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Coalition adds outdoor perspective to European Commission Expert Group

We are delighted to report that the It’s Great Out There Coalition has been invited to join the European Commission’s Expert Group on ‘Green Sport’. This is a subgroup of the main Expert Group that is responsible for the implementation of the EU Work Plan for Sport (E01564), and in that context, it’s an influential body involving all 27 Member States.

The Green Sport subgroup focuses on developing sustainable sport practices across Europe, which aligns very well with the #itsgreatoutthere campaign’s objective of getting more people active outdoors in a responsible way.

In our application letter to join, we wrote: “We have followed the work of the Green Sport Expert Group since its creation and believe we could provide a strong contribution to the work of the subgroup on ‘Education about and promotion of sustainable sport practices’.”

We were very pleased that the European Commission agreed and invited the Coalition to join the subgroup, where we will be represented by our Policy Officer Margo de Lange. At the moment, the Green Sport subgroup is working on two specific workstreams:

  • Strengthening the recovery and the crisis resilience of the sport sector during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Gender equality in sport

We look forward to making positive and constructive contributions to both workstreams on behalf of the outdoor sector, and to playing a full role in all future work of the Green Sport Expert Group. We’ll share more news from the group as it emerges.