Our organizational responsibility
CTN Academy, Social Responsibility & Sustainability
I do not usually write here about political topics. Nevertheless, certain moral values are fundamental to our work: tolerance, equality, ethical conduct and treating people fairly. Beyond these shared principles, there are many ways in which each of us can respond individually during times of crisis, like UNICEF or Doctors Without Borders.
Many excellent projects operate with relatively little overhead and can achieve a significant positive impact. Supporting such work is one way in which individuals can contribute.
At the same time, I believe that we also have a direct organizational responsibility. We are living through a climate crisis, and we therefore need to define our position on this fundamental issue and make our approach transparent. Like any other organization, our activities have a direct impact. We cannot reasonably pretend otherwise.
Social responsibility is not separate from how we organize our training. It includes the people we reach, the resources we use and the environmental consequences of our activities.
The Three-Pillar Model of Sustainable Development
The three-pillar model defines sustainable development as the balanced pursuit of environmental, economic and social goals.
If we take this model as our conceptual starting point, it seems clear that even an ordinary sports club can have a positive social impact by connecting people. Tolerance, fairness and positive shared experiences can help bridge political, religious and social differences. They can encourage a deeper understanding of one another and of other people and cultures.
As a Taijiquan organization, we are also aware of the potential health benefits of our art. Our work can have a positive social effect directly, by helping people train and improve their physical and mental health and awareness, and indirectly, by training Taiji coaches and instructors who make the art accessible to others.
Fairness, health, participation, mutual respect and meaningful social connections
Travel, mobility, production, resource use and the ecological effects of our activities
A stable organization that can support responsible teaching and long-term development
Our Ecological Impact Is Not Yet Good Enough
In environmental terms, our impact is unfortunately still negative. Although standard carbon calculators would not place our activities among the most intensive forms of consumption, we can identify three particularly important sources of emissions and resource use:
- International travel by trainers
- Travel and mobility among participants
- The production of manuals, printed materials, training clothes and similar products
What Are We Doing About It?
Our current approach combines reducing avoidable impact with supporting projects intended to address emissions that cannot yet be prevented.
- Most of our journeys are made by train.
- We offset international travel extensively and at a level significantly above the calculated recommendation, using organizations such as Atmosfair and Betterplace.
- Some of our training and educational activities have been moved to the CTN Academy, reducing the need for physical travel.
- We support Sports for Future.
- We aim to ensure that the clothing we offer is produced according to ecological and fair standards.
- Vegetarian and vegan food options are available at our seminars.
We hope to address these issues even more intensively in the future and develop more regenerative solutions. Our aim is ultimately to become genuinely climate-positive. If you have suggestions or ideas, please do not hesitate to contact us.