“Enhancing cross-sectoral Communication”

ICSSPE talked to its former Executive Director Christophe Mailliet about the past and the lessons for the future.

ICSSPE: Christophe, could you briefly outline your background and how you joined ICSSPE?

Mailliet: I joined ICSSPE in 1997 and stayed for a period of ten years. Back then ICSSPE was looking for a GS following Gudrun Doll-Tepper’s election as President and the transfer of the Executive Office to Berlin. With a background in Communication Sciences I was always interested in sport and felt that it was a great opportunity to work for an international organisation, which was about to be reformed and put on a new track.

ICSSPE: Can you say something about the early days of the Executive Office in Berlin?

Christophe: After Gudrun Doll-Tepper had made sure that the Office was to be funded through the Berlin Senate and the IOC, the German National Olympic Committee initially provided facilities near Wannsee to occupy the Office before we then moved to the Olympic Park in the city. This was also related to the fact that the number of staff had increased.

ICSSPE: What were the main strategic challenges and topics you dealt with when you started working for the organisation?

Christophe: In 1998 we organised a strategic planning seminar in Lausanne with the support of the IOC in order to explore ways of how to reform the structure and priorities of ICCSPE. For this purpose we consulted an agency from the United States, which used a network structure with 40 computers to identify and prioritise relevant topics and ideas amongst all board members, partners and ICSSPE staff. This process produced results on preferred structures, membership attributes, the working programme and core competences. Thus the statutes were changed and the board structure was modified: the number of members on the Executive Board was reduced and we introduced the President’s Committee and the Associations’ Board. Apart from these structural challenges and reforms, we looked into how make ICSSPE more proactive and define specific topics. Accordingly we decided to focus on fostering physical education and health promotion. We therefore strengthened ties with the WHO, UNESCO and the IOC and initiated conferences and publications. Furthermore we decided to emphasise the importance of interdisciplinary work and bring all academic disciplines together to address the issues. In terms of the work programme, the decision was made to not only advance scientific activities, but to provide services to members and function as advocate at the political level.

ICSSPE: With regard to advocacy, what were the specific initiatives you took?

Christophe: Gudrun Doll-Tepper was a very active President and she travelled to a lot of conferences in order to increase ICSSPE’s visibility. Furthermore we made sure that we were present in political forums such as CIGEPS as well as the meetings of the IOC for the sake of influencing policy making. These activities were perceived well and led to several declarations and position papers. Unfortunately though, and this is still a major issue, we realised that it was difficult to ensure long-term approaches including monitoring and evaluation schemes in the areas of physical education and healthy lifestyles.

ICSSPE: In hindsight, would you regard these reform processes as important steps?

Christophe: Yes, I do think so. In fact the installation of the Associations’ Board helped improving the scientific work and outlook of the organisation, which in turn contributed to our advocacy work and the services we provided to our members. Meanwhile the Executive Board was henceforth able to concentrate more on administrative and financial issues. Also we managed to ensure the continuation of the Pre-Olympic Congress, which was then renamed into ICSEMIS. In addition the Editorial Board played a significant role and we decided to invest more into publications and identify relevant partners. In fact the membership perceived these reforms as reinvigorating and viable with regard to paving the way of the organisation for the 20^th century. In particular the need for evidence-based policy development was recognised and prioritised in the context of the reforms.  

ICSSPE: Based on your experience and under consideration of the development of ICSSPE in the last few years, how would you see its role in future?

Christophe: Having mentioned evidence-based policy making and implementation, I think that this is still an area where ICSSPE constitutes a highly important actor in the sport sector.  In fact it is one of the most vital aspects in sport and physical activity to advance monitoring and evaluation schemes. There is a clear trend in society to emphasise the positive values and aspects of sport but there is a lack of substantial knowledge on its potentials and limitations. It is thus necessary to not only further explore the capacities of sport but to transfer these results and ensure a realistic policy and programme implementation. To make an example, in the context of the current football world cup, on the one hand media and newspapers would talk about how football can change lives, while on the other hand pointing its fingers at the organisational and ethical issues revolving around sport organisations and sport mega events. This can harm the whole sector and create a discrepancy between expectations and what is actually possible. It is hence important to continue bringing different stakeholders together and fostering dialogue, while above all providing expertise and advocacy with regard to how sport and physical activity works and which impact it can actually make under which circumstances. This is where ICSSPE has been very active and continues to do so. Specifically this means disseminating relevant data and information and translating scientific knowledge into practice. Based on the work we do here at streetfootballworld, I have realised that although sport has gained generally in significance both at the micro and macro levels, there all still large parts in society and in the political sector that need to be convinced in order to ensure a systematic long-term investment and positive outcome. Under consideration of streetfootballworld’s work as a global network for utilising football for social development and the challenges I have come across in this context, I would also stress the need for international collaboration and identifying the needs and strengths of different cultures and countries. This is where ICSSPE comes in and can help optimising structures and programmes within the areas of sport and physical activity, while advocating to other actors and enhancing cross-sectoral communication and implementation.

Christophe Mailliet was ICSSPE Executive Director from 1998 until 2007. He now works as Head of Network Operations for streetfootballworld, an international network focusing on football as tool for social development.

Further information can be obtained from www.streetfootballworld.org.