Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies – Institute for Management
Site visits continue as Sant’Anna School visits the Danish FA
The spring of 2023 saw many site visits within the ACCESS project’s framework, with the last one being Sant’Anna School’s trip to Denmark, not only to visit the stadium and other facilities but also to test the project’s new Key Performance Indicator dashboard.
As part of the ongoing activities linked to screening and mapping hotspots and opportunities for improvement, the Danish FA (DBU) invited Tiberio Daddi and Daniele Casiddu from the Sant’ Anna University of Management in Pisa to Greater Copenhagen to discuss how football clubs and associations can take part in making cities more circular. The one-day program started at DBUs headquarters in Brøndby and ended with an on-site visit of the national stadium of Denmark and home ground to F.C. Copenhagen with the opportunity to talk about environmental sustainability and social responsibility.
An important feature of this particular study visit was also to test in practice the recently developed Key Performance Indicator, developed by the School. This particular tool will contribute with valuable qualitative and quantitative data which will enrich other observations and findings from previously conducted interviews. All this intelligence would be summarised in a respecti9ve publication to be published in August 2023.
Lasse Månsson, the DBU’s analyst, said about the recent visit: “The exchange of information, knowledge and best practice is a vital part of the joint EU-research funded project ACCESS. This structure with regular interface between academia and representatives from the Danish football community stimulates the bridge build between national football facilities and the city.“
As reported by the DBU, the Association joined the project to learn and give their insights into sustainability from the perspective of a sports organisation, but also to capitalise on the networking and findings. Among other things, the relevant fields of sustainability for DBU, other national associations and clubs prior and on game day include waste management, food & beverage, accommodation, and mobility. The people responsible for these areas within DBU had previously been interviewed to give their in-depth view on these operations to the project, and the reason for the visit to Denmark was to further qualify the findings from the interviews and integrate them into the project.
Based on the interviews, a critical factor in all operations is the monitoring and collection of data. In specific areas DBU is already collecting and getting valuable insights from data, and this aspect must be prioritized across all areas and operations to properly identify and implement green initiatives and criteria. Furthermore, there is a lot of potential for DBU to share information on green accommodation and sustainable transportation.
The findings of the project will be used to develop and better align environmental strategies and practices of sports clubs and associations and the cities or regions they operate in. Clubs often have a close relationship with their municipalities and other city actors in their day-to-day operations, and the visit was also an opportunity to visit F.C. Copenhagen and have a chat with the Director of Operations, Brian Månsson, about their different initiatives within sustainability and partnerships with local actors.