MEDIA RELEASE: Australia’s next generation Smart Guide to Synthetic Sports Surfaces launches at IAKS 2025, free for every council, state agency and sports body

Cologne: Smart Connection Consultancy today launched the Fourth Edition of the award-winning Smart Guide to Synthetic Sports Surfaces at the IAKS Congress 2025 in Cologne, Germany, marking fifteen years since the first edition helped reshape how Australia plans, designs and manages synthetic sports surfaces.

“This edition is about better decisions for communities,” said Martin Sheppard, Managing Director, Smart Connection Consultancy. “We bring together performance, whole-of-life sustainability and evidence-based planning so councils and state agencies can deliver more hours of safe, quality play with lower risk and better value for money.”

What’s new and why it matters to government

• Built for policy alignment: Reflects global good practices with the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure’s Guide to Decision Makers for Synthetic Turf, ensuring councils can reference a consistent and transparent pathway from needs analysis through to end-of-life.
• Sustainability embedded: Aligns to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and a Multiple Bottom Line Sustainability approach, based around People, Planet, Prosperity and Performance lenses, across planning, design, procurement, operations and end-of-life life-cycles.
• Beyond “turf only”: A complete reference covering where communities play and participate surface types, including long- and short-pile synthetic grass; rubber athletics & multi-sport systems; acrylic courts; hybrid natural grass systems.
• Practical tools, not theory: Checklists, lifecycle and risk lenses, procurement clauses, maintenance and warranty guidance, environmental considerations (heat, run-off, microplastics), and community engagement templates.

Free access for public decision-makers

As part of Smart Connection Consultancy’s commitment to knowledge sharing, every Australian local government, state government agency, National Sporting Organisation (NSO) and State Sporting Association (SSA) will receive a complimentary copy of the Smart Guide just as they did fifteen years ago.

The Guide is also available free via: www.smartconnection.net.au/downloads/

Join us in Sydney – Smart Synthetics Seminar, 4 December

Be part of the Smart Synthetics Seminar in Sydney on 4 December 2025, a fast-paced program featuring five expert panels and interviews designed for planners, asset managers, procurement, and sport partners. Learn how to make evidence-based choices that maximise capacity, reduce risk and deliver measurable community outcomes.

• Who should attend: Council executives & asset planners, sport & recreation teams, state agencies, NSOs/SSAs, procurement, sustainability leads.
• What you’ll take away: A clear, defensible decision pathway aligned to policy and standards; environmental risk and mitigation playbook (heat, drainage, end-of-life); procurement clauses and KPIs; maintenance & warranty essentials.
• Reading copy: A reading copy of the Smart Guide (4th Ed.) will be available on the day.

Register now: www.nscevents.com.au/synthetic-sports-surface-seminars-2025

Key benefits for councils & state agencies

• More play hours, safer surfaces, increase capacity with safety and neighbourhood amenity.
• Policy-ready decisions, align with current guidance for smoother approvals and audits.
• Sustainability you can evidence, plan for People, Planet, Prosperity and Performance with clear lifecycle metrics.
• Procurement confidence, reduce lifecycle cost and risk with standardised scopes, warranties and KPIs.
• Community trust transparent engagement tools to balance demand, site selection and environmental expectations.