Public comment opens for Council for Responsible Sport’s standards for social and environmental responsibility of sport organizations

February 24, 2021

The 45-day public comment period is latest element of the stakeholder input process to develop a relevant standard of best practices for hosting responsible events across the sport sector.

PORTLAND, OR February 24, 2021—As part of the stakeholder input process to develop a standard for the overarching operations of organizations that host and produce sports events, the Council for Responsible Sport (Council) invites public comments on the draft Responsible Sport Standard for Organizations (version 1) now through April 10, 2021.

All comments are being collected via QuestionPro, accessible here.

In August 2020, the Council launched a process to develop a new standardized collection of best practices that will serve to provide clear guidance to organizations that host and produce sporting events of all kinds and ensure that those events meet stakeholders’ expectations of safety, social diversity and inclusion, and environmental responsibility. After numerous advisory committee sessions and Council board review, it’s time to solicit public comments.

Upon completion of the 45-day public comment period, the Council for Responsible Sport plans to publish a document on its website (www.councilforresponsiblesport.org) of all comments that are received and provide information as to how the comments affected the draft standard. Comments will be recorded and reported anonymously.

“Public comment has always been a key component in the development and evolution of the Council for Responsible Sport’s certification standards,” said Keith Peters, the retired executive director of the Council and current board member. “It is exciting to be undergoing this part of the process once again; we always uncover something we hadn’t thought of during working group sessions.”

The intended audience for the new Responsible Sport Standard for Organizations is event professionals, but public comment is open to all interested parties and individuals. All comments are being collected via QuestionPro, accessible here.

The draft criteria maintains the Council’s traditional five-category structure of its single event standards, including: Planning & Communications, Procurement, Resource Management, Access & Equity, and Community Legacy, and will include expanded guidance on governance, diversity, inclusion, circular economy, and climate action elements.

The full direct link to the comment portal is: https://councilforresponsiblesport.questionpro.com

The Council for Responsible Sport’s board of directors expects to approve the Responsible Sport Standard for Organizations—version 1 sometime in 2021, with Beta testing by a few key organizations that produce multiple sports events to follow. 

About the Council for Responsible Sport

The Council for Responsible Sport, a 501 (c)(3) registered charity with a vision of a world where responsibly produced sports events are the norm, has been helping people measure, manage and verify the social and environmental impacts of their events since 2007. Responsible Sport Certified events are some of the world’s leading examples of responsible sport in action.

The current version of the Responsible Sport Standards for single events (v.4.2) was developed by an outside working group of both sustainability and sport industry experts, reviewed by a wide range of stakeholders throughout 2013 and implemented in January 2014. The Responsible Sport Standard for Organizations—version 1 will debut in 2021. www.CouncilforResponsibleSport.org

Contact:
Shelley Villalobos
Council for Responsible Sport
530-570-2526
shelley@councilforresponsiblesport.org