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VIGO – From June 21st to 26th, the Spanish University City of Vigo hosted the 10th edition of the FISU Forum, the Academic pillar of the International University Sports Federation (FISU).
The main theme of the Forum was ‘University Sport: A Platform for Change’.
Four sub-themes were discussed as well:
‘Development of Strategic Plans in University Sport at the National Level’;
‘Education and Environmental Awareness through University Sport’;
‘Women’s Leadership in University Sport’;
‘University Sport and Academic Recognition’
The 280 students and officials (41 % female and 59 % male) representing 71 countries from five continents underlined the unique importance and special opportunities which University Sport, in the broadest terms, can contribute to the educational process within higher education. The main theme ‘University Sport: A Platform for Change’, was chosen in the context of the new ‘knowledge society’, but also in the context of the economical, societal and ecological crisis affecting the whole world.
During six days of keynote speeches and workshops the participants of the academic event of FISU focused on the fact that sport is much more than a tool for education: it should be established as a human right and part of human responsibilities.
As Sport is a Human Right, the Forum recognizes that:
1. The sports context, when approached with due sensitivity, is presented as the ideal place for the introduction and promotion of values and best practice amongst our youth;
2. Self-evidently, it has proven to be an instrument for progress on such important dimensions as equity of opportunity between genders and between generations, respecting and educating environmental awareness;
It wishes to underline the social importance and the educational value of sport, namely: personal values, personal and communication skills, health care, incorporating a more active lifestyle;
3. Universities in their strategic planning should be sensitive to the contribution of the sporting experience in the integral formation of persons who will guide the future. Sport has increasingly become a substantial element of university life;
4. The participants supported and urged FISU to continue to develop a strategy in support of the above, which would utilize its international links with members and partners to develop a capacity building platform for accreditation and life long learning through University Sport. In particular, it is suggested that FISU should establish formal links and collaborative partnerships with:
- Formal academic structures existing in each continent, namely the councils of rectors of Asia, America, Europe, Africa and Oceania;
- UNESCO, the leading world organization in the essential fields of education, culture and ethical values. FISU should be active in participating the works of IAU, the UNESCO-based worldwide association of higher education institutions, CISEPS, the UNESCO Permanent Inter-Governmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport;
- WADA, the leading world organization for anti-doping education;
- CIFP, the International Committee for Fair-Play;
5. FISU should positively promote worldwide international understanding and dialogue among universities, and notably through its continental structures.
About the FISU Forum
Every two years, the Forum is an opportunity for the students and officials from the university sports movement of the FISU member associations to meet each other. The main objective of the Forum is to offer the conditions for a meeting and exchange, associating culture and education with physical and sporting activities. By establishing this Forum more than ten years ago the FISU authorities wanted students, teaching staff and sports leaders from different backgrounds to get to know and understand each other in order for both parties to be enriched by all the different aspects of their diversity. |