Our Environmental Sustainability approach to the GM Moving Conference

By Louise Robbins | 18 June 2025 | TAGS: "Active environments", Environment, Environmental Sustainability, Conference, Inequalities

At the GM Moving conference held in May 2025, we made environmental sustainability a top priority. Nearly 900 attendees joined us, and the event was designed to encourage low-impact movement throughout the day. We carefully planned the event to reduce its environmental impact and showed how supporting active lives goes hand in hand with protecting the planet. 

At GM Moving we understand how addressing the impact of climate change, air pollution, a lack of access to greenspace and biodiversity supports the GM Moving in Action mission of Active Lives for All.  We’re contributing to the vision outlined in Sport England’s Every Move Sustainability Strategy and Action Plan. The plan sets out how the sport and activity sector can go green and give more people the chance to get active—now and in the future. 

We know climate change doesn’t affect everyone equally. People from South Asian, Black, Chinese, and other ethnic group backgrounds, those on lower incomes, people in poor health, and those who don’t speak English as a first language face the biggest risk.

For example, places with less green space get hotter in the summer and are more likely to flood when it rains. This makes it harder for people to go outside and be active, which affects their health and wellbeing. 

That’s why we included measures in the conference design and delivery to make sure environmental sustainability was part of the day. It’s the right choice for both people and the planet.  
To support environmental sustainability at the conference, we: 

• Encouraged active travel in the delegate pack and communications. 
• Featured The Lowry’s commitment to sustainability prominently on the venue directions page. 
• Promoted Greater Manchester’s integrated Bee Network and Starling Bank bikes for sustainable transport, supported by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM). 
• Partnered with Lime Scooters to offer free scooter ride vouchers to people traveling in Salford. 
• Worked with Bee Pedal Ready and Station South to offer led cycle rides from the City Centre and Station South on the Fallowfield Loop. These routes were suitable for adapted cycles.
• Arranged a parking area for over 60 bikes, including cargo bikes, trikes, e-bikes, and standard cycles. 

Indoors, we focused on sustainable catering by: 

• Offering a vegan menu. This supported sustainability and diverse dietary needs, including health and faith reasons. 
• Serving ice cream in recyclable card containers. 
• Encouraging delegates to refill water bottles and bring their own reusable cups. 

We told delegates, speakers, and presenters there was no formal dress code. We encouraged “active soles” instead. This helped ease pressure on budgets, time, and resources. 

We added walking into the day with interactive “walkshops.” These included themes like urban nature, discovery, and play from a child’s view. The activities also supported health, wellbeing, and mindfulness. 

For the first time at the GM Moving conference, we asked attendees how they travelled. Of 129 people who answered, 62.7% used active or sustainable transport. This data will help start conversations on how we can meet more sustainably.  Being in the same room is key for the work we do. But we must all be mindful about how we get there. 

At GM Moving, we are proud of the steps we’ve taken to work in an environmentally sustainable way. We know there is more to do to cut our carbon footprint and use sustainable practices in all we do. This is the start of making this way of thinking normal in everything we undertake. 

As leaders in the sport and physical activity sector, we connect, influence, and advocate between the system and GM communities. We want to share our ideas and actions on this agenda to show that being on the journey matters. Small steps can make a difference. Together, the conversations we have, to build environmental sustainability into our work, can create real change.   

This blog is part of that work. Join us in thinking about sustainability in how we do our work. We can share good ideas. We can each make thoughtful choices that help the cause. Together, we can build a movement that makes a difference. 

The time is now. Contact us at: [email protected]