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INNOVATE SHARE CONNECT INSPIRE

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Ten finalists of the Sports for Nature Challenge revealed

ThinkSport today announced the names of the ten front runners selected by an expert jury to participate in the final of the Sports for Nature Challenge which will take place at THE SPOT on 9 May in Lausanne. The Challenge, powered by Sails of Change, looks for innovative solutions that promote and enhance biodiversity conservation, with an actual or potential link with sport.

The ten finalists with the most promising proposals in the three categories of impactful campaigns, innovative infrastructure and smart technology are:

  • Save the Waves Coalition
  • We Play Green
  • Athletes of the world
  • Kilimanjaro Initiative
  • IMOCA
  • Red Knot Racing
  • Plantipolis
  • Mover Sportswear
  • Sport & Nature: a Symbiosis
  • Dimpora AG

At THE SPOT, the ten finalists will deliver three-minute pitches each, followed by a Q+A. The jury will feature renown experts in the field, including Sails of Change co-founders Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard, IOC Director of Corporate Development and Sustainability Marie Sallois Dembreville but also the Director of the Centre for Society and Governance at IUCN, Dr. Radhika Murti.  On the following day, all ten finalists will be invited to an exclusive workshop to frame a potential POC with one of the supporters or with a major stakeholder from the world of sport.

ThinkSport Director Anna Hellman said:

“This year, THE SPOT’s horizontal theme will be ‘Innovation for sustainable futures’ and the discussions will centre around innovating with purpose from an economic, environmental and social point of view.  The event will provide the perfect platform to present the best ten proposals for the Sports For Nature Challenge in front of a knowledgeable audience with high stakes in the topic of natural conversation.”

For this year’s Challenge, ThinkSport received 70 applications from all continents. Thirty of these 70 applications were selected to enter the Challenge and participated in the semi-final on 5 April where the ten best solutions were then chosen to go toe-to-toe in the final.

Protecting biodiversity can help people to adapt to climate change, ensuring health and food security, with healthy ecosystems becoming more resilient to climate change. Conserved or restored habitats can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping to address climate change by storing carbon. Ultimately, by halting and reversing biodiversity loss, a nature-positive world may be achieved by 2030 for the benefit of the planet and the people. The Sports for Nature Challenge succeeds last year’s Air Quality & Sport Challenge that generated viable and creative solutions for the sports world.

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