The International Council for Physical Activity and Fitness Research (ICPAFR) - founded in 1964 - has the tradition to organise an international symposium biennially. This year, the ICPAFR's 23rd International Sport Science Symposium was organised in Tartu, Estonia with the topic "The Measurement and Testing in Physical Fitness, Physical Activity and Health: New Perspectives". The host of the Symposium was the Faculty of Exercise and Sport Sciences, University of Tartu, Estonia, under the chairmanship of Prof. Dr. Toivo Jürimäe, who is a well-known specialist in the area of sport pedagogy and kinanthropometry. The University of Tartu, founded in 1632, is one of the oldest universities from in the world, and the Faculty of Exercise and Sport Sciences is known as one of the leading institutions in sport sciences from former Soviet Union and East-European countries. Within the history of the ICPAFR, it was the first time that a former socialist country has hosted this prestigious symposium.

The topic of this symposium was chosen to reflect new perspectives of measurement in different areas of physical fitness, physical activity and health as one of the main objectives of the Council among others, such as: 1) the standardisation tests in physical fitness and the assessment and measurement of physical activity; and 2) encouraging research based upon the standardised tests and measurements.

About 80 participants from over 20 countries participated in this symposium (see photo). Key-note speakers of this symposium were experts in their respective areas from all over the world. Dr. Neal Armstrong (Exeter, UK) talked about the anaerobic fitness and anaerobic performance during childhood and adolescence. Dr. Don Bailey's (Saskatchewan, Canada) topic was "Physical activity and bone strength: old and new perspectives". Dr. Andrew Hills (Queensland, Australia) presented a paper in the area of childhood obesity: "Obese children and adolescents: gait issues". Dr. Raija Laukkanen's (Helsinki, Finland) topic was connected with the presentation of the validity of the supervised and self-administered UKK-test for predicting maximal oxygen consumption. Dr. Paavo Komi also from Finland (Jyväskylä) talked about eccentric and concentric contractions, with the presentation entitled: "Is eccentric exercise more fatigable than concentric exercise?". Finally, Dr. Jim Sallis (San Diego, USA) presented new findings in the area of physical activity assessment: "Presenting and measuring youth physical activity throughout the school day: project M-SPAN".

Abstract and proceeding books were printed before the symposium and include all presented oral and poster papers. The Proceeding Book was printed as a supplement of the annual research book of the Faculty of Exercise and Sport Sciences, within the series of the Acta Kinesiologiae Universitatis Tartuensis (volume 7, 2002). The editors were the main organisers of the symposium, Dr. Toivo Jürimäe and Dr. Jaak Jürimäe. In total, 43 peer-reviewed articles were included to the Proceeding Book. Within the series of the ICPAFR-symposia, printing a proceeding book as a result of the symposium is a traditional event.

"The 23rd ICPAFR Symposium in Tartu, Estonia was organised at the high level and presented papers were also excellent" as said by ICPAFR's president, Prof. Dr. Albrecht Claessens from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. This Symposium was organised under the patronage and financial support of ICSSPE. The organisers would like to thank all participants and all those who helped to organise this very prestigious event at the University of Tartu, Estonia.