FIA ANNOUNCES FINALISTS FOR NEW PRESIDENT’S AWARDS
Created to honour the FIA Member Clubs whose commitment brings sustainable and measurable change within the FIA community and society at large, the FIA President’s Awards celebrate outstanding contributions in the fields of Climate Action, Road Safety, and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. The FIA received 51 applications from all regions of the world, out of which 9 were shortlisted.
FIA Deputy President for Sport Robert Reid, FIA Deputy President for Automobile Mobility and Tourism Tim Shearman, FIA Senate President Carmelo Sanz de Barros as well as members of the FIA Administration took part in the pre-selection process and assessed all 51 projects against five evaluation criteria: Relevance, Legacy, Innovation, Sustainability and Impact.
The nine following projects were shortlisted:
Climate Action:
- ROYAL AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF JORDAN — Photovoltaic Station
- AUSTRALIAN AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION — Real World Testing Programme
- SVENSKA BILSPORTFORBUNDET (Sweden) — Motorsport Arenas as Hotspots for Biodiversity
Road Safety:
- AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION PHILIPPINES — Stay Bright Programme
- AUTOMOBILE CLUB ASSOCIATION (France) — Website mobisenior.fr
- AUTOMOBILE CLUB D’ITALIA — e-Scooter Safe Driving Course
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:
- BAHAMAS MOTOR SPORTS ASSOCIATION — EduKarting
- MOTORSPORT AUSTRALIA — Racing Together
- DEUTSCHER MOTOR SPORT BUND (Germany) — United in Dreams
The winners of the 2022 Awards, chosen by FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, will be announced during the FIA Annual General Assembly meeting on Friday 9 December.
More detail on these projects is below:
Climate Action:
- ROYAL AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF JORDAN — Photovoltaic Station
Investment in a 7,000 m2 photovoltaic power plant covering most of the Club’s electricity needs and helping to reduce the load on Jordan’s electric grid.
The project was chosen for its high level of replicability by any other organisation regardless of its activities, and for the very simple, straightforward message that it sends. The Club’s annual electricity bill has decreased by 75% on average and the initial investment is expected to be paid off within five years. This is a perfect example of a sustainable investment that brings tangible outcomes, allowing the Club to reallocate money to other needed projects and to power the new electric Karting track.
- AUSTRALIAN AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION — Real World Testing Programme
Programme to collect and report real-world environmental performance of new cars and compare it with each vehicle’s previous laboratory test result.
The project was selected for its potential to bring about societal change by informing consumers, influencing their purchase decisions and ultimately reducing Australian vehicle emissions. Over the next four years, with significant financial support from the Australian Government, the Club will collect and promote real world performance data on 60 popular new cars each year. This is expected to drive down consumer demand for vehicles that fail to deliver promised benefits.
- SVENSKA BILSPORTFORBUNDET (Sweden) — Motorsport Arenas as Hotspots for Biodiversity
Scientific study aimed at evidencing that motor sport arenas contribute to the conservation of biological diversity.
The project was shortlisted for its innovative, research-based approach that starts from the assumption that motor sport arenas can have a net positive impact on biodiversity. The final report will be published soon, but preliminary results from two of the Swedish circuits included in the research indicate that red-listed species of bees as well as a very rare type of fly were found to inhabit these circuits. This could represent a powerful story for motor sport.
Road Safety:
- AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION PHILIPPINES — Stay Bright Programme
Campaign on the need for children to see and be seen on the road when walking to and from school.
The project was chosen for addressing a road safety issue that affects 20 million children in the Philippines – and many more around the world. Combining safety training for kids and district officials with the distribution of reflectorised equipment, the Stay Bright campaign represents a practical solution that can be replicated in many other countries. In the two cities where the programme was deployed, the Club has observed a behavioural change among children who previously used the shorter, more dangerous route of just crossing the street anywhere.
- AUTOMOBILE CLUB ASSOCIATION (France) — Website mobisenior.fr
Website dedicated to the mobility of seniors, offering real support to enable them to maintain their mobility in complete safety.
The project was selected for addressing a key societal challenge: ensuring mobility remains accessible and adapted to elderly people in a country, France, where more than one person in five is aged 65 or over — with this segment of the population expected to grow in the coming years. Providing relevant information and offering road safety questionnaires and tests, the website represents a practical solution that can be replicated in countries facing the same demographic challenge. Since its creation, the website has recorded 31,000 visitors and nearly 3,500 tests have been carried out.
- AUTOMOBILE CLUB D’ITALIA — e-Scooter Safe Driving Course
Training course for e-scooter drivers to raise awareness of responsible driving.
The project was shortlisted for addressing an important road safety challenge consequent to the arrival of new forms of mobility: the need to share the road respectfully among all users, including with pedestrians. In Italy, the number of crashes involving scooters has quadrupled between 2020 and 2021. Representing a practical solution that can be replicated in many countries, the training course put in place by ACI includes theoretical and practical sessions to inform about e-scooters’ technical features and performance, and teach appropriate driving techniques.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:
- BAHAMAS MOTOR SPORTS ASSOCIATION — EduKarting
STEM-based initiative using Karting Slalom to educate youths from all social, economic or ethnic backgrounds, regardless of physical and mental abilities.
The project was chosen not only for removing socio-economic barriers and opening motor sport to all youngsters without discrimination, but also for doing it through an innovative approach to training that teaches life skills and gives children a sense of pride and responsibility, all of this while having fun. This immersion in a competitive environment with a common goal offers a unique solution that effectively crosses all the boundaries of EDI. In 2022, EduKarting served to form a team of Karting and Esports drivers that represented Bahamas at the FIA Motorsport Games in France, the first time ever that Bahamians had raced under their licences in a global event.
- MOTORSPORT AUSTRALIA — Racing Together
Building a team of indigenous youths and teaching them the career and life skills that they need to get jobs in the motor sport or automobile industry.
The project was selected for opening motor sport to the indigenous population of Australia, who previously saw this sport as not financially nor socially accessible to them. Of the ten initial members of the team – six boys and four girls – three have already achieved full-time jobs in the industry. This is a first for Australian motor sport: before Racing Together, there was no record of any Indigenous employment among the 30,000 jobs directly or indirectly related to motor sport in this country.
- DEUTSCHER MOTOR SPORT BUND (Germany) — United in Dreams
Inclusive programme that enables children and young people with and without disabilities to participate in E-Karting Slalom competitions.
The project was shortlisted for enabling youngsters with and without disabilities to participate in motor sport on equal grounds thanks to the innovative “Space Drive” technology. This makes it a truly inclusive initiative that promotes equality and allows for fair sport competition. After five successful sightseeing races in 2022 and the season final at the Lausitzring attended by 17 participants including seven wheelchair drivers, United in Dreams has the ambition to establish the new inclusive E-Kart Slalom Trophy firmly in the motor sport calendar.