Critique -Design and Construction

According to Spector, Chard, Mallen, & Hyatt, (2012) in the article “socially constructed environmental issues and sport:

A content analysis of ski resort environmental communications”, highlighted the main focus of this article as the environment and protecting it through policy and procedures relating to construction building, specifically sport facility. It is a great concern in the United States that construction that will impact the environment greatly, for example, building a sport facility with adequate parking, using mass land space must follow guidelines aligned with environmental sustainability (ES), stated Aicher, Paule-Koba, & Newland (2016).

The Purpose of this research examined the protection of the natural environment by exploring the degree of impact the ski resorts industry or sport has on the environment and if they are adhering to stipulations set by the policy makers. This study which is driven by the research question “How are environmental issues socially constructed within the environmental communications of the ski resorts that are graded by the Ski Area Citizens Coalition? (Spector, Chard, Mallen, & Hyatt, 2012), adapting Hudson Millers (2005) model, reveling that almost 25% of ski resort were inactive, 10% reactive, 23% exploitive and 43%proactive with respect to the environmental communication. 

The literature review which has adequate information on the main focus of the article, the environment safety against sport, highlight an important revelation that less than 1% of sport management articles shows minimal concern for the environment, even though the government is strict on key aspects when approving permit to build, stated Aicher, Paule-Koba, & Newland (2016). The authors with recommendation outlined that environmental disclosure is important but is lacking as it relates to dissemination of information to the relevant people. They explained that this should be standardized to better monitor the resorts effort’s by efficiently utilizing policies and procedures through effective management functions such as planning, organizing, leadership, etc. that will show transparency within the industry.

As is established, the significance of this study is to scrutinize the ski resorts environmental communications (SREC) to determine how the existence is impacting the environment. Based on the evidence which is highlighted in the article, there seem to be a poor showing of environment concern in sport management article, for example, of 4639 articles, only a meager 17, which is less than 1%, made mention of. To construct a sport facility in the 21^st century utilizing huge land space, according to authors Aicher, Paule-Koba, & Newland (2016) from the book “Sport facility and event management,” the green construction criteria or laws specify that building projects should follow certain local code which facilitates the preservation of the environment. The flow of the information allows clear understanding to the readers relating to each item with clear and adequate explanation, for example the literature review was extensively done exploring various prospective.

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There were strong use of evidence where the authors, Spector, Chard, Mallen, & Hyatt, (2012), provided data to;

(1) explicitly explain where there is enough or no care or concern for environment sustainability by sport management articles.

(2) Adequate literature review done continuously explaining the importance and urgency of environmental sustainability.

(3) Explanation of the Ski Resort Environmental Communications (SRECs) policy, the Sustainable Slopes Program (SSP) and The Ski Area Citizens’ Coalition (SACC).

On the other hand, adapting Hudson Millers (2005) model to classify the ski resorts involving variables such as inactive, exploitive, reactive or proactive to determine their environmental activities. The article provided minimal information and explanation relating to the transparency of the ski resort communication operations. The law states that construction that involves changing the environment by relying heavily on energy, water, other resources and generating impactable waste, must adhere to stipulations governing the environment, explained Aicher, Paule-Koba & Newland (2016), in the book “Sport facility and event management” relating to design and construction of sport facility .

This information will not only guide sport management and facility of the serious ramifications that involves in changing the environment, but it will also educate stakeholders when making crucial decision relating to constructing of such facility. For example, the extensive and detail documentation of the literature review incorporating multiple perspectives of the importance of environmental sustainability. Applying or adapting Hudson Millers (2005) model, in this article which gave a clear image of how some ski resort in the industry operate, revealed the level of urgency in decision-making relating to environment issues by being proactive. 

Design protocol adhering to government green construction specific to building foundation are very important in sustaining the environment, and the depth of this information is vital as it will reverberate to groups such as;

(1) Sport professionals, as a reminder so that they are more aware of the elements involved. The content of this article will help to eliminate serious implication with the government by having a better insight relating to (a) designing and preparing the (b) topographical report, which is a survey that is used in addition to the schematic drawing, to better understand the construction demands, explained Aicher, Paule-Koba & Newland (2016).

(2) Academicians, because it will expose them to more extensive information that will facilitate follow up study to explore other perspectives with the aim to increase generalizable knowledge, to further assist sport professionals when making environmental change decisions. 

Though the authors Aicher, Paule-Koba & Newland (2016) were able to explicitly provide adequate information on sustaining the environment and how it is impacted by sport, they had concerns because there were unanswered questions. Like other studies, this research has opened the door for future research. According to the authors, they agreed that a concentration of research is needed to develop further understanding concerning the contemporary issue of ES in sport. Academicians with interest in the sport and the environment should possibly examine;

(1) Motivations behind ski resort publications on environmental communications

(2) The likelihood of skiers selecting resorts based on the environmental communications, posted on websites to increase knowledge that will ultimately be beneficial to sport management and facility. 

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References

Aicher T. J., Paule -Koba, A. L., & Newland, B. (2016). Sport facility and event management. Burlington,

MA: Jones & Bartlett.Spector, S., Chard, C., Mallen, C., & Hyatt, C. (2012). Socially constructed environmental issues and sport: A content analysis of ski resort environmental communications. Sport Management Review, 15(4), 416–433.