Green Inspiration: Tampere 2013 at heart of 'Tidy City Campaign'

The 2013 European Athletics U23 Championships have inspired a project to include children in the Finnish city of Tampere's campaign to keep its streets litter free and promote respect for the environment, underlining the sport of athletics' communications power and its important role in the area of social responsibility.

European Athletics has awarded its Green Inspiration label to the project, which includes visits to the city's kindergartens by teenage representatives to raise awareness about tidiness, recycling and sustainable consumption as well as a coloring competition based on the championships' mascot.

According to the championship's General Coordinator Elisa Hakanen, young children have been identified as key agents of change by the organisers of Tampere's Tidy City campaign.

'Making them aware of environmental issues is obviously important and it also helps send the message of responsibility to their parents. We are happy that the championships can be a tool in this effort,' she said.

The school visits in recent weeks have included a chance for children create their own interpretations of the championship's mascot Ringo the Rabbit practising athletics and keeping Tampere clean. The best drawings will be shown in a public exhibition and a selection will be published by a local newspaper, Aamulehti, taking the twin messages to a wider audience.

'In addition to the kindergarten project, we are using our local activities for creating awareness of the championships to also communicate about the campaign and the environment in general,' said Hakanen. 'Posters with the championship logo and the text 'Be a champion, be tidy!' have been put up across the city and our various promotional events have already been visited by approximately 10,000 people,'

'During the championships, our young cleanliness promoters will go around the venue to speak face to face with spectators, athletes and officials.'

The European Athletics' Green Inspiration label is given to qualified activities to promote sustainability and social responsibility inspired by the five main European Athletics championships in 2013.

Each championship host city – Gothenburg, Gateshead, Tampere, Rieti and Belgrade – will conduct a local campaign in which athletics fans and others will be invited to design their own activities and request the label to recognise their efforts.