C ZERO SPORT CLUBS

On September 29th 2024, at the "Vasil Levski" National Stadium in Sofia, Darko Team "Sprint Cup 2024" was held, which was part of the European Week of Sport and marked the beginning of the new season in the school. This event was part of the "Carbon Neutral Sports Clubs Network – C ZERO SPORT CLUBS" initiative, which is co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Commission. The project aims to encourage small sports clubs in Europe to take concrete action to protect the climate by implementing eco-friendly management practices and using digital tools.

The European Week of Sport #BeActive takes place annually between 23 and 30 September, and during its 10th edition, which took place in 2024, all residents and guests of Sofia had the opportunity to be part of the biggest sports celebration in Europe. The European Week of Sport is an initiative of the European Commission that has been taking place in September across Europe since 2015. The week, which takes the form of an awareness-raising campaign, promotes the many benefits of sport and physical activity and is open to all, regardless of age, background or physical condition.

On September 26, 2024, Bulgarian sports development association organized a local conference within the "Carbon Neutral Sports Club Network – C ZERO SPORTS CLUB" project. The event brought together representatives of sports clubs and public figures interested in the environmental challenges facing the sports sector. The main highlight of the conference was the presentation of the "Carbon Footprint Measurement Programme for Sports Organisations", created within the project. The programme aims to support sports clubs in understanding and measuring their environmental footprint, while providing concrete tools and guidance to reduce carbon emissions.

Аn event was held with the participation of coaches and athletes from the Darko Team Athletics School оn July 27th 2024, at the "Vasil Levski" National Stadium in Sofia. This event was part of the "Carbon Neutral Sports Clubs Network – C ZERO SPORT CLUBS" initiative. The project aims to encourage small European sports clubs to take concrete actions for climate protection by implementing eco-friendly management practices and using digital tools. Participants conducted eco-activities in order to highlight the importance of caring for nature, demonstrating that environmental protection should be a priority for all athletes, regardless of their age.

On 24 and 25 June 2024 in Sofia, Bulgaria, an international partner meeting under the Carbon Neutral Sports Club Network – C ZERO SPORTS CLUB project took place. During the meeting, the "Carbon Footprint Measurement Programme for Sports Organisations", developed for the purpose of the project, was discussed and the results obtained and analysed. Further consideration was given to future project objectives and activities. The consortium includes 7 partner organisations from Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Serbia and Turkey.

On Vidovday, 15 June 2024, an event was held within the Carbon Neutral Sports Clubs Network – C ZERO SPORT CLUBS initiative. The project aims to encourage small European sports clubs to take concrete actions to support climate protection by adopting an eco-friendly approach to governance and using digital tools.

On the 21st of May 2024, an event was held as part of the Carbon Neutral Sports Clubs Network – C ZERO SPORT CLUBS initiative. The project aims to encourage small European sports clubs to take concrete actions to support climate protection by adopting an eco-friendly approach to governance and using digital tools. The participants in the event performed an eco-friendly activity that highlighted the importance of caring for nature and its preservation, thus young athletes showed that caring for the environment should be a priority for all athletes, no matter their age.

On the 24th of April 2024, an event was successfully held as part of the Carbon Neutral Sports Clubs Network – C ZERO SPORT CLUBS initiative. The project aims to encourage small European sports clubs to take concrete actions to support climate protection by adopting an eco-friendly approach to governance and using digital tools. Participants in the event were students from the Department of Wrestling and Judo of the National Sports Academy "Vasil Levski". The students performed a practical activity – they cleaned the green areas of the Academy, emphasizing the importance of caring for nature and its conservation. This example shows that caring for the environment should be a priority for all students, lecturers and guests of the NSA.

On March 26th, 2024, in the city of Sofia, Bulgaria, Bulgarian sports development association, in cooperation with the volleyball club "Ahil" Sofia, held a dissemination event within the initiative "Carbon Neutral Sports Club Network – C ZERO SPORTS CLUB". The event was attended by the young graduates of the volleyball club and their coach Alexander Rashkov, who supported the initiative and planted flowers and trees, highlighting the importance of children taking an active part in this process.

In the period 7-10.02.2024 in the city of Sakarya, Turkey, an international partner meeting under the "Carbon Neutral Sports Club Network – C ZERO SPORTS CLUB" project was held. During the meeting, the "Carbon Footprint Measurement Programme for Sports Organisations", created for the purpose of the project, was discussed, as well as the results obtained and analysed and the future objectives and activities of the project. The consortium consists of 7 partner organisations from Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Serbia and Turkey.

On October 17, 2023, the Bulgarian Sports Development Association conducted an online training course for the "Carbon Neutral Sports Club Network – C ZERO SPORTS CLUB" project. During the training course, the "Carbon Footprint Measurement Program for Sports Organizations" created for the project was presented, demonstrated, and discussed. The course also covered the results obtained from the C ZERO SPORTS CLUBS study, future project goals and activities, as well as the roles and responsibilities of partner sports organizations. The consortium consists of seven partner organizations from Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Serbia, and Turkey.

In the period September 20th and 23rd, 2023, in the city of Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia, an international partnership meeting was held for the "Carbon Neutral Sports Club Network – C ZERO SPORTS CLUB" project. During the meeting, the "Carbon Footprint Measurement Program for Sports Organizations," created for the project's purposes, was presented, demonstrated, and discussed. The results obtained from the C ZERO SPORTS CLUBS study, as well as the future goals and activities of the project, along with the tasks and responsibilities among the partners, were also addressed. The consortium consists of 7 partner organizations from Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Serbia, and Turkey.

In the period 14-18.05.2023, in Lisbon, Portugal, an international partner meeting under the "Carbon Neutral Sports Club Network – C ZERO SPORTS CLUB" (Network of sports clubs without carbon emissions) project was held. During the meeting, the results obtained from the C ZERO SPORTS CLUBS study were discussed, as well as the goals and activities of the project, tasks and responsibilities between the partners were presented. The consortium consists of 7 partner organizations from Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Serbia and Turkey. Joanna Dochevska and Ivaylo Zdravkov – board members of BSDA – took part in the meeting on behalf of Bulgarian sports development association (BSDA).

On the 14th of February 2023, the first online meeting of the “Carbon Neutral Sports Club Network – C ZERO SPORTS CLUB” project took place. The goals and activities of the project were presented, as well as the tasks and responsibilities between the partners were officially distributed. The consortium consists of 7 partner organizations from Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Serbia and Turkey. Kalinka Gudarovska and Ivaylo Zdravkov – board members of BSDA, took part in the meeting on behalf of Bulgarian sports development association.

The “Carbon Neutral Sports Clubs Network” (C ZERO SPORT CLUBS) project aims to encourage small sports clubs operating in Europe to take action and develop a sustainable understanding for climate action. It is a necessity for sports clubs to encourage an environmentally compatible management approach by including digital tools and to take responsibility environment because it is especially important for local sports clubs to carry their local activities outside of sports and to gain the support of the society by developing environmentalist behaviours. With the Carbon Neutral Sports Clubs Network, we plan to establish, we will have determined a roadmap for environmentalist activities we will plan in the future and we will apply inside of the sport clubs. These activities will be related how to manage a sport club management in an environmentalist approach, which are using recycled materials, using eco-lamps, using more bicycles for their daily works, organizing attractive planting activities etc.