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Highlights
- A TCS panel explores how sport can inspire sustainable change.
- Discover how sports teams and leaders have become trusted advocates for sustainability.
- Understand how tech is helping to create a sustainable future.
- Learn how sport can inspire individuals to collectively deliver societal change.
- What sport can teach us about cultivating a sustainable organisational culture.
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How sport can inspire individuals to embrace sustainable change
As the eyes of the world turned to London for the final round of the 2023 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) took the opportunity to shine a light on the role sport can play in delivering a sustainable future.
Whilst the Formula E teams prepared for the final race of the 2023 season, TCS gathered a panel of thought leaders to explore the power of sport as a driver of positive, sustainable change. The panel included (see pic below) Julia Pallé, Director of Sustainability, Formula E; Santino Pietrosanti, Director, Head of Global Strategic Partnerships & Corporate Development, Jaguar Land Rover; Hugh Brasher, Event Director at London Marathon Events; Piyali Sen, UK & Ireland Head of Sustainability and ESG Business, TCS; and myself, Mike Barry, Strategic Advisor on Sustainable Business, TCS, as moderator.
The discussion exposed several key learnings that can be taken from sport and applied to help organisations and individuals adopt the steps needed to make their businesses, lives, and communities more sustainable.
Moderator of the panel, Mike Barry (extreme right), makes a point.
Encouraging change
There was a time when the responsibility to encourage change came almost exclusively from scientists, campaigners, and politicians.
In a world where the power of sport permeates cultures and borders to inspire emotions and touch lives, the ability of teams and sporting heroes to provide positive examples of change has never been greater. From the world’s greenest football team (Forest Green Rovers) to the advocacy of voices from every corner of sport, teams and athletes are waking up to their ability to motivate fans to embrace change. The loyalty of vast global fanbases and the capacity to connect emotionally with individuals gives sport a unique power and responsibility to promote positive change.
Whether you're being inspired by Olympians or taking part in a football match on Hackney Marshes on a rainy January morning, sport can convince and inspire. Sport brings billions of people together.
The small steps to big change
The scale of the problem and the changes required to address the climate crisis can leave people feeling powerless despite a desire to act.
In addition to the influence it can wield, sport can distil technological breakthroughs from the cutting edge of sport to offer people small, practical steps that can collectively deliver meaningful change. From software updates for I-Pace to the plan to make Jaguar a fully electric brand by 2025, knowledge gleaned from the Formula E track is already helping Jaguar owners transition to sustainable mobility.
Cultivating a sustainable culture
Formula E’s Director of Sustainability, Julia Pallé, shared brilliant insights into how the sport has imbedded a sustainable culture that influences every decision, from the choice of sponsors to the refreshments available at events.
This culture is the driving force behind the pursuit of a genuinely “circular” car. A car in which tyres, carbon fibre and rare minerals from the batteries will all be recycled for use in new cars season after season. The way sustainability considerations are internalised within the organisational culture of Formula E provides a living example to businesses of what a truly sustainable culture looks like and what it can achieve.
The importance of positivity
Hugh Brasher, Event Director of London Marathon Events, helped the panel explore how the TCS London Marathon has expanded to become the most popular marathon on the planet.
The image of real, relatable people endeavouring to do the extraordinary has inspired millions more regular people to get off the sofa and get involved. Every person who runs the TCS London Marathon is an uplifting story of change and motivation. When surrounded by headlines that amplify fear, and with so much of the media narrative focused on the negative impacts of climate change, the power of sport to tell positive stories is invaluable. To incentivise meaningful societal change, we must find ways of making change feel good for every individual and tell the stories of how small actions by many people can make a real difference.
The power of us
Our path to a sustainable future will be a collective endeavour.
Every runner in the TCS London Marathon will help someone and will be helped somewhere along the race. The community spirit the event fosters has been critical to its success. Every Formula E fan is united by emotions and shared experiences with fellow fans around the world. The power of sport to bring consumers, communities and businesses together makes it a perfect vehicle for the kind of collaborative thinking we will need to create successful sustainable strategies for the future. There is only so much you can achieve by travelling alone. Collaborations such as those between TCS and Jaguar TCS Racing are already proving what can be achieved by uniting different skills, experiences, and perspectives. If the Formula E track can teach us anything, it is how far and how quickly humans can achieve incredible progress when they come together around a common goal.
