The next day, we arrived at the event location Hope Alcazar, had some coffee and prepared everything for our roundtables. Here, in small groups, we took a closer look at specific aspects related to football and sustainability: 1) transportation, 2) food/drink, 3) clothing, and 4) communications. This and the information from the first day built the foundation for another activity in which attendees were asked to work on an individual pledge and two community action ideas. Supported by a worksheet, following rounds were used to gather tips, questions and suggestions from others to help develop the ideas.
Before heading and signing The Ball, everyone was invited to register one or several pledges through the mechanism of our partner Pledgeball helping us to calculate collective carbon emission savings and making the different pockets of climate action on our journey visible. To celebrate project closure, some of Yuvam Dünya’s advisory board members joined and signed The Ball and made some climate pledges as well. For example, on behalf of Sport Istanbul it was pledged to act more responsible concerning the resource water.
Whilst the workshop came to an end, The Ball’s event calendar was still full. Together with the Friedrich Ebert foundation and organised by Yuvam Dünya, The Ball was welcomed at Besiktas Istanbul by Zülal Gök and Hatice Sule Gökirmak and was shown around the Besiktas museum and the empty stadium. Whilst walking back to the hotel, we made a short stop at the Bosporus where Elliot and Benni did some little juggling action, almost losing The Ball to the Bosporus. Back at the hotel, there was some time for refreshment before heading to Mahalla Festival… or not as we were too late to join this. Instead we went to a bar in Besiktas called The Hope, where we rounded off the beautiful trip to Turkey together with our incredibly supportive coordinators of the Friedrich Ebert foundation.
Tek top, tek dünya!