The 8th Sporttalk was about sustainability

The board of the alumni association Sportökonomie Uni Bayreuth e.V. has a new member: Lisa-Marie Merkl. She studied Sport, Economics & Law at the University of Bayreuth and succeeds Jan Schönberner. She has been a research assistant at the Marketing & Consumer Behaviour research group since 2020. In particular, the cohesion and networking of “Spökos” make the degree programme unique for Lisa-Marie Merkl, who explains, "As a board member of the alumni association, it is particularly important to me to strengthen the sports economics network in the long term, so that students can benefit from this platform and its opportunities for communication, not only during but also after completing their studies."

In addition to the change of board, once again the Bayreuth Sporttalk took place online in the 2021/2022 winter semester. The 8th Sporttalk was organised in cooperation with Sportökonomie Consulting e. V. on the topic of "Sustainability in Sport - Economic, Social and Ecological Challenges". Guests were the experts Alexandros Taflanidis (Co-Founder of PLANETICS), Mario Lucan (Executive Director Product Management of SPORTFIVE), Paul Neutzner (Marketing EMEA Patagonia) and Stefan Wagner (Sports For Future). The exciting presentations and dialogues were hosted by Prof. Dr. Manuel Steinbauer (Chair of Sports Ecology) and Prof. Dr. Peter Kuhn of the Institute of Sports Science at the University of Bayreuth.

The Sporttalk began with a stock-taking and a critical analysis of the current situation. The experts clearly agreed that sport does not yet have a pioneering role in the area of sustainability and that little sustainable implementation has taken place so far. Accordingly, companies should act responsibly and sustainably. In doing so, the various institutions in the sports industry should find a good balance between healthy, economic growth and their responsibility with regard to environmental sustainability. The experts agree that there is currently a great opportunity in this area and emphasise that "The topic of sustainability in the sports business is currently attracting a lot of public attention. Sport can reach many people through its reach and set positive examples."

Furthermore, they state that there is no uniform definition of the concept. As a consequence, government is called upon to set new framework conditions for sustainable structures. Through the "Fridays For Future" movement, the topic of sustainability has become more central in the public sphere and a dynamic for short- and long-term action was created. During the discussion, there were also calls for sustainability in sport to be more actively entrenched in companies and other institutions in the future. Finally, there was a discussion about the meaningfulness of various measures for environmental protection, such as tree planting and the use of environmental badges. In particular, the definition of "greenwashing" and the critical approach to it were discussed. The 8th Bayreuth Sporttalk ended with many ideas and incentives on how to reconcile economic, social, and ecological challenges in sport.