The world of events and sports, like any human activity, generates impact and has before it an opportunity to contribute to solving the challenges of the 21st century, using sports as a positive force.
With the goal of actively participating in this change, RCS Sports & Events continues its journey this year with NATIVA – Regenerative Design Company that supports hundreds of organizations in a radical evolution towards regenerative economic models. Together we are working on mapping our environmental, social and economic impacts and those of two iconic events, the Milano Marathon and the Giro d’Italia.
The project involves the deep involvement of those who organize and experience the events each year: starting from the organizers and people at RCS, to the suppliers and partners, from the local communities to the athletes, and to the broad audience and spectator base. The goal is not only to analyze the key impacts resulting from the two events, but also to establish a dialogue and discussion with our entire ecosystem in order to identify shared solutions that can guide the evolution of event design toward an increasingly regenerative paradigm.
The end point is ambitious, but we have mapped out the path for future evolution together with the whole ecosystem and are ready to follow it step by step.
The 360-degree analysis conducted in 2024 on the impacts of the Milan Marathon and RCS Sport & Events’ commitments to evolving toward more sustainable practices and improving impacts was recounted within our first Legacy Report..
Data collected for more than 150 parameters with respect to 5 areas related to sustainability – Circularity, Natural Capital, Climate Resilience, Education and Engagement, Wellbeing, Happiness and Health – allowed us to draw the regeneration profile of the event:
Some of the key elements that emerged are:
- 30% less overall CO2 emissions than the 2023 Milano Marathon;
- 80% of the technical jerseys provided to participants were made of recycled fabric;
- Over 1.4 million euros raised by the 4,000 teams running for the 104 official NPOs;
- Over 8000 children, families and carers involved in the Saturday Family Run in CityLife helping to spread important values such as sports, respect for the environment, the correct use of technology and solidarity.
This year we wanted to go one step further, implementing the improvement actions we committed to within the Legacy Report, to reach the target profile of the Milano Marathon.
To achieve this goal, we have focused our efforts this year on several areas:
POSITIVE IMPACT ON COMMUNITIES
Amplifying the engagement of all key stakeholders, starting with sponsors and suppliers, to experiment with more sustainable solutions for the sports world.
POSITIVE IMPACT ON PEOPLE
Structured training process of workers and volunteers who took part in the event;
Monitoring the well-being of all participants to incorporate their insights into future planning.
POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT
Commitment to monitor and improve travel and consumption to reduce emissions from the Wizz Air Milano Marathon;
Creating and sharing guidelines for suppliers and sponsors on sustainable alternatives;
Be part of the positive change too, run with us!
