How GAMES will help make the 2024 Men’s Floorball World Championships more sustainable

The International Floorball Federation (IFF) is one of the GAMES project’s main partners, meaning sustainability is at the forefront of the Swedish Floorball Federation’s agenda (SFF) in organising the 15th Men’s World Floorball Championships (WFC) on 7-15 December, 2024 in Malmö Arena, Sweden. 

With more than 110,000 licensed players and 840 clubs, floorball is the largest indoor sport in Sweden. 

“When we have looked into the federation and the sustainability mapping that has been done there, it is working with social parts of sustainability such as including all ages and genders”, explains Zandra Eriksson, Communicator of the World Floorball Championships 2024. GAMES will now help WFC 2024 establish a sustainability concept for the Championships that includes all its facets. 

 “It’s important for our organisation since we can be a leader that inspires both cities and partners, but also our clubs and districts to show what a good collaboration between sport and sustainability could result in,” Eriksson continues. 

One way that GAMES will support WFC 2024 here is by helping to highlight the work of SFF’s partners, one of which encourages youth floorball players to recycle PET bottles and broken floorball equipment. SFF have sought partners for the 2024 Men’s Floorball World Championships that prioritise sustainability, but hope GAMES’ partners can help draw media attention towards their sustainability efforts so that more can be attracted. 

Eriksson explains that GAMES will also help WFC 2024 to “create structures for working closely with arena owners, cities, and other partners to create more sustainable events and legacy”. The 2023 Men’s Handball World Championship, partly held in Sweden and the Malmö Arena, were awarded The Sustainable Event Certification by Greentime. Men’s Floorball World Championships 2024 are now collaborating with the sustainable events agency to take the sustainable management of Malmö Arena and Baltiska Hallen to an even more sustainable level before December 2024.  

In addition to handball, Eriksson envisions WFC 2024 utilising GAMES to take inspiration from other sports and vice-versa, “helping each other in different areas, but also where we are having the same challenges”. For instance, a range of federations across different sports are tasked with hosting and organising international competitions like the WFC 2024. 

This could potentially lead to enhanced sustainability innovation, which Eriksson hopes WFC 2024’s collaboration with GAMES can generate, specifically in developing a better routine to collect used floorball equipment and reusing floorball balls. “It’s not something that’s being done right now,” Eriksson comments, “but hopefully within this project, maybe we can find new areas to work on regarding sustainability.” 

GAMES will support WFC 2024 to produce their 2024 Men’s World Championships sustainability concept so that the IFF can take responsibility for sustainability guidelines at future floorball events. “It’s very important that we work closely with the International Floorball Federation,” Eriksson declares, “making sure that we are going hand in hand in this project and learning from each other. We are creating this document with the structures and the guidelines for the sustainability policy, but we also hope that this can be used in the future as a guideline for the Swedish Floorball Federation so that this leaves a mark and makes a difference in the future.” 

An example of this that will be implemented at the 2024 Men’s Floorball World Championships is the IFF monitoring supplies and materials used by SFF to help reuse materials and minimise food waste.