Lüneburg (GER), October 2022 - Representatives of clubs in the first and second Bundesliga will receive further education at the Professional School of Leuphana University Lüneburg from October this year in order to promote the topic of sustainability in German professional football. An agreement to this effect has now been signed. Together, SPONSORs, a leading B2B service provider in the sports business, and Leuphana are launching the new continuing education programme "Sustainability in Sports Organisations". The DFL (Deutsche Fußball Liga) is on board as a co-initiator and first partner and supports the project both ideologically and financially.
The programme is aimed at employees of sports organisations, athletes, and career changers who want to acquire expertise in the field of sustainability in sports while working. A broad spectrum of topics is presented in three Elearning modules, each with three days of attendance at the campus in Lüneburg. The content ranges from a general introduction to sustainability issues to sustainability and environmental strategies to concrete implementation methods with a view to sports organisations.
The programme is led by Leuphana sustainability expert Prof. Dr. Stefan Schaltegger. He is pleased that the topic is now increasingly being taken up in sports and sports business: "We are convinced that our further education programme will contribute to preparing decision-makers in sports in the best possible way for current and future challenges of sustainable sports operations."
Marco Klewenhagen, SPONSORs Managing Director, believes that Leuphana, with its many years of experience in research and teaching on sustainability, is the right partner for the training programme. He hopes that the sport as a whole will take up the offer and that, in addition to the DFL, other stakeholders in the sports business will recognise and use the added value of the new qualification opportunity.
Dr Marc Lenz, Director of Corporate Strategy and International Affairs at the DFL, emphasises that professional football will continue to increasingly address the issue of sustainability and that the expansion of structures and expertise is also essential in this context. At a DFL general meeting, the clubs of the first and second Bundesliga recently decided to include a mandatory sustainability guideline in their licensing regulations.
