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LEARNING LIVE

Grass

EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AT LEARNING LIVE 2024

Hear directly from some of the biggest names in the grounds industry as they provide advice, insight, and real solutions to the biggest issues that the grounds management industry faces.

We’ll be hosting a series of sessions on three incredible stages, enabling visitors to hear directly from industry leaders, technical specialists, and experts from across the industry.

FREE to attend, these sessions are the perfect opportunity to hear the latest insights, build knowledge, and expand your knowledge!

LEARNING LIVE AGENDA 2024

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09:30
  1. Clubhouse
    30 mins
    Drop into the Clubhouse to meet other GMA members and the GMA membership team whilst treating yourself to a hot drink and a pastry!
10:00
  1. Main Stage
    30 mins
    • Turf Management
    A review of the UEFA EURO 2024 Pitch Quality Support Program - the strategy, findings and learnings from stadia to training pitches
  2. Spotlight Stage
    30 mins
    • Pest and Disease Management
    This session gives practical advice on how to control two of the UK’s hardest to deal with soil pests.
  3. Community Sport Stage
    30 mins
    • Funding
    The latest funding advice from  the ECB, the FA, the RFL, the RFU and the Football Foundation. 
10:30
  1. Clubhouse
    30 mins
    An opportunity for all County FA's to get together, network and share best practices.
10:45
  1. Spotlight Stage
    30 mins
    • Sustainable Practices
    This session looks at how environmental management systems can reduce operational costs, reduce the risk of prosecution, adapt to climate change, and enhance stakeholder engagement.
  2. Community Sport Stage
    30 mins
    • Management Principles
    Big projects require a lot of planning, money and time. This session offers constructive advice to ensure your club gets the best possible outcome from your investment.
  3. Main Stage
    60 mins
    • Career Progression
    An interactive session for GMA members and the wider industry.
11:30
  1. Spotlight Stage
    30 mins
    • Management Principles
    This session offers an overview on how to assess the work place by looking for key areas often missed and provides practical guidance to assist with meeting compliance for staff, contractors and visitors.
  2. Community Sport Stage
    30 mins
    This session covers the different approaches to drainage, using contractor-led versus consultant-led approaches, and also looks at drainage designs and the importance of contract formation and project ...
12:00
  1. Main Stage
    45 mins
    • Sustainable Practices
    Grounds managers at top sporting facilities share their tried and tested techniques to help reduce their carbon footprint.
  2. Clubhouse
    30 mins
    An opportunity for all County FA's to get together, network and share best practices.
13:00
  1. Main Stage
    30 mins
    • Career Progression
    The expert panelists in this session will discuss the diverse opportunities the grounds sector offers young people - and how to encourage them to get started on a rewarding career
  2. Community Sport Stage
    30 mins
    • Funding
    Practical advice on how to gain funds for your club.
  3. Spotlight Stage
    30 mins
  4. Clubhouse
    30 mins
    Calling all young grounds care professionals! Come and hear from the NEXTGEN team in the clubhouse who are on the hunt for passionate and engaging young people to inspire the future workforce by joining GMA NextGen.
13:45
  1. Main Stage
    30 mins
    • Management Principles
    Head groundspersonnel from top sports facilities share proven examples of best practice in communication techniques for best results
  2. Spotlight Stage
    29 mins
    • Sustainable Practices
    For those engaged in amenity and sports turf management, it is important to both demonstrate and implement sustainable practices. This session will briefly review the policy drivers, the key elements to be considered and, importantly, how to develop an integrated approach to management and operational practice. It will also highlight examples of simple steps that can be taken in a number of amenity and sports surface situations as examples.
  3. Community Sport Stage
    30 mins
    • Funding
14:00
  1. Clubhouse
    60 mins

    The GMA's Regional Pitch Advisors will guide you through the show floor, highlighting specialised equipment from exhibitors that can elevate your community sports site. All registrants will receive a goody bag and refreshments before the tour starts!

    JOIN THE TOUR

14:30
  1. Main Stage
    30 mins
    This session will summarise 10 years of collaborative research with industry on 3G artificial turf, presenting the factors and mechanisms of how pitches degrade and demonstrating the importance and effectiveness of good maintenance practice on play performance and asset longevity. Paul will also touch on the new generation of non-SBR infilled systems (i.e. organic infills) and potential implications for maintenance.
  2. Spotlight Stage
    30 mins
    • Sustainable Practices
    • Turf Management
    This session explains how Biofilm technology can enhance turf management through growth promotion and reduced chemical use, by emphasizing microbial nutrient recycling and improving turf quality and soil health.
15:00
  1. Clubhouse
    60 mins
    Having trouble with your turf? Bring along your soil samples to this session to get advice and guidance from the expert Alex Vickers.
09:30
  1. Clubhouse
    30 mins
    Drop in to the Clubhouse to meet other GMA members and the GMA membership team whilst treating yourself to a hot drink and a pastry!
10:00
  1. Main Stage
    30 mins
    • Turf Management
    Through Labosport’s role as FIFA Research Institute, David works closely with FIFA to develop new standards and test methods for football infrastructure. This talk will provide an overview of FIFA’s approach to improving the quality of football turf surfaces and will highlight some of the latest developments in research and innovation.
  2. Spotlight Stage
    30 mins
    • Sustainable Practices
    Your chance to ask the experts!
  3. Community Sport Stage
    30 mins
    • Turf Management
10:30
  1. Clubhouse
    60 mins

    The GMA's Regional Pitch Advisors will guide you through the show floor, highlighting specialised equipment from exhibitors that can elevate your community sports site. All registrants will receive a goody bag and refreshments before the tour starts!

    JOIN THE TOUR

11:30
  1. Main Stage
    30 mins
    • Turf Management
    How climate change has led to adaptions in management procedures at top international stadia and training grounds.
  2. Spotlight Stage
    30 mins
  3. Community Sport Stage
    30 mins
    • Turf Management
  4. Clubhouse
    60 mins
    Having trouble with your turf? Bring along your soil samples to this session to get advice and guidance from expert Alex Vickers. If you are interested in continuing the discussion about turf diseases, Dr Deborah Cox will also be on hand following 'guarding against diseases in a stadia environment' taking place in the Spotlight stage beforehand.
12:00
  1. Clubhouse
    90 mins
    Invite-only networking session for the GMA pitch advisory service and National governing bodies to collaborate.
12:15
  1. Main Stage
    30 mins
    • Turf Management
    This session will cover the expanding grass court season; the characteristics of a grass court; grass roots venues; preparing for Wimbledon and growing the grass court - by using hybrid surfaces, warm-season grasses and new technologies.
  2. Spotlight Stage
    30 mins
    • Sustainable Practices
    A Q&A on what climate changes we are witnessing, how this affects turf management and what does the future look like.
  3. Community Sport Stage
    30 mins
    • Turf Management
13:30
  1. Clubhouse
    60 mins
    Calling all young grounds care professionals! Come and hear from the NEXTGEN team in the clubhouse who are on the hunt for passionate and engaging young people to inspire the future workforce by joining GMA NextGen.
13:45
  1. Main Stage
    30 mins
    • Innovation
    The session looks at the most advanced pitch testing techniques and how these are measured to ensure best effect.
  2. Spotlight Stage
    30 mins
    • Sustainable Practices
    Dr John Dempsey shares finding from his recent research studies.

LEARNING LIVE 2024 THEMES.

TURF MANAGEMENT.

Learn about pitch quality standards, innovative turf care techniques, and effective disease and pest control strategies.

MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES.

Enhance your leadership skills with workshops on effective communication, teamwork, safe work practices, and volunteer management.

SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES.

Discover best practices for soil health, water management, and reducing turf grass damage. Gain insights on mitigating the impact of climate change and promoting biodiversity.

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES.

Explore grant opportunities, budgeting strategies, and cost-effective solutions to optimise your grounds management operations.

INDUSTRY LEADERS SPEAKING
AT SALTEX 2024.

 

CPD POINTS

BASIS

Claim 2 BASIS CPD points for just attending SALTEX this year and a point for each session you attend (up to four per day).

BASIS generates a unique code for each session and each day of the exhibition, which you can then input into your BASIS portal to claim the CPD points.

You can get a copy of the session code at the Learning LIVE Stages and at the GMA Hub.

Find out more

BIGGA

Claim 1 BIGGA Networking Credit for just attending SALTEX this year and a 1 BIGGA education credit per hour for each Learning LIVE seminar you attend.

You can input the session codes into your BIGGA CPD programme via your CPD account which can be accessed via the BIGGA website.

You can get a copy of the session code at the Learning LIVE Stages and at the GMA Hub.

Find out more