General description of the initiative
In order to stimulate and support ecological transformation projects in French athletics clubs, the French Athletics Federation and MAIF, via its Sport Planète program, launched a call for applications on June 11, 2021 open to licensees of 18 to 35 years old sensitive to environmental issues. 30 winners, selected from 30 different clubs, will be awarded a grant of a minimum amount of €2,000 to carry out their project in their club. These 30 “Sport Planète Athlé Ambassadors” will also be trained in eco-responsibility.

What role for these ambassadors? First, the willingness to change mentalities and thus be an actor in the ecological transition within his club. The ambassadors will also have to implement certain eco-responsible actions in a concrete way: organization of “plogging” sessions, recycling days for sports equipment, assembly awareness-raising operations, etc. The idea is also to animate a community of actors and to raise awareness among the licensees of his club. Finally, the ambassador will also be the relay for the eco-responsible actions of MAIF and the FFA.

Athletes are asked to be ambassadors for initiatives (e.g. Ivana Španović putting the first cap in the bin for the “Cap for handicap” initiative, 27 ambassadors for the FFA benefitting from education on sustainability and then responsible to facilitate the transition.). Volunteers could also become representatives on events as it is the case for the Eco-volunteers in Spain.

Results
Ambassadors possess a greater outreach as they are listened by their fan-base, athletes also are more willing to listen to their counterparts, whilst volunteers usually embodies the voice of an event. Through this ambassador program, the promotion of the ambassador, the relevance of the content permits to engage the audience more efficiently.