Österlen Spring Trail celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and the Green Trail Concept (GTC) booth was on site to welcome runners and participants once again! We wanted to see if their knowledge on sustainability had improved from last year and put the beta version of our new certification tool to the test.
Progress is not always linear
T-shirts, posters, and wood-based info boards were all in place, along with eager master’s students studying Sport and Sustainability from Malmö University. The only thing missing was … participants! Tempting raffle prizes such as a starting place next year, gift cards, and even a free weekend on Österlen for 2026 weren’t enough to get folks in on Saturday. Thankfully, people flocked to the stand the next day – once word got around that finishing the quiz/survey earned them a T-shirt! We didn’t have this problem at the stand last year, so what happened?
Sustainability = Old news?
Projects on sustainability efforts run into this problem all the time. However, it is hard not to be disappointed. In a world increasingly marked by the “attention economy” – it can feel like an uphill battle getting people to engage. As the novelty of an initiative wears off, it can be hard to sustain the momentum needed to improve sustainability in the long term.
That is a key reason why project outputs like the certification tool are so crucial. These tools are designed to help organizers embed sustainability into the event from start to finish, making it easier for participants to engage, join the race and safeguard the environment, honour the community, and support the local economy.
Never fear – GTC partners are still motivated as the project heads into its final year!
Our Certification Tool in action
Race organizers like Gael Joly from Österlen Spring Trail put a lot of effort into planning their event, but they put even more hours in during the run itself, when last-minute or unforeseen problems arise. Even with an army of volunteers, Gael had to run around to make sure everything ran smoothly – literally! With time at a premium, we need to make sure our tool allows people to focus their efforts where they are needed most, including how to measure impact and identify areas for improvement.
Measuring impact beyond numbers
Österlen Spring Trail is already benefitting from implementing the beta version of our tool.
“It did help to answer the questions about my specific race more than I thought it would [having helped develop the indicators]! I implemented a few new things that I would not have done without the tool.”
This included dedicating volunteers to monitor litter and ensuring people sorted waste correctly, creating activities for families and kids (including a bouncy castle and a mini-race for children), and providing a separate, non-binary changing room.
Gathering data during the event is crucial for reporting and the final stage of the certification tool. GRID-Arendal was on hand to help monitor and collect valuable data that can be missed during a hectic race day. This enabled us to gather valuable feedback as we fine-tune the tool, ensuring it can be integrated into a race organizer’s tasks seamlessly before, during, and after a race.
We ask race organizers to collect data to help verify that their race qualifies for certification. However, numbers only go so far, and race organizers often struggle to gauge impact beyond ticket sales or complaints received. By creating a common, trusted certification tool, the Green Trail Concept team hopes that the positive impacts and efforts of race organizers to be more sustainable will become easier to communicate!
For the Green Trail Concept team, rewarding and highlighting what race organizers do right is just as important as identifying areas of improvement. Now, our focus turns to calibrating the certification tool accordingly and testing it for our upcoming race – Zegama-Aizkorri mendi maratoia. Stay tuned!
