From September 27, the Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum welcomes visitors to its thought-provoking new exhibition “Heating Finish Line. Sports in a Changing Environment”, which explores the connections between sports and environmental issues. The exhibition is supported by the Environmental Investment Centre and the City of Tartu.

The new exhibition turns attention towards both sports and the environment, inviting visitors to reflect on how we can engage in sports in ways that place less strain on nature and are as sustainable as possible for both people and the planet. The exhibition has been built using environmentally friendly materials wherever possible, and several installations have been created from plastic waste left over from past sporting activities.

According to Siim Randoja, a member of the board of the Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum, this is the first time that an environmental exhibition has been held at the museum, but environmental awareness has been important to the museum before. “Since 2022, the museum has had a working group dedicated to environment and it’s sustainability, and this spring we became the first museum in Tartu to receive the Green Key eco-label,” said Randoja. He added that the museum wants to show that it is also possible to do sports sustainably. “Visitors will find inspiration from both current and past initiatives that have already been carried out in support of the environment through sports,” Randoja explained.

In addition to exciting discoveries, visitors can also actively participate. For example, they can pump energy into the miniature Tamme Stadium in Tartu so that the floodlights turn on and a football match can begin and explore the materials and stories behind various sports items.

Maris Mägi, the exhibition’s project manager and curator, pointed out that many different people and communities were involved in the creation of the exhibition. “It is clear that the topic of sports and the environment speaks to athletes, communities and experts alike, and we managed to bring all these experiences and perspectives together in the exhibition. This versatility certainly adds value,” adds Mägi.

Installations made by students of the Tartu Raatuse School, made from materials left over from various sports events, also play an important role in the exhibition. The schoolchildren’s art classes were filled with plastic waste, which was creatively repurposed, giving everyday objects a new meaning and a place in the exhibition.

An easy read booklet for the sports and environment exhibition is also expected in October, so that the already complex exhibition texts can be read in a simplified way. This booklet is also helpful in everyday practice, for example, for people with intellectual disabilities, young people, children and teenagers.

The Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum is the largest sports museum in the Baltics, located on Tartu’s main street. It is one of the most modern sports museums in Europe, offering visitors the chance to try various sports while exploring the history of Estonian sports. The museum has also been nominated for the 2024 European Museum of the Year Award.