European Research Executive Agency (REA)’s Post

𝟯 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀: 𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝘀, 𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 In our mission to promote sustainability in youth sports, it's crucial to acknowledge the challenges of practicality and affordability. Not all communities or organizations have the resources for effective implementation, but through collaboration and resource-sharing, we can make sustainable practices more accessible to everyone. 🌱 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗸𝗲𝘆. There's valid skepticism surrounding sustainability efforts in youth sports, with concerns about "greenwashing" prevalent. To combat this, transparency and accountability must be our guiding principles. Organizations need to demonstrate tangible efforts and outcomes, ensuring that sustainability initiatives are genuine and impactful. Beyond environmental benefits, integrating sustainability into youth sports cultivates vital life skills, instills responsibility, and fosters a deeper connection with the natural world, all while upholding ethics, honesty, and integrity. These broader benefits underscore the importance of our commitment to sustainability. By addressing concerns, fostering genuine efforts, and promoting inclusivity, we pave the way for a brighter, more sustainable future in youth sports, guided by 𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝘀, 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘆, and 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆. Let's collaborate, be transparent, and ensure that sustainability is accessible to all. 🌿 💚 🤝 #SustainabilityInSport #YouthEmpowerment #EnvironmentalEducation #TheFrenchUmpire

🌏🏀 Leaders from across the Sport for Development Coalition pledge to show how they are working collectively to meet global sustainability goals and national policy objectives during a landmark year ahead for sport, society and the planet 👉🏽 https://bit.ly/3OnYRkW With an Olympics, Paralympics and UK General Election set to take place during 2024, representatives from more than 50 supporter organisations, plus partners including DCMS and Sport England, convened in London for the Coalition forum entitled ‘From Policy to Practice’. The aim of the forum was to focus on aligning individual objectives and outcomes highlighted within the #OpenGoal Shared Advocacy Framework co-designed by members of the Coalition. The United Nations recently reported the world is only 15% towards achieving its Sustainable Development Goals at the halfway stage of its Agenda 2030 and at the forum Active Humber CEO David Gent, the Coalition’s lead on climate justice, explained how committing to collective action could help to accelerate sport’s contribution to sustainable development, while simultaneously building a more enabling environment for investment into the ‘sport for change’ sector. David said: “Imagine if we could coalesce all of our activities together then we could absolutely demonstrate to everyone else that we are acting in response to this emergency. I believe this framework, and following it, is a great way to do that.” Read more 👉🏽 https://bit.ly/3OnYRkW #sportforchange #sportfordevelopment #sustainabledevelopmentgoals Andy Reed OBE Amy Caterson David Gent Preeti Shetty Mark Lawrie Sarah Kaye Helen Rowbotham Hitesh Patel Simon Mason Zenna Hopson The International Platform on Sport and Development Comic Relief Sport England Department for Culture, Media and Sport StreetGames UK Sported Access Sport Upshot Systems CIC Sport and Recreation Alliance

🌟 Our Mission 🌟 At our core, we are dedicated to ensuring that 1 MILLION underprivileged and underrepresented young people have the opportunity to participate in sport. 🏃♂️ 🌍 It's time for change: Sport participation in the UK currently does not mirror the diversity of our population. There are clear disparities in access, opportunities, and representation across all levels of sports. 🚴♀️ 🤝 Join our movement: We believe that the sport sector must evolve to reflect society, embrace diversity of thought, and prioritize inclusivity at all levels. Are you ready to be a part of this important conversation? #InclusiveSports #DiversityInSports #SportForAll 🗓️ Save the date: Mark your calendars for the upcoming Include Summit where industry leaders and advocates will come together to drive positive change in sports. Let's make a difference together! 🏆 Let's work towards a more inclusive and diverse future in sports. Together, we can make a real difference! 🌈 #IncludeSummit2022 #EqualityInSports #SportsDiversity

Back to the UN again: this time, for the Sporting Chance Forum (SCF) which was held last week as part of the UN's celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was an unparalleled experience of multi-stakeholder engagement, with rich and challenging discussions on human rights impacts in the world of sport. See my reflections on the SCF and the likely implications for business enterprises here: https://lnkd.in/dVR4Mdj3

One last day at the UN today. I attended the Quadrennial panel discussion on promoting human rights through sport and the Olympic ideal. Toward the end of the session I had the opportunity to share some remarks. I have pasted the text of my 90 second statement below. There should be a video online soon. I’ll post that later. The “We” in the remarks refers to the 2 organizations that co-signed my statement - University of MN Law School Human Rights Center and the Global Institute for Responsible Sport Organizations, and to both organizations I am very grateful for the opportunity. We would like to congratulate the IOC for updating its charter to strengthen the commitments to respecting internationally recognized human rights within the Olympic Movement, through the modifications made to Principles of Olympism 1 & 4. This is an important step in the evolution of the IOC and for the implementation of the IOC strategic framework on human rights. These amendments solidify IOC’s position as a global sport leader, and clarifies baseline human rights responsibilities for all sports organizations - whether local, national, or international. At the same time, it is important to acknowledge that operationalizing these human rights principles will require continued effort. To fulfill these human rights responsibilities and advance toward the best aspirations of the practice of sport as a human right, the IOC must focus on establishing meaningful standards and metrics, and develop mechanisms to provide oversight and accountability. In this process, athletes in particular must be given a strong voice in establishing standards of conduct, fair play, and inclusion that are relevant for their own sports. Without meaningful athlete participation in developing these norms, there can be no way of meeting the human rights responsibilities set out in the Charter.

After watching some junior and youth sessions in a team sport this week I've been revisiting various notes and observations captured as part of a lengthy inquiry (10+ years) into "what good (and not so good) might look like" in these environments. Given a decade has passed, some inter-related questions that have come up over that time that you might also like to ponder: 1) what does/would 'positive progress' entail? 2) have we made any positive progress? 3) how do/would we know? 4) If we feel like we should have made more progress, that "we know better but aren't doing (much) better", what does that tell us about the nature of the challenge we are dealing with? 5) are our existing organisations, institutions and initiatives designed to deal with the nature of the challenge? 6) if not, what might the alternative(s) be? 7) what is preventing those alternatives from emerging and having impact? (photo by Meg Jenson on Unsplash)

Fun little text about sportswashing and popular culture:

📙 Final #ptg2024 reflection: 🔶 In the session on "Anti-doping and human rights: Are they compatible?", Ginous Alford, Director of Sport and Human Rights, presented World Players' extensive recommendations and bilateral engagement with the World Anti-Doping Agency in relation to how international human rights standards can be embedded in the global anti-doping system. ⚖ In 2021, World Players published a terms of reference and rationale for a WADA Athlete Rights Impact Assessment in line with the framework of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. https://lnkd.in/ebgBiRJH ⚖ The win-win benefits to WADA and athletes of ongoing human rights due diligence in the sport anti-doping global system are: ✅ Rebuild athlete trust and confidence ✅ Begin implementing a human rights-based approach, including compliance with international requirements ✅ Know and show how anti-doping systems are connected to potential and actual harms on athletes' human rights, careers, livelihoods, mental health and reputation. ✅ Take action to prevent, mitigate and redress adverse impacts ✅ Get ahead of regulatory initiatives requiring human rights due diligence 🏹 World Players' Best Practice Improvements to Anti-Doping Programs compiles practical solutions to help resolve the vast majority of the cases of injustice suffered by athletes under the WADA Code. https://lnkd.in/enxN7YVZ 🏹 A key factor in aligning anti-doping programs in sport with human rights is ensuring effective athlete representation in WADA's governance in line with the internationally recognised human right to freedom of association and to organise and collectively bargain.

CMY and Centre for Multicultural Sport (CMSport), with assistance from the Victorian Government have partnered with the Koorie Heritage Trust, Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) and multiple universities to develop a program that tackles racism in Victorian sport.⁠ ⁠ This survey aims to understand how racism impacts community sport and what can be done to address it. We encourage anyone over the age of 18 who is or has been involved in playing or the delivery of community sport to complete the survey. ⁠ ⁠ You may be an athlete, participant, parent of a child athlete, coach, volunteer, administrator, committee member or spectator. Whether you have witnessed an incident or been the victim of an incidenst of racism, your insights will assist sporting organisations to develop solutions to respond to racism within community sport.⁠ ⁠ If you know anyone who would have insight for this survey, please share this with them! ⁠ ⁠ Take part in the survey here: https://lnkd.in/gYnMbi_q [Image Description: There is a sports team of multicultural women celebrating on a soccer field. One of them has jumped on top of her team mate and is holding her mouth open in excitement. Underneath this image, in big, black text, it says "Racism in community sport survey." Next to this in white font in front of a green background, text says: "Over 18 and participate in community sport? Share your views."]

𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀, 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲: 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹? In the world of sports, we're witnessing a powerful 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲. The recent statistics on Black Lives Matter (BLM) support within athletics shed light on significant trends, but they also highlight challenges and considerations: ✅ Authentic Engagement ✅ Navigating Controversy ✅ Sustaining Support Expressing support for a social or political movement and expecting athlete involvement is important, but 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲. Athletes and sports organizations may encounter criticism when taking a stand on issues like BLM, so it's vital to navigate these situations with 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆. Furthermore, supporting a social movement isn't a one-time effort; it requires ongoing commitment, investment, and action to effectively address systemic inequalities and drive meaningful change. We should confront these challenges directly in sports sustainability. It's not just about showing support; it's about driving tangible progress in our industry and society as a whole. So let's lead the way in inclusion, equity, and environmental care amid the complexities of sports activism. #SustainabilityInSports #BLM #SocialJustice #SportsForChange #TheFrenchyUmpire