Joint press release by the Global Nature Fund and FEMNET
- The International German Gymnastics Festival 2025 is cooperating with the Global Nature Fund as part of the “Fair Wear Works” project.
- The aim of the collaboration is to provide clubs with practical information and assistance for responsible purchasing of sports textiles.
- During the gymnastics festival, there will be plenty of information and workshops on sustainable sports textiles and the volunteers will receive GOTS-certified gym bags.
Leipzig/Bonn, 9.01.2025: The International German Gymnastics Festival 2025 is setting a strong example for sustainability and is cooperating with the Global Nature Fund (GNF) as part of the “Fair Wear Works” project. The aim of the collaboration is to provide clubs with practical information and assistance for responsible purchasing of sports textiles.
“We want to strengthen the purchasing managers of the associations as part of a global movement for more sustainability,” explains Bettina Faust, Project Manager at Fair Wear Works. “Our project raises awareness of the importance of sustainable supply chains and highlights concrete opportunities for action.”
Fairness campaign at the Leipzig 2025 gymnastics festival
“The cooperation with the Global Nature Fund is a concrete contribution to planned measures from our sustainability programme and underlines the fact that sustainability is playing an increasingly important role in sport,” emphasizes Kati Brenner, OC Managing Director of Turnfest 2025. A central component of the campaign is the “Sustainability” ideas competition, which will be launched in spring 2025. Sports clubs are invited to submit innovative projects for more social and ecological commitment. During the gymnastics festival, the campaign offers numerous information and educational formats as well as tailored workshops for clubs on sustainable textile purchasing. A special highlight: around 4,000 volunteers will be provided with gym bags produced in accordance with the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). With these measures, the campaign will reach around 100,000 club representatives and athletes as well as up to 750,000 visitors, raising awareness of the importance of sustainability in sport.
Background: Why sustainable sports textiles are important
In Germany alone, around 11 billion euros were spent on sportswear and footwear in 2020 (source: BMWi, 2021). However, production is often associated with massive social and environmental problems: Low wages, forced overtime and poor working conditions characterize the textile industry, while high water consumption and chemical use cause enormous environmental damage. The textile industry also contributes 8% to global CO₂ emissions. Popular sport, which embodies fair play as a fundamental principle, has a social responsibility here. With sustainable purchasing solutions, clubs can not only set an example for human rights and resource conservation, but also raise society’s awareness of sustainable development.
“Fair Wear Works”: Advancing sustainability in sport
In the Fair Wear Works project, Global Nature Fund and FEMNET e.V. have been working together since 2020 to promote socially fair and ecological supply chains in textile purchasing. The partners use their respective expertise to advise sports clubs, companies in the healthcare sector and universities. As part of the project, we want to address questions and needs and approach sports managers with solutions to make their future textile purchasing in the sportswear & merchandise sector sustainable. Fair Wear Works is supported by ENGAGEMENT GLOBAL gGmbH on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the German Postcode Lottery and Fairtrade Germany. The funding will be used to implement a fairness campaign as part of the project at the International German Gymnastics Festival 2025.
Gymnastics Festival 2025: Leipzig under the sign of sport
The International German Gymnastics Festival 2025 will take place in Leipzig from May 28 to June 1. With up to 750,000 visitors, 80,000 participants, 200 sports competitions – including German championships and world championships – and over 400 workshops, the gymnastics festival is one of the largest sporting events in Europe. The high proportion of young participants (over 40% under the age of 27) and the integration of sustainability make the Gymnastics Festival 2025 a pioneering event.
Contact:
Global Nature Fund
Bettina Faust
Project management Fair Wear Works
E-mail: b.faust@globalnature.org
Phone: +49 172 976 57 32
Global Nature Fund (GNF) – Office Bonn
Kaiser-Friedrich-Straße 11, 53113 Bonn
FEMNET
Jil Carmen Holtbernd
Project management
E-mail: jil.holtbernd@femnet.de
Phone: +49 228 90 91 73 09
International German Gymnastics Festival
Matthias Auth
Head of Communications and Marketing
E-mail: matthias.auth@turnfest.de
Phone: +49341 21 54 55 71