The 2026 World Rowing Championships, which will be held in Amsterdam, will also provide the setting for a new sustainability initiative led by World Rowing. Through In Balance With Nature 2.0, the federation aims to explore how a major sporting event can understand, measure and improve its relationship with the natural environment, with a focus on biodiversity. The project builds on the pilot previously developed during the World Rowing Under-19 Championships in Trakai, moving from an approach focused primarily on awareness to one centred on practical action and the generation of knowledge that can be applied to future competitions.
The initiative stems from a defining characteristic of rowing itself: its direct dependence on healthy natural spaces. The sport requires clean water, healthy shorelines, functioning ecosystems and well-managed environments to thrive, meaning that every competition maintains a constant relationship with the landscape surrounding it. In Amsterdam, this connection will be examined at Bosbaan and nearby Amsterdamse Bos, where the project will study the championship’s direct and indirect impacts and seek to identify opportunities for the event to generate benefits for nature.
Biodiversity as part of sporting event organisation
To measure this relationship in a practical and science-based way, In Balance With Nature 2.0 will use the bloomUp Biodiversity Compass, a tool designed to assess the performance of an activity across four areas: wildlife and habitat, ecosystem vitality, engagement and awareness, and natural resource management. The analysis will make it possible to examine how an event the scale of the World Rowing Championships interacts with its surrounding environment, considering both its potential impacts and existing opportunities to improve biodiversity conditions. The approach is therefore not limited to reducing potential harm, but seeks to understand which actions can positively contribute to ecosystem health.
The work in Amsterdam also aims to turn the championship into a case study for future events. Bosbaan and Amsterdamse Bos provide a concrete setting in which to test processes, gather information and determine which tools can be genuinely useful for organisers. The project’s technical findings will allow World Rowing to explore how biodiversity can be integrated into its sustainability framework and which elements could be transferred to other venues and competitions, from urban waterways and lakes to coastal environments with different ecological characteristics.
From measurement to community participation
The project’s scope will not be limited to specialists and organisers. One of its objectives is to bring biodiversity closer to the rowing community itself and make the natural environment that usually surrounds competitions more visible. To achieve this, In Balance With Nature 2.0 will bring together World Rowing, bloomUp, the 2026 World Rowing Championships Organising Committee in Amsterdam, the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and IUCN Netherlands, along with local stakeholders such as Amsterdamse Bos, rowing clubs, KNRB, NOC*NSF, Commissie Roeiwateren and Sports for Nature. Each will contribute expertise related to research, conservation, sports event organisation, data collection and connections with local communities.
This collaboration will also have a direct presence during the championships through activities designed to allow athletes, spectators, students and local residents to engage with the environment. These include a guided nature walk through Amsterdamse Bos, which will showcase restoration projects near Bosbaan, including areas for wild bees, ecologically restored shorelines and trails built with natural materials. BioBlitz 2.0 will also take place, a citizen science initiative inviting participants to observe and record species found in Amsterdamse Bos during the event, involving the sporting community in documenting and understanding local biodiversity.
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