Sport Management and Sustainability Innovation Challenges

In the first part of the book, the focus was on introducing the conceptual (Transition Studies) and first practical tolls (sustainable innovation) to set the scene to a deeper analysis of the effective role of grassroots innovation in sport for a sustainable future. This chapter opens the second part of the book by analyzing how sport management studies have analyzed the role of and relationship between innovation and sustainability. From a theoretical and practical perspective, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) function seems to be the area of study and application that could better create a relationship between sustainability and innovation in sport. Innovative CSR seems to be the managerial approach that from mainstream organizations and practices could give grassroots sports organizations practical guidelines to design and develop novel solutions for societal needs. The chapter concludes that a different approach (niche) should be considered for grassroots sport organizations.

In Transition Towards Sustainability

The aim of this first chapter is to introduce the reader to one general theory that tries to link the sustainability paradigm and sustainability science to empirical practices and evidence in order to describe the dynamic and complex times we all experience. The Transition Studies theory is a theoretical concept and conceptual tool that help analysts, researchers but also policy makers and practitioners to contextualize their sustainable strategies and actions. This chapter introduces the theory and describes it focusing on ideas such as the socio-technical regime, the Multi-Level Perspective and the Strategic Niche Management to introduce two key concepts for the following analysis of grassroots innovation: the determinant roles of action from the bottom (grassroots) and the local level (niche).

Innovations for Sustainability

This chapter introduces innovation as the key element to promote sustainability from the bottom. In doing so, the chapter aims to find if there is just one possible ways to contribute in innovative terms to the path towards sustainability or if there should be different ways and strategies. Starting from the necessary relationship between sustainability and innovation, the chapter presents different typologies of innovation to focus finally on that special kind of innovation that generates at the bottom level of society in local areas defined as niches in the Transition Studies literature. This is the case of grassroots innovation. The chapter presents its main characteristics in order to distinguish it from sustainable innovations, defined in both theoretical and managerial terms, and social innovations.

The Impact of Grassroots Sustainability Innovations in Sport

The chapter aims to describe specific cases from the Italian context to introduce the role of grassroots sport organizations and their innovative practices and to analyze them in the context of the theoretical and managerial backgrounds introduced in the previous chapters. First, there is the analysis of the macro level, the European Union and its policies for innovation and sport. Then, there is the description of the Italian environment (meso level) through the introduction of the main grassroots sport organizations and of their sector (the Third Sector). Third, the chapter introduces three cases of grassroots sustainability innovations (green and coop management, education for sustainability and responsible sport events), which the author has been involved in, and potential future developments as practical examples of windows of opportunity for novel bottom up solutions. The cases and the future opportunities of development for grassroots innovative organizations will show that those initiatives are beneficial for society as a whole.