This article presents an “Ex Ante” scale: an assessment method that can be used before launching a sport project.

Why an Ex Ante assessment scale?

Applying sustainable practices within a sport project implies a global approach that involves all the stakeholders.
In order to keep all the main sustainable dimensions and to avoid too many details, we suggest an assessment scale (see below) as an easy-used and efficient tool. The assessment is defined by the correlations between the 21st century challenges (column) and the fundamental criteria (line) of a sustainable sport project.

For what purpose?

• Show the potential of a sustainable sport project.
• Detect problems, potential impacts and results; define the sustainable profile of a project in order to compare it with profiles of similar projects.
• Increase stakeholders’ awareness and confront their points of view.
• Promote talks between stakeholders and favor decision making.
• Facilitate stakeholders’ involvement in building together a sustainable project.
• Sensitize, inform, and increase communication about a sustainable sport project.

What are the components of an Ex ante assessment?

Normative and unbiased data

This assessment scale gives to the stakeholders a set of normative (value judgment) and unbiased (gradable and qualifiable). It aims to give more substance to sustainable development by formulating criteria through a list of pre-defined questions (for example: what kind of interaction does your sportsman have with the external world? Did you estimate the cost of your actions according to the 21st century challenges?)

Meet requirements:

This assessment scale must be linked to:
• A strategy for continuous improvement.
• A crosslink between issues and criteria.
• A shared assessment: defined by all the stakeholders together.

The scale is above all a means to share ideas and to raise new issues.
The “Ex Ante” assessment scale can be adapted according to the characteristics of the project: sport event, eco-product, Agenda 21 for a sport organization…
It can also be enhanced by tools such as the environmental management EMAS of the European Community or other eco-labels.

The purpose is to present a scale which enables a systemic analysis of a sustainable sport policy. The Ex Ante assessment should be the first step of a logical process. The following steps should be:
• Start of the action plan
• Implementation
• Check and audit of the actions
• Assessment and redefinition of goals within the strategy for continuous improvement

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