06/07/2017 16:55
CEV Satellite Laholm – an environmental friendly event!
2017 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Laholm
Laholm, Sweden, July 6, 2017. The CEV Satellite Laholm – the first tournament of this kind to take place on Swedish soil – stands out also for the attention paid to environmental protection by the local organisers.
When the city of Laholm in the south of Sweden decided to apply to host a CEV Beach Volleyball event, they had a clear goal in mind. They were going to organise an environmental friendly tournament! The fact that the venue lies right in between two national parks and the seashore meant that environmental issues were naturally going to take centre stage.
“We had two major issues. One was that the arena should be open and free to access for families so we could promote the area of the beach towards the public. The other one was that not a single grass or animal should suffer because of the tournament. When we leave on Sunday, there will be no marks of the biggest sports event we ever had in this region,” said Johan Hjert, Tourist Manager at Laholm City.
Mellbystrand is a 15-km-long wild area of sandy beach without exploration, and since wild nature rules in this neighbourhood, the workers had to start building the arena right in the water – and this happened a week ago!
Johan Hjert, Tourist Manager at Laholm City and Karin Lundqvist, Tournament Director
“We crossed our fingers and counted on the nature’s forces that the sea should withdraw from the shore and that is exactly what happened. We couldn’t build the venue any closer to the sand dunes because of issues relating to wild nature protection,” Hjert added.
The CEV Satellite Tournament is the biggest sports event the city of Laholm has ever hosted and if this happens again, the vision is to make it a totally ”green event”. “That is the aim, which means we will use electric cars and environmental friendly solutions in every decision we take,” Hjert concluded.
Karin Lundqvist, former national Beach Volleyball player and Tournament Director, supports the idea of a “green event”. “Coming from Sweden and as a former player, this is what you want to show the rest of the world. The environmental awareness of this tournament is what makes me especially proud.”
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