Stadium management networking
Join us in London
ESSMA-BASIS Smart & Sustainable Stadium Workshop
The European Stadium & Safety Management Association will assemble during the Smart & Sustainable Stadium Workshop, organized in cooperation with BASIS (British Association for Sustainable Sport). The event will take place in London (UK) from 7 to 8 June 2017, both in Emirates and Twickenham Stadium.
ABOUT BASIS
BASIS is a group of likeminded individuals, organisations, partners and providers from various organisations and a diversity of sports. Their vision is to nurture and promote sustainability and sustainable development in all aspects of sport through providing high quality support, resources and events.
More info: basis.org.uk
HIGHLIGHTS & KEY TAKEAWAYS
Key takeaways
- In terms of what makes a stadium SMART – Sustainability, Mobility, Accessibility, Resiliency, and Transport – sustainability should be top of the agenda.
- Data is key. The only way to operate and make a stadium more efficient is to have the necessary data at your disposal.
- Make sure that CSR and sustainability work together.
- Keep pace with digital natives; they will be the major consumer group in 10 years’ time. The three pillars to achieving this are to: connect; communicate; and transact.
Highlights
The event was co-hosted by Arsenal FC’s Emirates Stadium and the home of England Rugby, the Rugby Football Union (RFU’s) Twickenham Stadium.
During the workhsop, industry experts, including Michael Lloyd, Deputy Stadium Manager, Arsenal FC; Dru Morton, Sustainability Manager, RFU; Anja Melo, Business Development – CSR, VfL Wolfsburg; Sander van Stiphout, Director, Amsterdam ArenA; Russell Seymour, Sustainability Manager, Lord’s Cricket Ground/Marylebone Cricket Club; Kees Klein Hesselink, Arena Solutions, Philips Lighting and George Vaughan, Senior Project Manager, RFU shared invaluable insights on energy efficiency & waste management to hospitality & innovative ticketing in smart stadiums and fan & sponsor management.
Day 1 in review
The first day of the workshop took place in Arsenal FC’s Emirates Stadium. ESSMA members enjoyed panel discussions about SMART stadiums (which are built around Sustainability, Mobility, Accessibility, Resiliency, and Transport) and waste management, and presentations on creating value from the waste process at Arsenal FC and the ecological footprint of VfL Wolfsburg. Members were also able to benefit from behind-the-scenes tours of Emirates Stadium.
Day 2 in review
On the second day of the workshop attendees continued to explore best practices in Stadium Energy Management and Hospitality & innovative ticketing in smart stadiums. During the presentations the key benefits that could be realised by undertaking Monitoring, Metering & Targeting (MM&T) actions were also discussed and members were taken on a behind-the-scenes tour of Twickenham Stadium where lots of interesting technical data were shared regarding the venue, its operations and sustainability credentials.
VENUES
Emirates Stadium
The Emirates Stadium is the home of Arsenal FC. Located in London, with a capacity of 60,432 seats, it is the third-largest football stadium in England. Inaugurated in 2006, the total construction costs amounted to 390 million pounds.

• Club: Arsenal FC
• Opened: 2006
• Cost: £390m
• Capacity: 60,432 (all seated)
• Executive suites: 152
• Sport: football
Twickenham Stadium
Twickenham is a rugby union stadium in South West London. Owned by the governing body of rugby union in England, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) headquarters are based in the stadium. Twickenham hosts games for the England national rugby union team, rugby union clubs including the Middlesex Sevens and is home for selected European Rugby Champions Cup matches. The stadium has also hosted high-profile concerts (eg. Rihanna, Iron Maiden, Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi, U2) and American football as part of the NFL International Series 2016. Second only to Wembley Stadium, it is the second largest stadium in the UK, and the fourth largest in Europe.

• Owner: RFU - Rugby Football Union
• Opened: 1909
• Latest redevelopment: 2006
• Capacity: 82,000
• Executive suites: 150
• Sport: rugby
PARTICIPANTS









The ESSMA community and events enable me to get in touch with colleagues, both in Europe and abroad. ESSMA, as a knowledge platform, gathers and share the relevant content towards the members, improving the overall knowledge on stadium management.
Jürgen Muth, Allianz Arena CEO

“It’s great to take in the knowledge of what other stadiums and clubs do to improve their facilities. We changed knowledge and details with all the people we met. It’s completely what I had expected from a platform like ESSMA and I’m looking forward to the next workshop.”
Ioannis Dimogiannis – Stadium & Facilities Manager Paok FC