Following last week’s blog about the various resources, strategies and funding available to support London’s leisure facilities to become more sustainable, we will focus on a call to action to help move the sector forward in this final blog.
Call to action
To explore and tackle the leisure sustainability challenges we are facing across London, we ran a roundtable discussion with London’s local authorities to identify a London-wide call to action to collectively address the increasingly concerning issue. The following agreed actions are to:
– Undertake a review of energy use, decarbonisation, and sustainability, to consider site-specific interventions across London.
– Influence key organisations to develop a larger pot of London-specific leisure centre funding.
– Consider building new facilities that enable cheaper future modifications to enhance facility use in changing climates.
– Ensure technology is bespoke to each facility to support building sustainability.
– Ensure that all facility staff are trained up to support the leisure facility in being more climate-friendly and sustainable.
– Develop awareness of opportunities of all sizes and seek local and national funding to make climate adaptation and sustainability possible.
– Ensure that greater knowledge of decarbonising swimming pools and bespoke building insulation is a requirement.
In addition to local authorities’ call to action, London Sport has identified the following call to action:
– Establish a knowledge sharing hub to share and promote London-wide best practice examples and case studies such as funding, adaptations, retrofitting and rebuilding to enhance inter-borough support.
– Establish a group that proactively brings together local authorities to visit various sustainable London leisure facilities to share key learnings.
– Push for a London-wide sport and leisure sustainability policy by collaborating with the sport sector, Greater London Authority, Sport England and London’s local authorities.
– Ensure that the new London leisure sustainability policy is aligned to the Mayor of London’s climate change resilience efforts and Sport England’s new Every Move strategy.
– Influence London’s authorities to incorporate leisure facilities as part of their wider infrastructure planning system to provide a more localised energy system.
– Develop a flexible strategy or action plan for London to adapt over time to meet the everchanging socio-economic circumstances.
