Transformative climate resilience and sport mega-events – The case of the Australian Open
- Author(s)
- Peter Gollagher, Sebastian Fastenrath
- Abstract
Adapting to extreme weather events and mitigating greenhouse gases have become critical challenges for sport mega-events. It is clear it is increasingly difficult to host large summer and winter sporting events due to weather extremes such as heat waves, storms or droughts. Extreme heat, in particular, makes events – and event management – less predictable and can have a significant impact on the health of athletes, spectators and staff. International organisations such as the United Nations have called for a rethink, and climate action in sport. At the same time, event organisers are beginning to adapt to the new conditions and develop strategies and measures to reduce event-related greenhouse gases. This paper examines whether sport events can act and function as catalysts for sustainability transitions towards a reduced climate impact. Drawing on the literature on mega-events, urban climate resilience and sustainability transitions, this paper introduces the framework of transformative climate resilience to analyse the climate adaptation and mitigation actions of sport mega-events. Using, as an example, the Australian Open – one of the four largest tennis tournaments in the world – valuable insights are provided into the event’s different stakeholders, approaches to climate action, and challenges in building transformative climate resilience.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Geography and Regional Research
- External organisation(s)
- AECOM
- Journal
- Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions
- Volume
- 48
- Pages
- 1-14
- ISSN
- 2210-4224
- Publication date
- 09-2023
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 507019 Urban development planning, 507027 Sustainable urban development, 507024 Environmental policy
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geography, Planning and Development, Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law, Environmental Science (miscellaneous), Social Sciences (miscellaneous), Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 13 - Climate Action, SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/2bc65ddc-d624-49ec-8af6-84f968bb7b2b