sponsors and city worthies.

In a partnership with the city, there were public interviews, explanations of the yachts and their skippers, a celebration of the solo transatlantic race’s history, a rolling programme of music and entertainment, a French food market and a festival atmosphere that pulled in sailors and non-sailors by the thousands. This is the kind of partnership other sailing event organisers with an event worth shouting about need to get to grips with, and the city needs to foster. Because it’s not just the sporting action that makes these races valuable – maybe not even the sporting action – but the atmosphere of excitement and razzmatazz surrounding it. A great event has to provide a fantastic family day out.

Plymouth City Council should have another look at the other great sailing events that land in their laps and ask if they can play a bigger part in building these up as international events. They are their own home-grown products.
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The acting Chief Executive of Plymouth City Council, Anthony Payne and each of the city partners that met behind closed doors with the America’s Cup management team to hammer out a deal for the 2^nd leg of the America’s Cup World Series are to be congratulated for taking such an important and bold step. This decision has already generated significant return with positive press coverage and commentary spreading around the globe. We have been tracking the coverage since Friday and the results have been very positive for a city that is in the midst of a new rebranding exercise.

The big challenge now is to ensure that the America’s Cup event, which is less than 6 months away, creates a lasting positive social and economic impact for the City. Not an easy task, given that there likely to be limited resources planned for legacy objectives and the incredibly short timescales will prove challenging for all but the most enterprising of  businesses that can react quickly to the opportunity .  I have been quite vocal in the past that Plymouth needs to start focusing more on developing a long term event strategy that supports its economic objectives, rather than simply reacting to every event that comes along needing support. Central to this is identifying those significant events that really support economic reform and then securing long term, multi-year contracts so that the events can be properly aligned across multiple agendas (social, economic, environment, media etc).

Securing a major event with just a few months left to maximise the opportunities would normally be considered a crazy investment. However, on this occasion, winning the right to host an America’s Cup leg is, I believe a very shrewd move for Plymouth. Despite the high profile political turmoil and the recent revolutionary switch to high speed, solid wing sail catamarans, the America’s Cup remains one of four “Holy Grails” of sailing (the others being the Olympic Games, Volvo Ocean Race and the Vendee Globe) and a premier international sporting event. To have secured even a small piece of this Event and its history, will cement the City of Plymouth into the inner circle and will open the doorway for new opportunities in the future. The challenge now for Plymouth, will be to react swiftly to maximise the long term opportunities that this investment now offers.

Plymouth has won this bid on the strength of its natural assets and its experience at hosting large events on the Hoe. It must now play to its strengths and use the significance of this announcement to really drive the much needed social and economic reform. Yes, Plymouth does have its shortfalls, it isn’t Porto Fino or the Algarve, but what it does have is a unique venue that enables tens of thousands of people to share in the action and a sailing arena that rivals anywhere in the world. 

So what should be at the top of the Agenda for this Monday morning’s emergency event meeting? My suggestion, would be to focus on one single achievable legacy objective that aligns with the vision for the waterfront and get out there and tell the world that Plymouth, the Original is open for business.

Councillor Vivien Pengelly, leader of Plymouth City Council, said: “We are thrilled that Plymouth has been selected to be a host city for the America’s Cup World Series. Plymouth’s outstanding waterfront, its rich maritime heritage and its many attractions make it a perfect venue for this event. It will be a real opportunity for Plymouth to show off its assets to the world and it will support our ambitions to further develop our visitor and marine sectors. We look forward to welcoming the America’s Cup World Series teams and visitors from around the world to Plymouth in September.”

Plymouth has shown that it can generate local support for sailing events and is also a desirable place to visit for spectators who travel to watch sailing events and be part of the race village atmosphere.

ORACLE Racing’s Australian skipper said:“It will be fantastic to race in the UK this year. Plymouth has great sailing history hosting the finish of the legendary Fastnet Race and the single-handed trans-Atlantic starts, so it will be cool to race the next-generation AC45s there. With 15 teams now entered, we can be assured of some epic racing on the AC World Series circuit.”

Here’s an interesting one that reinforces the work we started in 2007 with the launch of the Blue Project (www.theblueproject.org) @blueproject

Share a scary problem with someone without giving them a solution, and they’re less likely to believe there is a problem.
That’s the guts of an outtake from a study by UC Berkeley about people’s perceptions of global warming. The study says that warnings about the catastrophic implications of global warming threaten people’s fundamental tendency to see the world as safe, stable and fair. As a result there is a danger that they will dispute the evidence on global warming and may even cut back on their plans to reduce their carbon footprint.
On the other hand, earlier experiments show that when presented with possible solutions to global warming at the same time as the doomsday scenarios, people have greater confidence that we can beat this thing.
While that seems obvious, I like the angle on human nature. It suggests that in our heart we believe that any dire prediction not accompanied by a strong dose of hope is actually incomplete. It says we’re optimists when it counts, and sends a message to start with the answer and work back to the solution. This rings true with the shift from Green to Blue action. Time to throw out the top-down baggage of the old sustainability and the scaremongering that comes with it. Get ready for a fresh approach from the people-up.

words taken from KR Connect, CEO Saatchi

Held every two years and organised by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Global Sports Alliance, the Global Forum for Sport and the Environment 2010 will take place in Nairobi, Kenya for two days, starting on 08 November 2010.  Sport Environment attended the last G-ForSE in 2008 so our eyes are on the conference this year to see what outcomes are set.

2010 has been a year filled with international sporting events. From the Vancouver Olympic Games in February; the EXPO 2010 in Shanghai from May to October; the FIFA World Cup from June to July; the Youth Olympic Games in August 2010 and the Commonwealth Games in October, the year has been full of excitement and adrenalin fuelled entertainment for sports enthusiasts.

Alot has also done on “greening” sport events in 2010. This includes UNEP’s engagement with the Indian Premier League, the UNEP-Puma Campaign on football and the International Year of Biodiversity and the work of the alternative energy commissions of the motor sports federations. The sporting goods industry has also played a part in integrating environmental considerations in their operations. Several sporting good companies have developed environmentally friendly sports apparels and kits for teams that participated in the World Cup.

The 2010 Global Forum for Sport and Environment (G-ForSE) takes a look at these events and activities and reviews the extent to which environment and sustainability played a role. Two hundred participants from International Sports Federations, National Olympic Committees, organizers of mass sporting events, civil society organizations and sport and environment enthusiasts will take stock of the year and review the impact of these events on climate change and biodiversity. They will provide recommendations on how organizers of future events could strengthen the integration of environmental practices in their activities.

The 2 days event to take place at the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi. It will be a forum to discuss major challenges, achievements in integrating environment and sports and will also offer a platform for exhibitions showcasing the main environmental features of the 2010 sporting events. It will also offer a platform for organizers of future mass sporting events on ways to engage the sports audience and fans in mainstreaming the environment in their activities.

For more information on the G-ForSe 2010, please go to http://www.g-forse.com/index_e.html.

The Blue Economy, written by Dr Gunter Pauli and published by Paradigm Publications, describes innovations that are certain to change our habits of production and consumption.  It points us in a strategic direction for sustainable development.  Dr Pauli’s new economic model gives aspiring entrepreneurs and political leaders the means to contemplate and achieve a sustainable future.

The Blue Economy began as a project to find 100 of the best nature-inspired technologies that could affect the economies of the world, while sustainably providing basic human needs – potable water, food, jobs and habitable shelter. 

The United Nations forecasts that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions suffering from water scarcity.  Two thirds of the world’s population could be living with conditions of water stress.  Meanwhile, climate change is expected to aggravate water problems via more extreme weather events.  Consider a water-collecting system modelled after that of the Namib Desert beetle.  This resourceful creature lives in a location that receives a mere half-inch of rain a year, yet it can harvest water from the fogs that blow in gales across the desert several mornings each month.

“Let us not demand more of the Earth.  Let us do more with what the Earth provides.” – Dr Gunter Pauli

Starting with 2,231 peer review articles Dr Gunter Pauli and his team found 340 innovations that could be bundled into systems that function the way ecosystems do.  These were then additionally reviewed by a group of corporate strategists, expert financiers and public policy makers.  Further meetings with entrepreneurs, financial analysts, business reporters and corporate strategy academics reduced the list to one hundred. 

Many of the innovations inspired by nature are so interesting by themselves it is easy to forget that the key to the book is their integration with real world economies as ways to provide sustainable benefits to the commons.  The Blue Economy is presented in 14 chapters, each of which investigates an aspect of the world’s economies and offers a series of innovations capable of making aspects of those economies sustainable.

This is a fascinating book and well worth a read.  For more information about the book “The Blue Economy” or to order a copy, please go to http://www.paradigm-pubs.com/catalog/detail/BluEco.

The organisation 10:10 UK, which aims to bring emissions down by 10% in 2010 has teamed up with international campaigning heavyweights 350.org. to co-ordinate 10:10:10 – the biggest ever day of positive action on climate change.

On October 10, 2010, thousands of individuals, families, schools, businesses and other organisations will take simple steps to save energy and reduce emissions. These ordinary actions, combined with a series of bold, iconic stunts, will make an extraordinary difference. Not only will they cut carbon directly, they will also send a powerful message to world leaders that people and organisations everywhere are ready to tackle climate change.

Sport Environment has already signed up to 10:10:10 and our staff will be racing around our office looking for energy efficient changes. You to can do your bit for 10:10:10 and here are simple ideas to get you started:

Some ideas to get you started:

1. Saddle up – Why not use the week of 10:10:10 to launch a cycle to work scheme? Look into offering employees interest-free loans on bicycles, install a bike rack for staff, give away cycling route maps and get a bike maintenance expert to come in and give a talk.

2. Celebrate! – This is your day to show off all the great work you’ve been doing to cut your carbon this year. So upload videos, pictures, and case studies to the 10:10:10 site and we’ll add them to our global scrapbook. More on this soon.

3. 20 minute audit – Take 20 minutes out so staff can race around your workplace, searching out areas where the office can be made more efficient. Have all the light bulbs been changed to energy-saving models? Are there machines left on during quiet times, evenings or weekends? Are there areas where air conditioning is battling with an open window? You could even reward the most energy-savvy staff member with a prize.

4. Stick it on – Create a lasting legacy after 10:10:10 by taking time out to put switch-off stickers on light switches, plugs and phone chargers.

5. Poster power! – We have a very exciting 10:10:10 poster maker online which will enable you to tell everyone at your school, business, organisation – or even your family(!) – about the steps you’re taking to cut your emissions.

6. Create a legacy – Use this day to mark the day your family changes its approach to energy use. Maybe you could set yourself a family treat, like a day out, as a reward to aim for in three or six months time.

To sign up for 10:10:10, please go to www.1010global.org.

Sustainable enterprises innovate solutions to society’s greatest needs. Their products are leading edge and globally sought after. They break into new markets and define them. They see opportunities where others see insurmountable challenges.

At Sport Environment we are passionate about delivering innovative and results orientated programmes for our clients. We strongly believe that organisations can do well by doing good and that sport can engage people both in society and with our environment.

We believe audiences engage best by experiencing real situations and we continually seek better ways at connecting brands with their customers. We are a young and ambitious company with a team that shares a great sense of purpose and enjoys collaborating with organisations that attract the best people and helps build strong societies in which their businesses can thrive.

Over eight thousand people attended the inaugural Blue Mile – Race for the Environment, which started at the historical Mayflower steps, Plymouth’s most famous landmark. The event saw over 641 people take to the water to swim, paddle and walk for the environment during the weekend, including a host of celebrities and blue ambassadors, who are passionate advocates for the environment.

The day kicked off with the junior one mile swim in Plymouth’s outdoor Lido, where seven year old Charlie Hyland completed the mile in 59m:03:00s. The fastest junior swim was Matthew Rose (15) who set a remarkable time of 18m:03s:09 the fastest over the weekend. This was followed by the first swim wave of the day in the open sea, with Henry Tenby (68), our oldest finisher completing the course in 58m:14:00s.

A whole host of celebrities took part in the Blue Mile, with T4′s Matt & Darren (formerly Max and Ob from Channel 4′s flagship soap Hollyoaks) taking on the kayak challenge , BBC Presenter and renowned ocean ambassador, Paul Rose (swim);  Everest climber and Pole to Pole explorer, James Hooper (swim) and Ocean Rower, Sarah Outen  the Stand up Paddle  (SUP).

The open water Blue Mile swim event was won by James Edmonds (24) who completed the mile course in a fast 20m: 24s, James also won the Blue³ Triple Challenge as the fasted across all three disciplines (Swim, SUP, Kayak) .  The Corporate Blue Mile Team event was won by Wolferstans Solicitors.

This was the first Blue Mile event to take place in the UK, with the format of mixing mass participation on the water with an experiential and educational village designed to actively engage people with our marine environment. The Organiser’s of the Blue Mile, Sport Environment are now looking to take the concept further to create a world-class format that uses the power of sport to create social and environmental change.

Monica Dolan, Sponsored Events Manager WWF-UK, Official Charity Partner of The Blue Mile – “This fantastic event showed how much people enjoy our seas and care about protecting our blue environment. We are delighted that so many took to the water to swim, kayak or stand up paddle their own Blue Mile, and in doing so raised important funds for WWF’s conservation work.  A big thank you to everyone who took part, and joined WWF in supporting our seas.”

Jane Chafer, Director of Marketing, University of Plymouth – “The Blue Mile was a fantastic event to be a part of, and a great promotion of Plymouth as a major marine and maritime city. We had a tremendous response from visitors to the Marine Institute stand, and people really engaged with the technology and equipment that was on show. I hope that the event can go from strength to strength and that we can go on to develop the educational aspects along with the aquatic sports participation.”

Conrad Humphrey’s, Managing Director of Sport Environment – “I was delighted at the public response to the first ever Blue Mile, an event designed to fuse sport with a public engagement programme focused on our blue environment. There were so many elements to the weekend that made me smile.  This was not just an event for elite athletes; we had people from all walks of life who took on the challenge of completing a mile and raising valuable support for WWF-UK to continue their work for clean and healthy seas.”

For the full results, please click here – http://www.endurancelife.com/assets/results/2010_bluemile.htm.