A healthy body for a healthier planet? This is the challenge of the workshop “The Climate Workout” of which the ChangeNOW event will offer a presentation from March 25, 2024. Its goal? Raise public awareness (employees, secondary school students, etc.) in 1h30 of environmental and CSR (corporate social responsibility) issues through a session combining sport and quizzes on impactful themes. A formula which is reminiscent of the famous “Climate fresco”, a climate change education tool, less sweating. But the experience in addition: the million people sensitized would have been reached in April 2023.
However, “The Climate Workout” is not just an ersatz. Because the initiative also arises from an alarming public health observation: “The Fresco is a top concept. When we launched ours in September 2023, we wanted to highlight physical well-being. We noticed that little almost one in two French people are overweight. This subject is still too little explored,” explains Audrey Borowski, co-founder of the program.
Enthusiastic feedback
“Move your globe.” This is the clever slogan of “The Climate Workout”. But rest assured, you don’t need to be a great athlete to take part in the game. According to its designers, “The Climate Workout” is within everyone’s reach. Before being presented to the general public, the workshop was tested in front of professional athletes, middle school students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and even business executives. If you have trouble imagining what that might be like, count on Viva de Moustier, climate project manager and coach of the program, to explain the process to you: “We’re going to do quizzes during squat sessions. For example, I will ask participants about the carbon footprint of an average French person. The answer is around 10 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per person. So we do a series of 10 squats! But as not everyone can necessarily keep up the pace, we adapt to the sporting level of the people we meet. »
For the company SVU, based in Villeurbanne, which convened a workshop on its premises, the experience was a real success: “We had very good feedback. This allowed us to engage the teams on CSR themes in a more fun way, while making an impression. And when everyone is in sportswear, there is no longer any hierarchical reference system,” explains Léa Casaurang-Maupas, communications manager. Viva de Moustier, confirms: “At the beginning, employees were reluctant to the idea of doing sports at work. But, in the end, they found the format nice and suitable. »
Learn while having fun
The Climate Workout also stands out for its fun dimension. The climate fresco, despite its very interactive side, can seem austere. “It can have distressing aspects,” says Viva de Moustier. A disadvantage which reinforced the SVU company in its choice to turn to this sporting awareness: “The climate fresco is interesting, but when we have employees who are not very aware of environmental issues, the exercise can quickly discourage them. Particularly because of its technicality,” explains Léa Casaurang-Maupas. And according to Audrey Borowski, this more playful approach is bearing fruit: “The formula pushes the companies to get involved on their own scale. At the end of the program, we organize a round table of employees in the company. Everyone must mark an impact commitment on a post-it that they must keep over the next three months. For example, the teams will set up a “Green Monday” where they will travel by bike. » A few months after its launch, the founders of Climate Workout are delighted with the enthusiasm generated. And because a training session is obviously worth a thousand words, green-minded HR people could well consider setting up such an exercise rather than endless PDFs on CSR.