Collaboration on social projects in Dutch Premier League will continue
Eredivisie CV and the Utrecht University School of Governance (USG) are going to continue their collaboration in the field of social policy of professional football organisations for the next six years as well. They announced this on Monday 7 October during the Meer dan Voetbal conference in Galgenwaard Stadium in Utrecht. The collaboration encompasses the development, professionalisation and monitoring of the social policies of professional football organisations within the Dutch Eredivisie (Premier League). During the conference, the researchers also presented the impact assessments for the Eredivisie and the Keuken Kampioen Divisie (First Divison) for the past season.
The impact report shows that the social programmes can play a key role in the connecting of communities. One example of this is the Feyenoord Street League, in which children are not only motivated to exercise with street football, but children also organise neighbourhood projects. One example of this is children helping the elderly to pick up groceries, which not only benefits the community, but also enhances the youngsters' social skills.
Additional attention for learning and development
The School of Governance (USG) will closely monitor the social impact of both the Eredivisie and the Keuken Kampioen Divisie for the upcoming seasons as well. Programme coordinator Maikel Waardenburg sees the multi-annual collaboration as a valuable form of impact via research: By annually refining monitoring, you're not only capable of realising better and long-term research results, but you also make a direct contribution to the developments of clubs. We will therefore spend additional attention on learning from impact insights and increasing public-value creation in the upcoming years, for instance by encouraging the football organisations to give this a sustainable place in their organisation strategies.
More attention to sustainability
Where the attention in monitoring was previously fully on social impact and programmes often focused on inclusion and health, the theme of sustainability will be adopted in an increasing degree.
Dutch professional football is already taking important steps towards sustainability. In the season 2023/’24, 15 clubs have taken 46 sustainability measures together. For instance, Sparta Rotterdam has announced a collaboration with Essent to make the 108 years old stadium Het Kasteel fully gasless, with over 1.200 solar panels and a thermal-storage system. Ajax ensures that the training complex De Toekomst will be fully energy neutral in 2030.
The impact report therefore strives for a CSRD-proof certification. This Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, imposed by the EU, forces more and more companies to invest in sustainable company models in the upcoming years. Via the collaboration, Utrecht University supports the ECV and the professional football clubs to take steps in this in the upcoming years.
Research Team
The research team: Maarten van Bottenburg, Chris Noij, Jan-Willem van der Roest, Maikel Waardenburg (Utrecht University School of Governance) and Aukje Geubbels, Cas van den Heuvel (Eredivisie CV).