With the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver come an estimated 1.5 million attendees, creating a mammoth-sized footprint.
Thanks to VANOC, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, sustainability is written into the mission/value statement of this enormous effort.
In 2005 and 2006, VANOC established a set of six corporate-wide sustainability performance objectives. These objectives are based on Bid commitments, best management practices of other Organizing Committees and input from sustainability experts, key partners and stakeholders. They are now an integral part of VANOC’s strategic and business plans.
Accountability, Environmental Stewardship and Impact Reduction, Social Inclusion and Responsibility, Aboriginal Participation and Collaboration, Economic Benefits, and Sport for Sustainable Living are the six objectives. Some of the poignant goals are:
To behave ethically, set measurable performance targets and communicate openly about our progress and challenges
To conserve natural environments and manage, mitigate and offset negative impacts
To care for our workforce, protect human rights, and ensure health and safety
To demonstrate that sustainable innovation and practice makes good business sense
To use sport, and growing athlete and public interest in living more sustainably, to inspire action on local and global sustainability challenges
Vanoc is going for LEED certification on many of the building’s that will be constructed, as well. Imagine if all corporations, business ventures, governments, and individuals sat down and mapped out their intentions like this. Imagine.