INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY 7th JOINT - IOA

Not being social aware is a lack of ethics that touches today’s
societies. As a tool for educational and permanent changes, don’t
sports have the responsibility of working in the direction of promoting
social responsibility?
The Sport and the Environment: Why Winter Sports
To help understand the possibilities it is useful to think about the
relationship between the practice of sports and the environment.
Today’s main sports activities can be divided into three categories:
outdoor sports practised in a genuine natural environment; outdoor
sports practised in a developed natural environment; and sports
practised predominantly in a constructed environment.
(Chernushenko, 1994)
There are examples of winter sports that fit in these three
categories. And environmentalists often criticize these practices,
which could be a reason for the early involvement between winter
sportive organizations and environmental movements.
In addition, winter sports that are practised in a natural
environment are seasonal and tourism is an important factor to the
areas dealing with it. In this case the extensive use of the area in a
short period of time can worsen the impact on the environment. Also
because tourism is usually the most important economical factor for
the communities populating these areas, it is important that it should
be guided in a sustainable fashion.
Supposing that sustainable tourism can help to preserve the
environment as well as maintain economical resources, future
generations will also have the possibility to enjoy it. Olympic
Education can be used to achieve these short term and mainly local
effects.
Going one step further with education and trying to reach the
tourists visiting these areas, spreading environmental awareness over a
wide range of people could be possible. In this way local actions can
be used to promote a global effect. In the same way education
connected to spectators of Olympic sports events could be used to
reach environmental awareness also on a global scale.
Further in this paper there are presented some Olympic Winter
cases on their environmental approach specially related to educational
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