Sport for All: Capacity-Building Workshops Strengthen Inclusive Para Sport Systems
As part of the Sport for All – Promoting Inclusion and Combating Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities project, ICSSPE delivered two capacity-building workshops in Türkiye and Portugal focused on strengthening inclusive Para sport systems. The workshops brought together 61 participants from eight countries to explore how disability inclusion in sport can move from policy commitments to practical action. Participants explored participation across structural, organisational and interpersonal levels, with particular attention to barriers, coordination, accessibility, monitoring and the relationship between policy commitments and lived experience.
Using a highly participatory approach, participants took part in system-mapping exercises, group discussions, cross-country exchanges, athlete-focused activities, case studies and collaborative action planning. These activities enabled participants to identify key actors within their national sport systems, examine where participation pathways may become difficult or disconnected, and consider practical opportunities for improvement.
A central focus of the workshops was the journey from awareness and entry into sport through participation, development, competition and elite sport. Participants reflected on how different organisations influence these stages and where stronger coordination could help people enter, remain and progress within sport.
The workshops also highlighted the importance of looking at accessibility beyond facilities alone. Transport, adapted equipment, information, communication and local support all play an important role in creating meaningful opportunities to participate.
By the end of the workshops, participants had identified barriers and enabling factors, explored approaches to improving monitoring and developed context-specific actions that could be taken forward within their own organisations and national systems.
Importantly, the workshops created a space for stakeholders from different areas of the sport ecosystem to engage in structured dialogue and peer learning. Participants were encouraged to take their learning forward as multipliers for inclusive change, helping to strengthen connections and participation pathways within their own contexts. This reflects the wider objective of the training to generate tangible actions that can support continued inclusion and dissemination.
🎥 Watch the video here to learn more about the workshops, their activities and their outcomes.
Interested in working with ICSSPE?
ICSSPE welcomes opportunities to exchange knowledge and collaborate with organisations working to advance inclusion, physical education, sport science and sport for development.
For further information or collaboration opportunities:
Website: www.icsspe.org
E-mail: icsspe@icsspe.org
