Football can be a powerful force for individual and collective social change. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability have become an increasingly important issue in the world of professional football over the last 20 years, playing an invaluable role in driving social development.
Working in close cooperation with the World Heart Federation since 2010, Healthy Stadia is proud to be an associate partner of UEFA’s Football and Social Responsibility (FSR) portfolio. Since establishing this partnership, Healthy Stadia has helped to implement a range of health projects for UEFA’s international tournaments and club competitions, and has worked with the European football family to promote active and healthy lifestyles as part of the World Heart Federation’s annual World Heart Day campaign.
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is the governing body of European football. It is an association of associations, a representative democracy, and the umbrella organisation for all 55 national football associations in Europe.
The UEFA approach to social responsibility is carefully structured and designed to both create and retain long-term benefits for society through football. The core directives of the UEFA social responsibility portfolio are based on a selection of five-year strategic partnerships which strive for anti-discrimination and diversity, social integration and reconciliation, active and healthy lifestyle, implementing football for everyone as well as funding an important series of football foundations and charity programmes.
The World Heart Federation (WHF) is a community of more than 200 national heart associations and cardiology societies dedicated to the treatment, prevention and control of cardiovascular disease (CVD), including heart disease and stroke. WHF is at the heart of driving the CVD agenda and advocating for better heart health, enabling people to live longer, happier and healthier lives.
The WHF exists to prevent and control CVD through awareness-raising campaigns and action, promoting the exchange of information, ideas and evidence among stakeholders and supporting individuals to lead healthier lifestyles through smoking cessation, physical activity promotion and healthier eating programmes. The WHF coordinates World Heart Day – the annual campaign for better heart health each year on 29th September.