Capacity building and awareness-raising
Initiative description: Delivering sustainability capacity-building to ensure that FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ staff and volunteers have the necessary competencies to implement their sustainability management responsibilities. This includes development and delivery of stand-alone training as well as incorporating sustainability capacity building elements into other training areas, such as induction training for staff and volunteers. Through this initiative, we will also deliver training and develop and publish guidelines and other materials to support sustainability implementation by contractors, suppliers, licensees, delivery partners and others working in sectors related to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ such as security, transport, accommodation and food and beverage.
Staging the world’s largest mega sporting event for the first time in the Middle East provided an immense opportunity to develop human capital that would benefit both the region and the sporting events industry globally. Providing a well-developed and properly implemented capacity-building programme was essential to achieving the objectives and targets associated with the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Sustainability Strategy.
To prepare staff, volunteers, contractors, and other support personnel to carry out their tasks effectively, we developed and implemented a range of training programmes customised to the functions and responsibilities of individual roles. In addition, we developed a variety of awareness-raising campaigns across various sustainability topics throughout tournament planning and delivery to reach a wider audience, including the general public. More than 130,000 staff, volunteers, and contractors across different functional areas, received sustainability training in preparation for and in the lead up to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ (this was above the target of training 70,000 individuals for the tournament).
Sustainability training for workforce
Objectives and scope
In preparation for the delivery of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, and based on lessons from test events, a comprehensive sustainability training programme was developed to ensure that staff and volunteers were provided with the necessary competencies to contribute to the tournament’s sustainability aims. The training programme also provided, where relevant, training to match officials, security staff and other contractors whose role was critical in the achievement of those aims.
The primary objective of the programme was to provide practical tips and guidance to help the tournament’s workforce to think and act sustainably in their day-to-day operations and roles to collectively deliver a more inclusive and sustainable tournament.
The topics covered by the programme were:
Accessibility awareness and etiquette - training for staff, volunteers and contractors on how to assist disabled people and people with limited mobility.
Anti-discrimination and diversity - training on diversity and anti-discrimination for staff, volunteers, match officials, and security personnel.
Human rights – training on human rights commitments and how to access the tournament’s human rights grievance mechanism for staff, volunteers, security personnel and contractors.
Tobacco control - training for staff, volunteers, security personnel and contractors on the implementation of FIFA’s Event Policy on Tobacco.
Waste segregation and recycling - training for staff, waste collectors, volunteers and concession employees to facilitate the segregation of waste for recycling and composting.
Approach and delivery
The approach taken to developing the training programme is summarised below.
Training materials developed included presentations, a volunteer handbook, professional training films, and “cheat sheets” for the five key sustainability topics. Content was integrated into the tournament’s e-learning platform which was accessible to all staff and volunteers. In addition, a number of in-person presentations took place for role specific trainings which required more specific interactions, e.g., anti-discrimination training for chief guards, or accessibility etiquette for mobility assistance volunteers.
Involvement of Functional Areas
A key element to the success of the sustainability training programme was the delivery of training modules to specific Functional Areas (FAs) across the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) and FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 LLC (Q22) projects. These FAs were identified as having a critical role across the five key sustainability focus areas in both the lead-up to and during the tournament. These FAs included:
Catering services;
Cleaning and waste services;
Food and beverage providers;
Hospitality services;
Security;
Spectator services; and
Transport services.
Training was also delivered to these FAs either through face-to-face training sessions which included general training, role-specific training or venue-specific training, as well as via the ‘train the trainer’ technique (i.e., one team member would receive training then provide that training to other team members), online training modules, training videos, or contractor orientation.
Capacity-building across other initiatives
In addition to the sustainability training provided to staff, volunteers, and contractors across different functional areas, specific sustainability-related training sessions were developed and delivered across various other areas in preparation for and in the lead up to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. This included:
Engagement and outreach to continuously enhance workers’ welfare
– delivery of a training programme of soft and hard skills available to all workers on SC projects.
– training for professionals involved in delivering tournament stadiums, training sites and overlay infrastructure.
Green hospitality for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™
– workshop on green best practices in Qatar’s hospitality sector showcasing case studies, strategies and policies to encourage sustainable action and guidelines on how to obtain green certification.
Capacity Building for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ accommodation partners – training on diversity, anti-discrimination and accessibility for providers in the accommodation sector to support the goal of providing a welcoming, safe and accessible tournament experience for everyone.
In total, more than 130,000 individuals including staff, volunteers, and contractors across different functional areas, received sustainability training in preparation for and in the lead up to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. For more information about this target and other top-level targets, please visit the sustainability targets web page of this report.
Spectator awareness raising
The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ provided the opportunity to build awareness on the importance of sustainability amongst football fans and stakeholders around the world, as well as participants and attendees at the tournament. To achieve this, we deployed several awareness-raising videos, fun facts, social media campaigns and news stories across a variety of platforms. This included social media, FIFA and Q22 websites, the Hayya (Fan ID) app, the FIFA Fan Guide and others.