Sustainable training for stadium operations staff at World Cup

The Organising and Legacy Committee, which is responsible for managing projects for Qatar 2022, organised a sustainability workshop for the operational staff of the World Cup stadiums. This was to enrich their professional and theoretical knowledge of sustainable stadium operations with just two years remaining before the World Cup kicks off.

As part of the Supreme Committee's obligations under the Qatar 2022 Sustainability Strategy, the workshop was structured in order to pass on knowledge of sustainability to the staff responsible for the day-to-day operation of the stadiums.

The workshop was held at the Al Janoub Stadium, one of the eight venues for Qatar 2022, and was organised in conjunction with the Gulf Organisation for Research and Development (GORD), which will be responsible for the operational activities of the stadiums.

Adbulaziz Isaaq, director of Al Janoub Stadium, who is responsible for the operation of the stadium, said: "The processes are working perfectly, in order that they meet the sustainability requirements." He confirmed that the aspects of sustainability had been considered in the first phase of stadium construction.

Isaaq confirmed that the Al Janoub Stadium is the first stadium in the world to be equipped with cooling technology within its basic design, stating that it is an exemplary model in the sustainability of sports facilities during preparation for a major undertaking.

Abdul Rahman Al-Muftah, sustainability specialist at the Supreme Committee, also spoke about the initiative: “This training is an important step towards gaining GSAS certifications in operations, seeing that we are now complete with the design and construction of this and many of our other stadiums.

“During this one-day session, we brought together the venue management teams from all of our Qatar 2022 stadiums to share with them our vision and requirements of operating these venues in an environmentally sustainable way.”

Addressing challenges of stadium operation

Regarding the importance of training in environmental sustainability and its role in the success of support work, Adam Wood said: “We wanted to bring people from different stadiums to participate in this session, learn together, bounce ideas and share challenges.

“The training focused on different areas such as water, energy and the indoor environment, and stressed that the choices they make have a real influence on energy and water use.”

It should be noted that environmental sustainability is a key part of the Supreme Committee's plans, therefore it requires that each of the eight World Cup stadiums receive a rating of 4 stars in the construction and design categories, according to the GSAS universal sustainability assessment system, in addition to the organisation's gold rating in the operations category.

GSAS is the first performance-based system in the Middle East and North Africa to be developed specifically for rating green buildings and infrastructure, supporting the Supreme Committee's obligations in terms of meeting environmental standards including establishing green parks around stadiums and training grounds.