Researchers Net World Cup Win

Leveraging the 2022 Qatar World Football Cup for the promotion of green and active living: A multiple stakeholder evaluation of strategic options.

The project will seek to investigate how the 2022 Qatar Football World Cup can be used to inspire social change in the country. Run by Edinburgh Napier University experts working with Dr. Dan Musinguzi and Dr. Sohair Abul-Haija) instead of “academics”; academics at Stenden University-Qatar it aims to help organisers understand how the event can be leveraged to tackle Qatar’s high levels of obesity and bring down its carbon footprint.

Mega sporting events have the power to inspire social change. Qatar, which suffers from high levels of diabetes and obesity as well as a high per capita carbon footprint, has the opportunity to use the 2022 World Cup to encourage people to adopt greener and more physically active lifestyles. By engaging with experts in Qatar and in the UK, the project aims to find out what opportunities exist in the nine year run up to the event, as well as during it, to promote habits of recycling, low carbon use,  physical activity and sports participation.

The Edinburgh Napier and Stenden University team will work with Qatari event managers, public health experts, physical educators, city planners and environmental agencies. Their findings will be shared with the Qatar government as well as with FIFA.

Wayne Johnson president of Stenden University, Qatar, has said:

"The Qatar National Research Fund’s (QNRF) National Priorities Research Programme (NPRP) grant awarded to Stenden University Qatar and Edinburgh Napier University represents a great achievement for the important contribution we will be making to national developments within the State of Qatar. The research to be conducted jointly between the two universities will add considerable value to the long term sustainability goals of Qatar. We are very excited about this collaboration and look forward to a very successful and well received research work that will no doubt form the basis for future and continued co-operation."