Sustainable games

London 2012 (www.london2012.com) chairman, Sebastian Coe has outlined a plan — Towards A One Planet 2012 — to make the London Games the most sustainable in the event’s history.

The plan looks at all aspects of London’s preparation and staging of the Games, moving beyond being green to include key socioeconomic issues such leaving skills, employment and business skills in east London long after the Games have finished.

The plan identifies five priority themes:

A carbon footprinting study to measure the climate change impact of the Games is set to be one of the highlights of the plan.

The team also plan to work with EDF Energy, London 2012’s first sustainability partner, to look at how they can make a low-emission, green Olympic flame.

All London 2012 suppliers and partners will be required to sign up to a sustainability code, meaning the products they sell will be sustainably sourced and ethically traded.

The Olympic Stadium in Stratford will be the centrepiece of the plan. Once the Games are over, the 80,000-capacity stadium will be converted into a 25,000-seat community venue that could also become home to a lower-league football or rugby club.

The stadium will include a sunken bowl built into the ground for the field of play and lower permanent seating designed to bring spectators closer to the action.

Chief architect, Rod Sheard, of HoK Sport, believes the fact that the stadium can be converted to a much smaller venue once the Olympics has finished makes it one of the most innovative stadia ever built.