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protection as complementary forces rather than antagonists. That is to say,
increasingly high standarts of any sort ought to be consistent with the needs and
contraints of nature. (8)
This reconciliation constituted the common challenge of both the Stockholm
(1972) and Rio de Janeiro (1992) United Nations Conferences on Environment and
Development. As historical milestones for environmentalism these conferences
focused on promoting the union of single-minded forces of international society
as a global agreement. The attempt to have such natural contract in a planetary
scope, among successes and failures, proved the importance of a harmonious
combination of political actions and environmental ethics. (9)
However, the challenge of sustainability gained more visibility on local levels
where politics and ethics become a combination of instrumental values with
intrinsic values seeking for environment preservation. This conception in spite of
variety of forms, is commonly shared by leading scholars of environmentalism,
such as Hargrove, Rolston, Fox, Lovelock, Turner, etc. (10)
Drawing primarily on the propositions of these philosophers and scientists,
sustained development is specifically the ethical instrumentalization of nature,
respecting its intrinsic values. Or, more pointedly for sport concerns: physical
activities, games and competitions are sustained when their instrumentalization
respects the intrinsic values of nature and sport.
Moreover, the best way to lead into a discussion on sustainability in sport is to
be aware of Arne Naess’ ontological argument. For this Norwegian philosopher,
proponent of Deep Ecology, intrinsic values derive from richness and diversity of
life forms which “contribute to the realization of these values and are also values
in themselves (11)
Arne Naess also calls attention to the typical attitude of frilufsliv (free air life)
when arguing the roots of Deep Ecology: (12)
Norwegians walk, run, creep into nature to get rid of whatever represses them
and contaminates the air not only the atmosphere. They don’t talk about going
out, but in and into nature.
This life-based approach to sport complemented the work of several
environmentalists and scholars in the development of “Nature, the True Home of
Culture” project. In short, this initiative of the Norwegian University of Sports and
Physical Education promotes the reconciliation of sport, nature and culture,
following the tradition set by Fridtjof Nansen, a well-known nineteenth century
explorer. His influence, still alive in Scandinavian countries, is characterized (13)
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