Vincent van Acker is the Director of Service Design & User Experience at KINTO Italy, a global brand of the Toyota Group, created to meet the new needs of mobility. KINTO uses Toyota technology, i.e. 100% electrified and connected cars and offers different mobility solutions – from shared mobility, long-term rental all the way to subscription services. All services are tailored according to environmental, economic, and social sustainability objectives. They are closely connected with the Italian football giant AS Roma, where they demonstrate sustainable mobility vision through the activities of their mutual projects.
SPORTO: Sport is one of your activation platforms. Could you share with us some insights about the beginnings and goals of the partnership with AS Roma?
VINCENT VAN ACKER: The Toyota Group became new Main Global Partner of AS Roma in August 2022. The Group provides the AS Roma with a fleet of electrified cars – under the Toyota and Lexus brands – and a series of innovative mobility services under the KINTO brand. The partnership is part of our activation plan that considers sport as a virtuous vector of principles and values for the creation of a sustainable, safe, and inclusive society. We are confident that this partnership is helping to further spread our principles of sustainability and respect for the environment.
The City of Rome recognized your work on sustainability and inclusivity field. Your “Let’s overcome obstacles” initiative received the “Premio Città di Roma« award. “The Unstoppable” initiative goes even beyond the matchday activities?
In April 2023, the city of Rome along with the ministry of Sport and the major sport associations, awarded the “Let’s overcome obstacles” initiative which consists of organizing the free transfers to the Olympic Stadium of Roma fans with disabilities and volunteers of the association, who are responsible for accompanying the fans, helping them during the match and organizing return to their homes.
The “Unstoppable” project takes indeed on a social connotation that goes beyond the matches at the stadium. In fact, the fleet of vehicles provided by KINTO is also available to the club to support a series of additional volunteer activities and social services useful for the city community. A service active throughout the week for example is available to help parents of long-term hospitalized children, elderly people who need to go for therapies and specialist visits, women guests of Anti-Violence Centres and blind people or people with motor disabilities who want to play football.
The city of Rome along with the ministry of Sport and the major sport associations, awarded the “Let’s overcome obstacles” initiative which consists of organizing the free transfers to the Olympic Stadium of Roma fans with disabilities and volunteers of the association, who are responsible for accompanying the fans, helping them during the match and organizing return to their homes.
Sustainability and ESG topics are being adopted by the sports industry across the globe. Toyota for example currently works closely with the organizers of Paris 2024 on the goal of a 50% reduction of CO2 compared to the London and Rio Olympics. What is your view on the broader role and potential of the sports industry (clubs, federations, event organisers, athletes) and brand collaborations in terms of sustainability initiatives and solutions?
The concept of environmental sustainability has gained substantial traction across various industries, and the world of sports is no exception. As sports events draw massive audiences and involve substantial resource consumption, the sports industry has started to rethink its practices and embrace sustainability as a fundamental principle.
Toyota has a long story of partnerships with the sport industry driven by a common set of values like inclusivity, freedom of movement and continuous improvements. With the growing attention on sustainability, ESG and CRS issues, and the growing role and responsibilities of the sport industry in acting as an educator and advocate for sustainable and social actions through its influence on supporters and participants, the connection between the Toyota group and the sport industry has become even more relevant. Paris 2024 will be a demonstration of what is possible when we work together for a better and more inclusive society. To guarantee athletes, volunteers, and organizers access to the most inclusive and sustainable mobility fleet ever seen at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, we will provide more than 2.650 electrified vehicles, including 700 last-mile personal mobility vehicles and 150 wheelchairs, accessible through the most advanced sharing platforms of the Kinto brand.
As sports events draw massive audiences and involve substantial resource consumption, the sports industry has started to rethink its practices and embrace sustainability as a fundamental principle.
Which are the main sustainability challenges in your opinion?
Building a sustainable mobility society is a challenging task which requires important and long-term efforts both on investments and partnership activation to scale and reach full sustainability. We are currently concentrating our efforts on elements such as the design of a mobility ecosystem that meets the constant evolution of the customer demand and the regulation frameworks. Really important here is the technology, as an enabler to ensure easy access and ease of use of the mobility solutions for the largest number of people while creating tangible and measurable benefits for the end users in term of convenience and reduced carbon footprint. Likewise, partnerships with external stakeholders to promote the right and necessary cultural changes (i.e. move differently choosing more sustainable solutions) and accelerate the adoption of these new solutions are crucial. In this respect, the sports industry is a fantastic platform to lead the way toward a better world.
Building a sustainable mobility society is a challenging task which requires important and long-term efforts both on investments and partnership activation to scale and reach full sustainability.
We are looking forward to host you as at SPORTO Sustainability event in Ljubljana. One of the speaker guest colleagues at the event will be also Sine Mitgaard Hansen from the City of Copenhagen. One of the quotes from her pre-event interview was: “Sustainability is an urgent agenda and thus a relevant agenda for everyone. And because sport has an immense sphere of influence, we – who work with sports – have an obligation to be responsible and to show the way forward.« Do you agree? What would be your message for the peers from the industry that would like to join us at the event?
Everyone has a responsibility to take climate action. The sport industry, considering the impact of their activities and their sphere of influence, could play an important role to bring substantial contribution to the sustainability cause and take the lead in contributing to a better world. Among others, these contributions include reducing the carbon footprint around the sport events through the implementation of sustainable practices, activating CSR initiatives expanding the impact on society and the planet and promoting actively these initiatives beyond the simple marketing purposes.
In that sense, the “Unstoppable” project between the Toyota Group and the AS Roma is a demonstration of what we can achieve together and the benefits we can generate to the community.
As Toyota we will continue to partner with the sport industry to pursue our mission around sustainability and social. We hope our activations will stimulate others to follow the same path and do even better.
Vincent van Acker will be one of the guests on the second topic-related pre-event on the road to 20th edition of the SPORTO Conference
