Improving the sustainability of the WorldSkills Competition

By WorldSkills International 

As the WorldSkills Competition grows, the need to ensure that all aspects of the event are as sustainable as possible increases.

There is a bigger impact on the environment and a requirement for all aspects of the event to be planned for and executed in the right way to ensure maximum sustainability with minimum waste.To collect as many ideas as possible for making improvements in this area, Experts have been asked to submit their ideas onto an online forum as they prepare for the Competition.

Shaun Thorson, Technical Delegate for Canada has been leading the sustainability initiative which began in WorldSkills London 2011. Presenting to Delegates during Competition Preparation Week in Leipzig, Shaun outlined the improvements in sustainability planned for the Competition in Leipzig and re-iterated the need for all those involved in the skill competitions to consider the issues associated with sustainability. Shaun explains:

“Reduce, reuse/repurpose, recycle, regenerate and reformat; these 5 R’s are the central pillars to the sustainability aspects of the Competition and plans are in place to ensure that WorldSkills Leipzig 2013 is the most environmentally friendly Competition ever. The main emphasis for the Competition in July will be on repurposing the materials used in the test projects to ensure they have a longer life.”

The WorldSkills Foundation has taken sustainability to a whole new level. A project being led by two WorldSkills Champions, Sean Kearney (IE) and Job de Visser (NL) will look at innovative ways to get the communities involved in reusing the material from the Competition. They are currently in talks with three Leipzig based organizations including the Leipzig Zoo about how the waste and unused materials from the Competition can be recycled. From art exhibits to building a permanent legacy playground in Leipzig, the city has ambitious plans.

The WorldSkills Leipzig 2013 team have made a commitment that 80% of the waste from the event will be recycled in some way.