At Santasport, sustainability is a core value that we want to be visible in all our activities. On this page you will find information about the sustainability of our sports institute, including safety, accessibility and fair competition.
We are a proven sustainable operator
Responsibility for us means concrete actions in our everyday work. Like all Finnish Sports Institutes, we are committed to environmental responsibility as well as the long-term development of social and economic responsibility.
In autumn 2024, we were awarded the international Biosphere certification, which guides our continuous development in all areas of sustainability. In addition, we have achieved Visit Finland’s Sustainable Travel Finland certification, demonstrating our commitment to the principles of sustainable tourism.
We have set clear goals for each area of responsibility and work continuously to achieve them.
We care for nature
The nature of Ounasvaara offers a unique environment for movement, learning, and well-being throughout the year. We take responsibility for preserving our local nature and instruct our guests on how to move responsibly in the Ounasvaara area.
In our accommodation operations, we monitor energy consumption and continuously develop ways to reduce the use of energy and water. We aim to minimize waste and improve sorting practices, and we provide clear recycling instructions for our guests. In our restaurants, we also actively monitor the amount of biowaste.
We calculated our carbon footprint in 2024, which amounted to 1,998 t CO₂e. We continue to monitor and refine the calculation regularly to progress towards carbon neutrality.
To reduce environmental impact, we only use eco-labeled cleaning and washing agents as well as paper products.
We take care of our customers
One of the core missions of our Sports Institute is to create opportunities for people of all ages to be active — a goal we have pursued with determination since 1976. The safety and accessibility of our services have always been of utmost importance to us.
We have systematically invested in the development and maintenance of safety. We promote a culture of safety among both our staff and all facility users to ensure a secure environment for everyone.
You can find our safety instructions through the following link:
In the digital age, data protection is also an essential part of customer safety. We handle personal data confidentially, and every member of our staff is required to complete appropriate data protection training. Through the link below, you can access the privacy statements of Santasport Lapland Sports Institute, Santasport Finland Ltd, and the REDU Group.
If you notice any shortcomings in our operations, you can provide general feedback via the form below.
We provide an accessible environment for all visitors
All customers are welcome here. Our facilities are fully accessible, and we pay particular attention to the needs of customers with reduced mobility, older adults, and families with children. Each floor of our multi-purpose property includes an accessible restroom and spacious elevators to ensure easy movement.
When needed, we provide various assistive devices such as wheelchairs, shower chairs, and rollators. In our spa, a pool lift is available to ensure safe access to the water.
For accommodation, we have customized several accessible Sporthotel rooms located on the ground floor close to key routes and services.
We invest in the well-being of our staff
An energetic, service-oriented, and skilled staff is the foundation of our operations. We offer our employees regular training opportunities and actively involve them in the development of our organization.
We support work ability and well-being through benefits that encourage physical activity as well as by organizing various workplace well-being events.
We also maintain a Whistleblowing channel, which enables anonymous reporting of unethical behavior, deficiencies, or violations. Every member of our work community is obligated to report any issues they observe.
We value local roots and strong networks
We have been promoting physical activity and well-being in Ounasvaara for 50 years. Our strong local identity is also demonstrated by the Likiliike label, granted to locally owned companies and operators in Rovaniemi.
We work closely with numerous local partners and make use of the extensive expertise and service offering available in our region.
We are part of a nationwide network of nine sports institutes. Together, we form Finland’s most comprehensive center of expertise in sports and physical activity. Through our shared sustainability program, we promote sustainable lifestyles and a more responsible society.
Examples of our concrete sustainability actions
- We offer charging stations for hybrid and electric vehicles.
- We encourage our staff to cycle to work by providing secure bicycle storage and participating in Rovaniemi’s annual cycling challenges.
- We organize an annual outdoor clean-up day for staff and students.
- We monitor the amount of biowaste in our restaurants and encourage guests to reduce food waste; we also participate in the ResQ Club initiative.
- We ensure proper waste sorting throughout all our facilities.
- We have set all hotel room temperatures to an energy-efficient +21°C.
- We guide guests to use marked routes when moving around Ounasvaara to protect the surrounding nature.
- We reduce paper consumption by adopting digital solutions for guest information, most recently the DigitalGuest platform.
- We provide guests with clear instructions on simple, responsible actions they can take during their stay.
- We invest in accessibility through features such as automatic doors and offer mobility aids for guests in our accommodation, spa, and bowling facilities.
- We employ local tourism and sports students whenever possible.
- As part of the Likiliike community, we support local entrepreneurship and prioritize local suppliers in our procurement.
- We promote local cultural heritage by organizing annual sports events.
- We have clear guidelines for handling ethical violations and reporting concerns.
Promoter of clean and fair sport
The Fair Competition Programme, coordinated by the FINCIS (Finnish Center for Integrity in Sports), is part of a responsibility programme for sports organisations and actors that covers the entire sports community.
We are part of the Fair Competition Programme of the Finnish Olympic Committee and are therefore committed to the mutually agreed measures of this programme. In line with the Olympic Committee’s programme, we have a programme implementation policy to help us put into practice the measures we take in relation to anti-doping and the fight against competition manipulation.
As a sports institute, we have a key role to play in promoting clean and fair sport in our own region in Lapland.
Operational instruction
Fair Competition at Santasport
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Education
The aim of our training is to ensure that all sports stakeholders have the necessary and up-to-date knowledge on anti-doping and anti-competitive manipulation, but also the ability to make ethical and sustainable choices in sport. Our priority is to ensure that athletes and other sports and academic staff are introduced to anti-doping primarily through our training courses. We plan our training activities on an annual basis, taking into account the different target groups.
Top athletes and young athletes striving for the top
The Lapland Sports Academy and Santasport Sports Institute of Lapland will locally promote fair competition content in the network’s secondary schools and higher education institutions, using existing materials such as the Grow as an Athlete and Develop as a Top Athlete exercise books and FINCIS’s online trainings.
The secondary school camps we organise focus on growing up as an athlete, learning about the content, the spirit of fair play and the values associated with it. We have created our own rules of the game for secondary school activities, which define, among other things, the responsibilities and rights of the athlete. The Code of Conduct contains a model of behaviour for all the athletes involved. The code of conduct is signed by the athlete and his/her responsible guardian.
In our parent-teacher conferences at secondary school level, we raise the issue of anti-doping once a year so that parents are also aware that the athlete is covered by the anti-doping rules and understand what this means in practice. Parents’ evenings are organised in cooperation with the schools. In addition, we offer parents of athletes the opportunity to consult the Growing Up an Athlete guide, where they can also find content on the subject. The athlete’s guardian signs the athlete’s code of conduct alongside the athlete.
In our upper secondary education, the completion of the FINCIS online training courses is included in the ”Become an elite athlete” lectures to ensure that athletes understand their rights and responsibilities as athletes, both in anti-doping activities and in the fight against match-fixing. In addition, we distribute the FINCIS Anti-Doping Code to our sports academy athletes.
We will take care to reach out to athletes in higher education so that they understand their rights and obligations as athletes in both anti-doping matters and in the fight against competition manipulation. We will ensure and certify that our athletes in higher education complete the FINCIS online training courses properly. We will send our new athletes the guidance letter provided by the FINCIS when they join the Sports Academy.
Coaches, staff and trustees
Our coaches are required to have successfully completed the FINCIS online training courses. Our training and information channels include coaches’ periodic training sessions five times a year and multi-professional team meetings a few times a year. Our coaches are also important messengers to local sports clubs.
We will ensure that our other staff and trustees are also aware of anti-doping issues, anti-competition and the Code of Conduct for the Sports Institute. Responsible sport codes and transparency of operations are built as part of Santasport’s rolling accountability work.
The training method will be based on FINCIS’s online trainings and lectures and trainings given by the FINCIS-trained responsible person at Santasport Sports Institute of Lapland. The FINCIS-trained person in charge takes care and ensures that the trainings use up-to-date FINCIS training materials.
Vocational education and training
In vocational education and training, our aim is to equip sport students with the skills to contribute to clean sport and fair competition as future sport professionals. In the undergraduate degree in sports instruction, we introduce students to the activities and themes of FINCIS, as it is important for students to understand their role in responsible physical activity and sport and where to find further information if needed.
For further vocational and specialist vocational qualifications, our training aims to provide students with sufficient knowledge of FINCIS’s themes to enable them to apply their knowledge in their daily work with their sport. We ensure that coaches studying for our further vocational and specialist vocational qualifications are familiar with the codes and commitments that apply to them and to athletes, so that they are able to help athletes to comply with the codes.
The training method will be based on FINCIS’s online trainings and lectures and trainings given by the FINCIS-trained responsible person at Santasport Sports Institute of Lapland. The FINCIS-trained person in charge takes care and ensures that the trainings use up-to-date FINCIS training materials.
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Communication
Good action needs visibility and guidance on communication. Effective communication will keep the issue in the spotlight, so that athletes and other players do not forget about anti-doping issues or the fight against match-fixing. When issues are visible, they become a natural part of our activities and value base, and we are more likely to avoid unfortunate harm. Communication also tells the outside world about the values and choices of our sports institute.
Communication campaigns
We run fair competition communication campaigns throughout the year. These include the International Play True Day in April, when we highlight fair play themes in our own communications. December is also International Anti-Corruption Day, when we work with our networks of educational institutions to raise the profile of anti-competitive bribery through our communications.
In addition to campaign-type communication, we will also communicate on fair play themes at other times in line with our own communication plan.
Crisis communication
Despite our good performance, we are prepared for possible crises and how to communicate them. Santasport Sports Institute of Lapland has its own separate crisis communication guidelines and a designated crisis communication team. The crisis communication team is appointed annually.
Another key element of crisis communication is cooperation with the FINCIS and other potential stakeholders.
Codes and agreements
By their agreement, the sports institutes are committed to complying with the Finnish anti-doping regulations in force at the time. As a sports institute, we are also obliged to comply with the sport-specific codes and the codes relating to various prestigious competitions and events.
We adhere to the ethical principles of sport. Athletes and coaches are obliged to comply with the anti-doping codes of Finland, the International Olympic Committee and the International Federation of the sport, and to cooperate with anti-doping organisations in the investigation of possible doping violations.
We also undertake not to participate in any form of manipulation of sporting competitions. If a institute participant suspects or discovers manipulation of sporting competitions, whether proposed to him or her or otherwise, he or she undertakes to inform his or her employer and the FINCIS (Finnish Center for Integrity in Sports) immediately, for example via the ILMO service. Our academics undertake not to bet on close targets and not to share insider information with outsiders.
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Doping control
Under the Finnish Anti-Doping Code, the FINCIS and other anti-doping organisations have the right to conduct doping tests on athletes who have committed themselves to the anti-doping code on the basis of the codes of sports organisations or other entities or by agreement. Athletes participating in organised sport and competition are subject to doping control.
Doping tests may be carried out on athletes in Finland by the FINCIS, WADA and international sports federations. Members of the testing team must always present an official authorisation, for example a tester’s card. The arrival of a doping test team is almost always unannounced. A testing room that is closed to outsiders is always required for the smooth conduct of the tests.
According to the joint agreement, sports institutes will have information available to their customers that the institute may disclose accommodation data of athletes subject to the anti-doping rules who stay overnight on their premises to doping testers. Inquiries by testers about accommodation and training information are confidential and should not be passed on to, for example, the subjects of the inquiry.
Our staff is sympathetic to anti-doping activities and doping control and we will make every effort to assist the doping test team in the conduct of testing, for example by helping the test team to meet the athlete being tested, assisting with access to facilities and arranging testing facilities.
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Action in cases of suspected competition manipulation
In the ”Report a sports violation” section of this page, there is a link to the FINCIS reporting channel, where a person can report a suspected case of competition manipulation. In addition, we have designated a contact person for the Fair Competition Programme who is responsible for handling any allegations of competition manipulation or inappropriate behaviour related to Santasport Sports Institute of Lapland.
Our contact person will report all cases to the FINCIS Investigation Manager, who will provide guidance on how to proceed. If necessary, the FINCIS will refer the case to the National Co-operation Group, which will decide on any further action to be taken. The parties concerned will be informed of the closure of the case or of any further action that may be taken.
Contact persons of our Sports Institute
Teo Jeskanen
Sustainability Specialist, Santasport Sports Institute of Lapland
teo.jeskanen@santasport.fi
tel. +358 40 710 6381 -
Report a sports violation
Everyone has the right to report any suspected doping, match-fixing, spectator safety or other ethical violations in sport. On ILMO service, you can report unethical behaviour by a sports official, such as harassment, anonymously or under your own name. The content of your report will be treated confidentially.
All information received will be analysed for possible further action. By reporting misconduct, you help to protect sport and ensure a level playing field and a safe environment for all athletes.