About
Extraordinary times require extraordinary teams. As the world’s biggest sport, football has enormous power and potential to drive much-needed global progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Taking place in Berlin in the run-up to the UEFA European Football Championship 2024 final, Impact worked with Common Goal to deliver the ‘Football for Sustainability Summit’ hosted by the German Federal Government in partnership with UEFA and the German Football Association. Common Goal is a global impact movement for the world of football, rooted in the belief that the world’s most popular sport is one of the few cultural forces strong enough to help shift society towards a more sustainable and equitable future for all.
The summit created a unique platform for experts and decision makers to come together to explore how to unleash this potential.
The world’s most complex challenges won’t be solved by individuals alone; they require radical collaboration and collective action from across diverse groups.
The summit aimed to bring together stakeholders, from both the football world and beyond, to collaborate on the complex challenges facing us globally. The summit's objectives were to:
- Provide a psychologically safe space for bold, provocative conversations
- Initiate new connections among diverse groups
- Facilitate powerful dialogue and knowledge sharing
- Collectively explore key themes and challenges
- Create agents of change and inspire action.
The summit took place between the semi-finals and the finals of UEFA EURO 2024 at the Academy of Arts, in front of the iconic Brandenburg Gate. Harnessing the momentum created by this important sporting event, the summit brought together more than 300 distinguished leaders, experts and decision makers from football, politics, civil society, academia, and the private sector.
Speakers included ex-footballer and pundit Rio Ferdinand, Spanish footballers Juan Mata and Veronica Boquete, Adidas CEO Jürgen Griesbeck, and German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Svenja Schulze.
Impact brought in a diverse team of colleagues and partners to design and deliver the event, which involved MC’ing the summit, moderating panel discussions, and facilitating the breakout sessions - both in person and virtually. Drawing on our experiential learning practice and expertise in working with large groups, Impact facilitators delivered a powerful and energising experience for all participants that was a world away from stuffy conference rooms and endless PowerPoint presentations.
The guiding theme of the summit was ‘collaboration’. As such, the breakout sessions were themed around the key principles of collaboration: focus on a shared goal, appreciating different perspectives, open communication, and a positive, problem-solving attitude. Session topics included:
- Fostering collaboration for more sustainable sports events
- Diversity and inclusion in sports
- The role of athletes as change makers
- Sustainability in supply chains
- Leveraging grassroots football to support the Sustainable Development Goals
- The impact of climate change on athletes.
The summit served as a kick off for long-term collaborative efforts – sparking bold conversations, forging new connections, and triggering collective action. Participants ended their experience by pledging tangible actions they will undertake to move forward.
2030 is the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals. It’s also the 100th Anniversary of the men’s World Cup to be held in Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Uruguay. Common Goal’s ambition is that, instead of staging just another glamorous football event, the World Cup becomes a truly global celebration of football’s positive contribution to people and planet. Before then, the 2025 women’s EURO in Switzerland, the 2026 men’s World Cup in USA, Mexico and Canada, the 2027 women’s World Cup in Brazil and the 2028 men's EURO in UK and Ireland will provide further opportunity to unleash football’s potential to make a better world.
Impact supported the summit pro bono through our Learning in the Community initiative, which involves partnering with organisations doing important work and learning in the process. Having worked closely with Common Goal for a number of years, (including on the highly successful Play Proud programme for LGBTQ+ youth), the summit marked a key moment in both our partnership and our ongoing work to drive positive impact.
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