Russell Seymour is a pioneer in Sustainability and Sport in the UK. With an academic background (with degrees in Ecology, Environmental Sciences and Biodiversity Management) Russell started work in the sports sector through a convoluted career path. He soon realized that the sport sector had significant environmental impacts, was being impacted by environmental changes and, importantly, had an opportunity to raise awareness as a trusted, non-partisan ambassador by using the powerful influence of sport on participants and fans. Working at Lord’s Cricket Ground as the first Sustainability Manager at a major UK sports venue, Russell integrated sustainability principles into business functions across the venue.
With this in mind, he set up BASIS (the British Association for Sustainable Sport) in 2010, with the intention of bringing together like-minded individuals at all levels of sport, to share ideas, experiences and strategies around sustainability. Russell recently became Chief Executive of BASIS.
Russell is a visiting lecturer in Sports Management at Loughborough University and in Event Management at the University of Greenwich; he sits on two British Standards committees on Organisational Change and Sustainable Development and Sustainability, Sustainable Consumption and Production; and is a member of the Advisory Board for the Sport Ecology Group. He was also presented with the London 2012 Sustainability Ambassadors Award for his contribution towards a sustainable Olympic and Paralympic Games.
