Sport fairändern: Leipzig Gymnastics Festival awards prizes to clubs for creative ideas for socio-ecological transformation
Bonn, 02.10.2025; Whether in competitive or recreational sports, active sports enthusiasts know the power of change in their discipline. The Sport fairändert ideas competition as part of the Leipzig Gymnastics Festival 2025 has taken up this energy and invited sports clubs to submit their concepts for a socio-ecological transformation.
Among the clubs that were awarded prizes, the jury awarded three first places to particularly convincing projects:
- Pfeffersport e. V. (Berlin): The club presented a new, Fair-Wear-certified jersey, which was created in cooperation with Iriedaily as part of the Mission Inklusion campaign and is already visibly worn during match operations. In addition, Pfeffersport relied on a sustainability exchange for clothing and campaigns to raise awareness at the “Tournament for All” season finale.
- TuS 04 Kaiserslautern-Dansenberg e. V.: In the “Innovation and Creativity in Handling (Old) Textiles” category, the club impressed with upcycling ideas: Bags, mobile phone cases or even crawling tunnels are made from old jerseys, banners or defective sports equipment. The jury particularly praised the fact that materials that would otherwise have ended up in the waste are being reused in a meaningful way.
- Boxclub Leipzig 05 e. V.: The club consistently focuses on fair textiles and would like to expand this approach further. Plans include not only the use of fairly traded cotton from local production, but also workshops for members to raise awareness of sustainability. “A great approach that shows how sports clubs can motivate people to think about fairness in a broader sense,” emphasizes jury member Bettina Faust from project partner Global Nature Fund.
The Turnfest’s fairness campaign is accompanied by the Global Nature Fund and the women’s rights association FEMNET. “In many sports clubs it becomes clear how sustainability and responsibility can be achieved through joint action,” reports Sabine Kaldonek from FEMNET.
The competition is entering its second round: Sports clubs can submit further ideas on how textile sustainability and fairness can be implemented in everyday club life until the end of October 2025. All interested clubs are cordially invited to participate with their projects – and to send a strong signal for a fairändernden Sport.
Further information and registration options can be found on the official website of the gymnastics festival: https://www.turnfest.de/nachhaltigkeit/fairnesskampagne
Ideas competition: https://www.turnfest.de/nachhaltigkeit/fairnesskampagne/ideenwettbewerb-sport-fairaendert
About the project partners
The Global Nature Fund is an internationally active foundation for the environment and nature conservation. With projects such as Fair Wear Works, the GNF is committed to promoting sustainable business practices and fair working conditions.
The “Fair Wear Works” project 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. Thanks to the funding, a fairness campaign and this ideas competition were implemented as part of the project at the International German Gymnastics Festival 2025.
FEMNET e.V. is a women’s rights organization that has been campaigning for better working conditions in the global garment industry for over 15 years through political commitment, educational and advisory work and projects abroad.
