Kaitiakitanga in action, through sport.

Sport and Sustainability Aotearoa brings together the people helping sport become a stronger force for environmental and social good across Aotearoa.

Sport and Sustainability Aotearoa brings together the people helping sport become a stronger force for environmental and social good across Aotearoa.

WHY WE EXIST

Helping sport honour the connection between people, whenua and future generations.

Sport shapes how people gather, belong, compete, volunteer and care for their communities. SaSA exists to help that influence become a stronger force for environmental and social good across Aotearoa. In Aotearoa, we are grounded by kaitiakitanga.

The obligation to act as guardians of the natural world, not just for ourselves but for those who come after us. Quality sustainability work is already happening across sport, but too often it is fragmented, duplicated, and carried by people working in isolation. SaSA brings those people together as a community of practice.

When sporting communities take care of their environments, they are not adopting a new value, they are honouring one that has always been here.

When sporting communities take care of their environments, they are not adopting a new value, they are honouring one that has always been here.

A sports field with mountain landscape in the background
Hands planting a small tree in soil
A surfer riding a clean ocean wave

From volunteering at club grounds to conservation work or supporting our young people's development, sustainability becomes real when people can see where they belong in it.

From volunteering at club grounds to conservation work or supporting our young people's development, sustainability becomes real when people can see where they belong in it.

WHAT WE BELIEVE

A stronger future for sport starts with shared responsibility.

Sport can lead

Sport carries enormous social licence. When it takes a position on sustainability, communities listen and sectors follow.

Sport can lead

Sport carries enormous social licence. When it takes a position on sustainability, communities listen and sectors follow.

Collective action works

The challenges our sector faces are too large for any single organisation to solve alone. Progress accelerates when we move together.

Collective action works

The challenges our sector faces are too large for any single organisation to solve alone. Progress accelerates when we move together.

Change happens through people

Frameworks and targets matter, but people are the ones who implement them, adapt them, and make them stick.

Change happens through people

Frameworks and targets matter, but people are the ones who implement them, adapt them, and make them stick.

WHAT WE DO

Practical support for the people making change inside sport.

01

Connect people

Bring together people working on sustainability across sport, so they are not doing this work alone.

01

Connect people

Bring together people working on sustainability across sport, so they are not doing this work alone.

02

Share what works

Exchange practical tools, examples, contacts and lessons that help the network move from good intent to progress.

02

Share what works

Exchange practical tools, examples, contacts and lessons that help the network move from good intent to progress.

03

Build confidence

Support members to grow capability and influence inside their own organisations, clubs and codes.

03

Build confidence

Support members to grow capability and influence inside their own organisations, clubs and codes.

04

Shape a shared voice

Help the sector tell a clearer, more consistent story about sport’s role in environmental and social change.

04

Shape a shared voice

Help the sector tell a clearer, more consistent story about sport’s role in environmental and social change.

Te Ara o Mātou

Te Ara o Mātou

How we show up

How we show up

Whai hua | Impactful

Everything we do is oriented toward real-world outcomes.

Manaaki katoa | Inclusive

Sustainability in sport belongs to everyone, across codes, regions and organisation sizes.

Whakamana | Ambitious

We believe sport in Aotearoa can lead globally on sustainability.

Aronga | Focused

We prioritise areas where this network adds most value and stay disciplined about what we take on.

Nau mai. Join the conversation.

Kaitiakitanga in action, through sport.

SaSA is forming as a community for people across sport who want to share, learn and act together. If you are working in this space or ready to begin, we would love to hear from you.

Nāku te rourou, nāu te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi

Nāku te rourou, nāu te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi

Sport and Sustainability Aotearoa

Sport and Sustainability Aotearoa