In many cultures, we learn that “every end is a new beginning”; a positive approach to life supported by a “beginner’s mind”, which is curious and open to life-long learning and incremental improvement. And this is precisely the way how the ASAP Team would like to approach the end of the project, which will officially finish on 31 December 2022.

In the past three years, all partner organisations have made important steps on their respective sustainability journeys. Mentee National Olympic Committees (Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia) have embarked on this journey in style when they developed, through a detailed, thorough and inclusive process, their sustainability strategies and started implementing them. Mentor NOCs (Denmark, Finland and Germany), on their part, improved their sustainability strategies and activities, deepened cooperation with their stakeholders and provided extensive support to their member organisations. Therefore, the end of the ASAP project does not mean starting all over again; but rather, it marks the beginning of a new phase just like when one graduates from university - ready to apply and share the acquired knowledge and experiences, excited to build on existing partnerships and develop new ones, open to learn more, and ultimately prepared to keep “changing hearts and minds” through the example of one’s own actions.

This fertile ground for further development and the altered and changed minds and attitudes of people involved constitute the most important legacy of the ASAP project, which builds on what we could call a “tangible” legacy or results itemized in the list below. For more details, check the ASAP "Project in Numbers" overview.

  • 3 sustainability strategies (CZ NOC, HU NOC, SK NOC), each in English and a local language
  • 3 case studies (CZ NOC, HU NOC, SK NOC)
  • Guides for the creation of a sustainability strategy: ASAP Roadmap – full version and short version, and ASAP Toolbox containing 6 documents
  • Project presentation at numerous seminars and events
  • Many communications outputs online and offline, including 2020 and 2022 (forthcoming) IOC’s Olympic Movement Sustainability Case Studies or an episode on the Sustainability Report Podcast

Before officially turning the page and starting this new phase, though, many thanks are due to all those individuals and organisations without whom the above results and advancements wouldn’t have been possible:

  • To the ASAP Team members and partner organisations and their leadership and staff for their commitment, dedication, hard work and great cooperation.
  • To the International Olympic Committee for their extremely valuable and important support.
  • To the European Union and the Erasmus + Programme for financially supporting the project.
  • And finally, to the 18 external experts helping the ASAP Team better understand sustainability in sport, 3 support professionals (webmaster, proofreader, graphic designer), 7 reviewers and many national-level experts and stakeholders for their priceless help.

With the New Year at the horizon, the last thing that remains to be done in the framework of the project (besides the formal report to the European Commission) is to wish all our partners, stakeholders, and sport organisations around the world that their Year 2023 be As Successful and As Sustainable As Possible; and that, why not, with the help of the ASAP Project and its results :-).