We are excited to announce our partnership with CAST, a global leader in sustainable behaviour change research, as we work together to drive meaningful climate action across the sports community in the UK. This collaboration will harness the energy of sports fans, enabling us to further engage and empower fans to take concrete actions against climate change, backed by CAST’s world-renowned expertise in behavioural science and systemic change.
As one of CAST’s key partners for the next five years of their research, this partnership will combine our strengths in mobilising sports communities with CAST’s depth of knowledge on how to drive impactful lifestyle, organisational, and structural change. Since our founding, we have rallied fans from hundreds of clubs to make pro-environmental pledges, linking their support of local sports with tangible steps to reduce carbon emissions. These pledges offer fans a unique way to reconsider their role in tackling climate change, sparking further conversations and action that support sustainable change both individually and within their communities.
Read about CAST’s Phase 2 research.
Our shared goal with CAST is to deepen, assess, and expand the impact of fan-driven pledges and engagement strategies, creating a ripple effect that inspires both fans and sports organisations to take responsibility for their environmental footprint. By integrating CAST’s behavioural science expertise into our existing framework, we aim to elevate our reach and refine our impact, translating insights into actionable, community-based climate solutions that contribute to a measurable reduction in emissions.
Overall, we will focus on evaluating the success of our initiatives, exploring new, evidence-based engagement strategies, and supporting sports organisations in their sustainability efforts. With the power of fan communities behind us, this partnership is poised to foster innovative approaches that drive lasting change in the sports sector.
Katie Cross, CEO of Pledgeball, added, “As a charity striving to create the transformational shift necessary to address climate change, this partnership with CAST is crucial for our future. We are committed to further increasing our impact, and through collaboration with the world-leading researchers at CAST, we can continue to refine our approach, expand our reach, and ensure that our efforts are grounded in science. Together, we’re building on the progress we’ve made and the work we’ve already done with CAST, and we’re excited to see the outcomes of this partnership.”
CAST Director, Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh MBE, emphasised the significance of the collaboration and said, “I’m delighted to be formalising CAST’s relationship with Pledgeball, who we have already started to work with, providing evidence of their campaigns’ effectiveness. There is huge potential to harness the power of sports fans to help transform the sports sector towards sustainability, and we’re excited to help deliver this by bringing together Pledgeball’s award-winning work on fan engagement with CAST’s expertise on transformational climate action.”
Check out our website for more information on how to get involved with Pledgeball and make a pledge. To learn more about CAST’s plans for Phase 2, read their Phase 2 blog post announcement.
For further information about CAST’s research from the past five years, read their key messages report.
