SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY for NFs

INTRODUCTION

The European Equestrian Federation (EEF) officially began its environmental sustainability journey in 2022, with the announcement of its roadmap at the General Assembly in September. Within this roadmap are a number of foundational steps which have been prioritised;

• The carbon capture ‘hoofprint’ tool and resource kit
• The Green Code of Conduct for events
• Sustainability webinars
• Young Leaders Programme

 These actions are fundamental to driving change across the European sport, and now require a strategic framework to underpin the overall mission and vision of the EEF.

The EEF are therefore seeking to develop a strategy that can be shared with the National Federations, that will encourage consensus, collaboration and action surrounding the complex topic of environmental sustainability.

In addition, in a second phase, the EEF would like White Griffin to provide support for delivering immediate change to ensure that all National Federations have their own strategy.

CREATING A STRATEGY

The EEF strategy is unique in that it needs to represent both the needs of the internal organisation and its operational responsibilities, as well as its broader influence over and support of the National Federations and Associate Members.

Therefore the strategy will take the form of identifying areas within the EEF’s immediate scope of influence and areas where the EEF can provide support and leadership to its stakeholders.

The strategy will work across all aspects of environmental sustainability, including emissions, water use, biodiversity, resources and waste. It will also seek to understand the crucial overlap into the broader themes of sustainability which are identified in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, as well as social licence and equine welfare.

TWO PHASED APPROACH

The purpose of a strategy and framework, is to enable both external and internal clarity on the direction of travel for the organisation, as well as to plan resource in the short, medium and long term to meet the demands of the goals within the strategy. The EEF are clear that part of the strategy must include support for the National Federations to create their own strategy. Therefore a two phased approach is offered.

Phase 1

Create a strategy for the EEF using internal staff and a small number of key stakeholders. The EEF will decide who should be involved in the working group devising the strategy with White Griffin. Once selected, a workshop will be held and the strategy will then be created.

Phase 2

In order to enable the National Federations to complete their own strategy, the following tools and resources should be created:

1. 1. A standard framework that enables a robust strategy for any National
   2. A how to guide to accompany the framework, that enables National Federations who are confident to do so, to create their own strategy independently.
   3. A webinar for National Federations to explain why a strategy is required and how to use the framework and develop a
   4. A 1-2-1 workshop process offered with White Griffin, to enable individual National Federations to create their strategies.

Supplementary support

In addition to the above, the National Federations may hire White Griffin independently to create the strategy document for them, along with any supplementary support regarding communications, roadmaps, technical advise etc.

PHASE 1

The process

In order to create a meaningful strategy, White Griffin would work with internal stakeholders at the EEF to understand priorities, aspirations and the overarching business strategy that the environmental framework must compliment. White Griffin would then create a strategy document to be presented to the EEF for comment and amends, before a final version is completed.

This agile process requires minimal input and will result in a strategy document being completed quickly and in accordance with the wants and needs of the internal EEF Leadership team.

PHASE 2

Once the strategy has been created, work can commence at pace to support the delivery of the pillars and objectives outlined within the strategy. The EEF are clear that one pillar will be a need to provide support to the National Federations in creating their own strategy as quickly as possible.

The process 

In order to create a strategic framework for all 40 National Federations, it will be necessary to carry out a baseline of research into those Federations to ensure that the document will suit all users. This will include:

• • • An understanding of which federations already have a strategy in place and obtaining a copy
    • Reviewing the remaining federations, their specific challenges and needs
    • Devising a process to unify all federations’ current and future strategies to create cohesion

The framework document will outline the reason why a strategy is necessary, how to create a strategy and the bones of a finished document.

Once the framework is produced a webinar will be delivered in order to support individuals’ understanding in how to utilise the document.

In addition, National Federations will be offered the opportunity for White Griffin to deliver a 1-2-1 workshop to support the strategy creation.

The overall aim of phase 2 is to ensure that every National Federation has an environmental strategy that lays the foundations of a coherent roadmap of activity. The purpose of this structure is to enable the EEF to support the Federations in creating strategies that are specific to the needs of their country, whilst supporting an overarching vision for environmental sustainability in equestrianism held by the EEF.

SUGGESTED PLAN FOR 2024

Whilst it is difficult to preempt the course of action prior to completing the EEF strategy and undertaking the background research into the National Federations, the following six month timeline is a reasonable summary of anticipated work that could follow as part of a phase 3 process. It is suggested that a review should be carried out at quarterly intervals in 2023 and 2024 to fine tune the best possible project plan for phase 3 of the project.

TERMS

The following are the outline terms for the delivery of this project: The deliverables will be as follows:

Phase 1

• • A pdf strategy document created in the EEF brand image that can be shared internally and externally

50% to be invoiced upon agreement of the start date

50% to be invoiced when the signed off pdf is issued to the EEF

Phase 2

• • A pdf framework document created in the EEF brand image that can be shared across all National Federations
  • A supporting pdf document to help National Federations understand how to create their own strategy
  • A Webinar to be made available to all National Federations explaining how to use the document

 50% to be invoiced upon agreement of the start date

50% to be invoiced when all signed off pdfs are issued to the EEF and the webinar is delivered.

Phase 3

To be discussed with the EEF during phase 2 of the project and deliverables and costs to be agreed at that time.

All payments should be made within 30 days of the invoice.

Sustainability Director
Ruth Dancer
ruth@whitegriffin.co.uk

Ruth is a PRINCE2 and AGILE qualified Project Manager and CISL, IEMA & BSI qualified sustainability professional

Ruth has worked within the sports industry for 19 years, delivering commercial operations and communications at international events and venues including: