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Bulletin 65 Pdf

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| Current Issues | No.65 June 2013 |

ICSSPE News
Ben Weinberg

ICSSPE Supports Paediatricians to Increase Knowledge of Energy Balance and Physical Activity

ICSSPE supports the Excellence in Paediatrics (EiP) Institute - a non-profit organisation that unites paediatricians around the world - in its latest initiative called the PEARL Project, which helps to promote energy balance and physical activity amongst children and families.

In addition to ICSSPE, PEARL is supported by many of the key stakeholders in the energy balance and physical activity field, including the International School Health Network (ISHN), American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the EPODE International Network and the International Association of Physical Education and Sports for Girls and Women (IAPESGW).

The obesity epidemic on the rise across the globe is a consequence of poor diet and a lack of physical activity. The PEARL Project’s long-term aim is to tackle this by providing free-to-view eLearnings to healthcare professionals around the world as well as holding an annual summit that charges global experts and national delegations to commit to, and action, change at the national level.

The objective of the 2013 PEARL Summit, taking place in Doha, Qatar during EiP’s Annual Conference (4-7 December), is the promotion of physical activity among children and adolescents. The Summit highlights the critical need to align physical activity experts and advocates with frontline paediatricians. By creating this link, PEARL will provide practitioners with the ability to effectively spread the message and benefits of physical activity to the next generation. Alongside the Summit, EIP also accepts abstracts on physical activity for their main annual conference, giving the 50 best abstract submitters the chance to win a free place at the EiP Conference in Qatar this December. Finally, PEARL aims to educate at least 5,000 healthcare professionals per year via free-to-view eLearnings that provide direct advice on topics ranging from media use and obesity trends, to promoting physical activity and energy balance.

Apart from the eLearnings there is also a dedicated global needs survey taking place, linked to a PEARL Network of like-minded healthcare professional who are joining together to promote physical activity.

Physical activity is seen as key to fighting the obesity epidemic and by uniting with, and educating paediatricians, the PEARL Project offers ICSSPE members the chance to help train educators and improve children’s health, globally.

Guido Schilling Receives Award

Guido Schilling has been awarded by the International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP) for his contributions to the advancement of the discipline. He received the award at this year's ISSP 13th World Congress of Sport Psychology, which took place in Beijing from 21 - 25 July.

In 1965, Schilling attended the first World Congress for Sport Psychology held in Rome. Since then he has been committed to sport psychology, research and education.

Holding degrees in Physical Education and Applied Psychology, he not only worked as a sport psychology lecturer but also as a coach and consultant. He held posts in national and international organisations for sport psychology and was President of FEPSAC (Fédération Européenne de Psychologie des Sport et des Activités Corporelles) from 1975 to 1983. For several years he was a member of the ICSSPE Editorial Board, which he also chaired.

Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport

ICSSPE's appointment as a consultative body to the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) has been renewed.

In this role, ICSSPE continues providing policy advice to the sport-related work of the Council of Europe through sharing knowledge and drawing upon its global network. In 2013 the programme of EPAS has focused on drafting an international convention to combat the manipulation of sports results. EPAS currently consists of 35 member states, while its Consultative Committee is made up of almost 30 sports organisations.

Following a resolution passed in 2007, the Council of Europe installed EPAS not only to provide a forum and platform for governmental actors and public authorities, but to include sport federations and NGOs in order to discuss current challenges and perspectives in European sport. Specifically aimed at ensuring good governance and high ethical standards, it seeks to develop policies, monitoring mechanisms and capacities with regard to sports ethics, the autonomy of the sport sector, match fixing, child and youth protection as well as diversity in sport.

Communities and Crisis Seminar

The Sixth International Seminar on Sport in Post-disaster Intervention, entitled ‘Communities and Crisis – Inclusive Development through Sport’ was held in Rheinsberg, Germany, from the 18th to 23rd of October.

The seminar gathered 46 participants and 16 speakers from several countries and was conducted under the leadership of the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE) and supported by Kennesaw University as well as Katholike Universiteit Leuven.

During this edition, participants benefited from more than fifteen workshops focused on inclusive community building trough sport and delivered by outstanding experts from the following institutions: Swiss Academy for Development (SAD); PlayAble; Centre for Psychosocial Support, International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies; Lydia Zijdel Foundation; Freie Universität Berlin; Kennesaw University; Salisbury University; Technische Universität München (TUM); Katholike Universiteit Leuven and Loughborough University.

ICSSPE offered eight bursaries to attend the Seminar. These covered 100% of the registration fee plus a shuttle from Berlin to Rheinsberg and back; accommodation and food. The scholars came from South Africa, Colombia, Oman, Pakistan, Canada, Costa Rica, Romania and Hungary.

During these four fruitful days there were discussions embracing manifold topics such as psychological aspects of trauma; community building and disaster recovery; gender equality issues; victimisation and trauma; development of adapted sports; psychosocial support and monitoring and evaluation. All in all, participants and experts learned, exchanged ideas and shared personal experiences on how sport might be used to manage crisis as well as to achieve a more inclusive society.

Moving forward

World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry supports Designed to Move Strategy.

Following a meeting of Designed to Move stakeholders in Portland earlier this year, the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) expresses how important it is to take a lead in promoting and ensuring physical activity across the globe. The WFSGI stresses the strategic aspect of the initiative and the need to continue advocacy as well as awareness raising processes in order to impact decision-making bodies and governments. Also it is necessary to create synergies, work together and make organisations accountable for their social responsibility. In fact the WFSGI has contributed to the production of the WHO Global Action Plan (GAP) 2013-2020 in order to acknowledge the need to invest in physical activity.

Further information on Designed to Move can be obtained from the link on the bottom of the ICSSPE website. In addition, Margaret Talbot has contributed a related piece to the most recent issue of the ICSSPE Bulletin, which is available for all members through our resource section.

MINEPS V: "Best Case for Stakeholder Involvement"

Sylvia Schenk views the Declaration of Berlin as a further step towards good governance.

Representatives from over 125 countries including Sport and Education Ministers, researchers and experts gathered together at the Intercontinental Hotel from the 28th to 30th of May in Berlin, Germany. For the three days discussions covered important topics in sport: the examination of the case for more public investment; combating match fixing and doping in sport; as well as reinforcement of the right to access sport for all people, across all regions. On the final day of the conference, all participants committed to the Declaration of Berlin.

In her closing statement, Margaret Talbot, International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE) President, called the multi-stakeholder engagement a “dream team” for future development. Assistant Director General for Social and Human Sciences at UNESCO, Pilar Alvarez-Laso, stressed the important role of civil society and that implementation and commitments will be furthered when the Declaration is presented at the upcoming UNESCO General Conference for further adoption. The Federal Minister of the Interior of Germany, Hans-Peter Friedrich, considered MINEPS V and the Declaration as an “excellent communication platform and framework for multilateral initiatives and a good basis for promoting political decision-making and implementation at the national level.”

Gudrun Doll-Tepper, current Vice President of the German Olympic Sport Confederation, referred to the all-encompassing process as “important and exemplary” explaining that there had never been so much stakeholder involvement and commitment in this type of meeting before. The evolution of the Berlin Declaration was the result of a year and half of cross-sectoral preparation. Driven by the host nation, Germany, and UNESCO and coordinated by ICSSPE, over 90 researchers and practitioners were engaged through discussion forums to put forth a global position on each of the three conference themes. Committed to engaging governments and drawing stakeholders closer together, many of the experts involved in the drafting process actively contributed to the conference discussions. Sylvia Schenk, Sport Advisor at Transparency International stressed that MINEPS V was the “best case for stakeholder involvement” and that she was impressed with the progress made - specifically referencing actions to preserve sport integrity - in a very short time and encouraged actors to remain patient, yet persistent as their work continues.

In the past, MINEPS conferences have been a closed dialogue for governments to develop and commit to international strategy in the field of sport science and physical education. As a progressive move, this year’s conference went beyond promoting collaboration in words but to engrain it through the meeting and planning process. Opening speeches by the Presidents of the International Olympic Committee, International Paralympic Committee and Special Olympics emphasised the sport movement’s commitment to the conference outcomes and for the first time an Expert Forum was held prior to the plenary session to ensure that current research and best practices were heard by governments and integrated into the drafting process of the Berlin Declaration.

The Ministry of the Interior of Germany has already referred to the significance of the Declaration of Berlin to serve as basis for encouraging cross-sectional collaboration in order to achieve sport-political advancements. Members of all parties of the German parliament meanwhile have considered the conference an important step towards developing comprehensive solutions for pressing issues such as match fixing, doping or inclusion. In fact the German government has expressed its intention to initiate respective measures at the national level.

Share the Knowledge

Cooperation in Favour of University Development

ICSSPE and Human Kinetics invite academic institutions to apply for books.

The Share the Knowledge Programme is a joint project between ICSSPE and Human Kinetics aimed at distributing sport science, physical education and sport books to institutions from developing countries that lack financial resources. Those in need of literature for studies, research and practical work in sport science, physical education, coaching and sport and fitness, can apply for books and publications that have been selected by Human Kinetics.
Recognising the importance of facilitating the availability of books and resources to support the study, research and practical work in all areas of sport science and physical education, ICSSPE organises and finances the programme.
Up to 50 books may be requested at a time. Currently all books are in English.
For more information or to request an application form, please contact ICSSPE via icsspe@icsspe.org

http://www.icsspe.org/