& Equality in Sport Conference
21-23 November 2024 | Pristina, Kosovo
Hosted by the Kosovo Olympic Committee
Event venue: TBA
Under the theme of “Strengthening sport for stronger communities”, the 2023 European Sport Platform will be an opportunity to shape the future of the European grassroots sport while discussing and exchanging experiences on equipping organisations and clubs to become champions of sustainability, good governance, integrity, equality and values in sport.
The sixth edition of ENGSO’s flagship event – The European Sport Platform, will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, on 12-14 October 2023, and hosted by the Sports Confederation of Portugal.
DAY 1
12 October 2023
Equality in Sport Conference
EQUIP project final event
DAY 2
13 October 2023
EU Policy
Sustainability dimension in sport
DAY 3
14 October 2023
Good Governance in Sport
HealthyLifestyle4all
Programme
DAY 1: Thursday, 12 October 2023
Equality in sport conference
Erasmus+ EQUIP project final event
13:30 – 14:00
Greetings from EQUIP champions
Networking, coffee, snack
14:00 – 18:30
Official welcome
Official welcome will be followed by parallel sessions.
Parallel sessions
Sessions Human library, Call to action & Walk of privilege will repeat 3 times, and everyone will participate in all 3 sessions.
Session 1: Human library
Session 2: Call to action
Session 3: Walk of privilege
DAY 2: Friday, 13 October 2023
European sport platform
08:00 – 09:00
Morning run
#BeActive start of the day, led by ENGSO Youth
10:30 – 11:00
Registration and welcome coffee
Opportunity to connect and network
11:00 – 11:20
Official opening
Welcome speeches and introduction to the event
Stefan Bergh, ENGSO President
Carlos Cardoso, President of Sports Confederation of Portugal, ENGSO Honorary President
Filipa Godinho, ENGSO Vice President
Ângelo Pereira
Councillor for Sport from Câmara Municipal de Lisboa
Silvia Vermelho
11:20 – 12:50
Session 1: Value and policy in sport
Design and influence policy developments
Oliver Smith, Deputy Head of Sport Unit, European Commission
Presentation of the ENGSO position paper on the next EU Work Plan on Sport
13:00 – 13:50
Lunch break
14:00 – 15:30
Session 2.1: sustainability dimension in sport
Keynote speaker
Bianca Quadrokus, German Olympic Sports Confederation’s Officer “Sport facilities, Environment and Sustainability”
Bianca Quardokus, born in Göttingen in 1981, studied geography with minors in politics and business administration in Göttingen and Bonn. She has been working at the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) since 2009 as an officer in the Sport Facilities, Environment and Sustainability Department. The main topics of her work include climate protection, sustainable sporting events and sustainability. Before joining the DOSB, she worked as a research assistant in the area of “Society, Sustainability, Tourism and Sport” at the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation in Bonn.
Workshop
Sustainable Sport Management
Vassil G. Girginov, PhD
Professor of Sport Management/Development, Department of Life Sciences Brunel University
Vassil Girginov is Professor of Sport Management/Development. He is also Programme Director of the joint Sport-Business degree. Vassil’s current research projects include: ‘Intangible Olympic Legacy: Concept and Measurement’ commissioned by the International Olympic Committee; ‘Do Anti-Doping Interventions Work? An Investigation of Anti-Doping Interventions in the UK, Austria, Russia and South Africa’ commissioned by WADA. and ‘Developing Sport Managers and Leaders’ and ‘Sustainable Sport Management’ funded by the European Union ERASMUS. Professor Girginov research interests, publications and industry experience are in the field of Olympic movement, sport development, comparative management and policy analysis. His most recent books include Rethinking Olympic Legacy (Routledge, 2019), Olympic Studies – 4 volume collection (Routledge, 2015), Handbook of the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games (Vol. 1 & 2 – 2012-3), The Olympics: A Critical Reader (Routledge, 2010), Sport Management Cultures (Routledge, 2011), Management of Sports Development, (Elsevier, 2008). Vassil Girginov is President of the European Association for Sport Management and Visiting Professor at the Russian International Olympic University and at the KU Leuven
Karin Book, PhD, associate professor
Ph.D. Karin Book works as a senior lecturer in sport science at the Department of Sport Sciences at Malmö University. She has a background in human/urban geography. Book’s research, as well as her academic teaching assignments, include a wide range of areas and perspectives within sport studies and sport management, mainly with a focus on physical activity in relation to societal changes, urban development and planning, and sustainable development. Book is interested in innovative qualitative research methods and collaborative projects. Her current research projects include two ERASMUS+ projects funded by the European Union: Sustainable Sport Managementand CHANGE – Cooperation for change management and innovation in sports. Book takes an active role in the debates on sport facility development in Sweden.
Some examples of her recent publications:
Book, K. & Högdahl, E. (2022). Equalizer: breaking down the barriers at informal outdoor sport and recreational spaces. Leisure Studies.
Book, K., Hedenborg, S & Andersson, K. (2022). New spatial practices in organised sport following COVID-19: the Swedish case, Sport in Society, Vol. 25, No. 7, 1343–1358.
Book, K. & Svanborg Edén, G. (2020). Malmö – The Skateboarding City: A Multi-Level Approach for Developing and Marketing a City through User-Driven Partnerships. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, Vol. 22 No. 1, 164-178.
Jeffrey Levine, JD, PhD
Jeffrey Levine, JD, PhD, is an assistant clinical professor of Sport Business at Drexel
University’s LeBow College of Business, leading LeBow’s Esport Business undergraduate program and serving as a member of LeBow’s DEI Action Group. A recognized expert in environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, Levine’s interdisciplinary research explores the convergence of sustainability, social development and law in the sport and esport industries.
His scholarship has been published in premier journals such as the Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport, the Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law, and Sport in Society, among others. As president of the Sport and Recreation Law Association, member of the Sport Ecology Group, and a recipient of the ERASMUS+ Programme Grant for Sustainable Sport Management, he shapes the future of the industry through cutting-edge education, research and policy work.
15:30 – 16:00
Coffee break
Opportunity to connect and network
16:00 – 18:00
Session 2.2: sustainability dimension in sport – parallel workshops
Through those parallel workshops we will address all three dimensions that make up sustainability. You can only attend one session.
Economical dimension of sustainability
Geert Hendriks, Chief Engagement Officer The SHIFT and Founding Director Sport and Sustainability International
Geert Hendriks worked for two decades as Project Manager and Consultant in both the private and public sector. In 2011 he transitioned into the sports industry and worked with the International Academy of Sport Science and Technology (AISTS), managing projects on sustainability, legacy and education.with 50+ different international sports organisations in 20+ different countries.
In 2021 he co-created The SHIFT, a group of purpose-driven entrepreneurs through whom he worked with a variety of clients, including European Professional Club Rugby, UEFA, Paris 2024, FISU, FC Barcelona, etc. Geert is Founding Director of Sport and Sustainability International (SandSI), Football for Climate as well as Vice President of the Swiss Korfball Federation and former player of the Swiss national team.
In 2014, he created his own football team with Swiss-based migrants which went on to win the UEFA Migrants Tournament twice. Geert (co-)authored several books on sustainability and sport and won several international awards in the areas of ‘Good Governance’, ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Sport for Development & Peace’.
Social dimension of sustainability
Sustainability manager at Finlands Svenska Idrott & ENGSO EWS Vice Chair
Tarja Krum works as a Sustainability manager at the Swedish Sports Association in Finland. Equality and inclusion are one of the main topics she works with daily. She is also the Vice-Chair of the ENGSO’s Equality Within Sports committee. She is also a member of the International Ice Swimming Association’s Age Committee.
Louis Moustakas, Researcher and Lecturer at German Sport University
Louis Moustakas is a researcher and lecturer at the German Sport University and Secretary General of the European Network of Sport Education. His research and professional interests focus on the intersections between sport and social development, especially as it relates to social cohesion, employability and entrepreneurship. His work as both an academic and practitioner has taken him, amongst others, to South Africa, Botswana, Ivory Coast, Canada, the Netherlands and Morocco.
Environmental dimension of sustainability
Bence Garamvolgyi, Managing Director of the Budapest Sports Service Provider Public Nonprofit Ltd
Bence Garamvolgyi is the Managing Director of the Budapest Sports Service Provider Public Nonprofit Ltd and the Founding President of the Budapest Association for International Sports (BAIS). Bence is also an ENGSO Youth alumni having served for EY both as a Committee Member and policy/projects manager. He has a PhD in Sports Science and an MA degree in International Relations. In 2015/16, he served as a Blue Book trainee for the European Commission’s Sports Unit. He was a panelist at the Portuguese EU Presidency’s Sport Conference in Lisbon, 2021.
Lawrie McLaren, Senior Managing Director
Lawrie McLaren is Senior Managing Director in the Brussels office of the global communications and public affairs agency BCW. With more than 25 years’ experience, Lawrie supports companies and organisations on sustainability communications and EU public affairs strategy. Previously, he led the agency’s practice on public affairs across Europe, Middle East and Africa. On sports and the environment, Lawrie advises the European Golf Association on EU sustainability policy and helped found the Green Sports Hub Europe, a European Commission funded initiative to help sports stakeholders advance on their sustainability journey and influence EU sustainability policy. Lawrie is a joint UK/Belgian national. In a private capacity, Lawrie serves as a Trustee of the Nepalese Education charity Classrooms in the Clouds.
18:30 – 20:00
Cultural activites
20:00
Dinner
Location: Castelo de São Jorge
DAY 3: Saturday, 14 October 2023
European sport platform
08:30 – 09:00
Coffee corner
Opportunity to connect and network
09:00 – 09:45
Session 3.1: Good governance in sport
Introduction to good governance
Poul Broberg is the director of the department of Public Affairs in the National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark. He is responsible for the NOC of Denmark’s relations to the Danish government, parliament, and municipalities. The department is also managing the international relations of the NOC of Denmark to UN, International Olympic Committee (IOC), the European Olympic Committees, the EU-Commission, EU-Parliament and ENGSO. Furthermore, the department is in charge for the fight against doping and matchfixing nationally and internationally. Project partnerships with the Danish government on sport for wounded war veterans, socially vulnerable children and young people living in social deprived areas and employment initiatives in the professional sports clubs for unemployed youth. Finally, Poul Broberg is responsible for all sport and SDG actions nationally and internationally, which the NOC of Denmark is engaged in.
Poul Broberg has a master’s degree in political science from Aarhus University.
09:50 – 11:00
Session 3.2: Good governance in sport – parallel workshops
Through those parallel workshops we will address the topic of youth in relation to integrity. You can only attend one session.
Youth and integrity
Rute Soares
A lawyer by profession, Rute Soares is the Coordinator of the Integrity and Compliance Unit for the Portuguese Football Federation, Ethics and Disciplinary Integrity for UEFA and Integrity Expert for FIFA.
Paul Standaert, President of Panathlon Belgium
After a seven-year career in the health care sector taking care of mental disabled children, aged 8 to 16 years, Paul Standaert switched to HR service business and became recruiter for temporary jobs in the industrial sector of Flanders/Belgium.
Later he worked as advisor in the startup of large payroll for foreign businesses that begun an activity in Belgium.
As commercial director he realized the change from B2B to B2C for Parentia, a spin off from Partena a major Belgian HR services company.
Being parent of a successful gymnast, he became board member of the local gymnast club and world cup gymnastics organizer in Gent/Belgium.
Today he is vice president of Gymfed, the Flemish Gymnastic Federation, including 130.000 members and 300 gym clubs in Flanders/Belgium, and as president of the Elite Sport School in his hometown Gent he supervises young athletes in both their sport-and educational process.
From 2020 the Regional Government of Flanders created a sports tribunal court who focusses, among other causes, on interpersonal violence and harassment. Paul has since been on the board of the court.
Joining the Panathlon International organization in 2006 he became a promoter of ethics in sport. He is the actual President of Panathlon Belgium.
Former President of the IOC, Jacques Rogge was a strong promotor of Panathlon as a unique platform to promote fair sport within the stakeholders in sport.
Bruno Bidarra
Bruno Bidarra has been a Business Analyst at Qantara Sports Portugal since he completed his academic internship as part of his degree in Sports Management. Currently, he´s taking a master in Management and Entrepernuership. In 2023, he was selected for the “New Leaderships | For a More Equal Sport” programme run by the Portuguese Olympic Committee. He has diverse experience in the youth field, having participated in different projects in the Erasmus+ programme and completed the 4-week Learning Spirit, a programme from the International Olympic Committee He is President of the recently created Grupo Recreativo Gonçalvinhense Youth Association. He has a black belt in Judo and he also practice surf.
Francisca Pop
Francisca Pop completed a course in sports management, ending with the defense of a final
project focused on the abandonment of basketball in Portugal, in which she obtained the
highest classification. She worked for two years at the Portuguese Basketball Federation,
where she played an important role in organizing many projects related to young people and
beyond.
Currently, she’s taking a graduation in physiotherapy.
In 2023, she was selected for the YIAP Training Course – Youth Integrity Ambassadors
Programme, where she became a representative of a project resulting from it.
She has diverse experience in the youth field.
She is a high-performance athlete in basketball and later practices volleyball and surfing.
Safeguarding in sport
Dr. Tine Vertommen, MA, MSc, PhD
Dr Vertommen holds a MA in Ethics, a MSc in Criminology and a PhD in Medicine and Health Sciences. Dr Tine Vertommen heads the Forensic Psychology research team at Thomas More University of Applied Sciences, Belgium. She is also appointed as the external expert consultant to the newly established Safe Sport Unit at the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC), where she is responsible for the knowledge transfer and the evidence-base development of the IOC’s tools, policies, and procedures to promote safe sport. Tine currently coordinates the International Research Network on Violence and Integrity in Sport (IRNOVIS), funded by the Research Foundation Flanders.
Her research focusses on the prevalence and prevention of interpersonal violence against children and adolescents in sport. She was responsible for the first large-scaled study into the prevalence of inter personal violence in sport in the Netherlands and Belgium, and she co-developed the Interpersonal Violence in Sport Questionnaire, which serves as the foundation of most studies on interpersonal violence in sport worldwide. Dr Vertommen’s latest projects focus on the development of bystander interventions to detect and prevent interpersonal violence in local sport clubs.
At national policy level, Tine is founding member of the Voices in Sport survivor group and member of the General Assembly of the Center Ethics in Sport. At the international level, Dr Vertommen is a member of the Council of Europe’s Safe Sport Pool of International Experts; the European Commission High-Level Expert Group on Gender Equality in Sport; and the Academic Advisory Board of the IOC Certificate course for Safeguarding Officer in Sport. Her valorization impact is demonstrated by IOC’s selection of Dr Vertommen as one of the 12 leading international experts drafting the forthcoming IOC Consensus Statement on Safeguarding in Sport (2023).
Fair play in grassroots sport
Philippe Housiaux, PANATHLON WALLONIE – BRUXELLES – President
– Initiator and coordinator of the “Panathlon Belgium Fair Play Award”, of the exhibition “The Spirit of Sports”, the “Places of Fair Play”, and “Relays of Panathlon” and the Declaration “sport, spirit of humanity”
– Initiator and spokesperson of the “European Football Supporters Award” since 2005, with the support of the UEFA, the European Parliament Presidency, the Council of Europe, the European Commission and the City of Brussels.
– Founding member of the Olympians Association in 2003
– Former Vice-President of the Belgian Olympic Committee (1996-2001; didn’t resit in 2001)
– Member of the ”Conseil Supérieur du Sport et de la Vie en plein air” from 1997 till 2004
– Co-President of the Belgian Athletic Federation from 2000 till 2004 as well as President of the Belgian French speaking Athletic Federation
– Co-Chairman of the Organising Committee of the WC cross-country in Ostende (2001), the WC half-marathon in Brussels (2002) and the WC cross-country in Brussels (2004)
– Member of the Supervisory Board of Business & Society till 2008
– Member of the project “Society & Sport” of the Fondation Roi Baudouin till 2006
– Initiator & Member of BESMaC (Brussels European Sport Management Centre) since 2002
– Member of various ministerial commissions and lecturer at Universities and the Belgian Olympic Academy
– President of “Sport & Culture for Welfare” initiating “sport si senior” and the “European Football supporters Award”
– President of the NGO “Time for Others”
Bruno Avelar Rosa
Bruno Avelar Rosa was acknowledged as an Ambassador for Ethics in Sports by the Portuguese Institute for Youth and Sport in 2012. Since then, he has been closely involved with the Portuguese National Plan of Ethics in Sport. He is also an author and co-author of several scientific papers and technical documents in the field of sport ethics, safeguarding children in sport, sports pedagogy, and coach education. Additionally, he has led different national and international projects in these domains. Bruno is the Partner for Portugal and Europe of Qantara Sports, a global consulting firm specialized in the sports sector. He is also an Assistant Professor in Universidade Lusófona (Lisbon), an external expert of the European Commission for sport topics, and a consultant of the Enlarged-Partial Agreement on Sport of the Council of Europe. With a PhD in Educational Psychology and a Bachelor’s degree in Sports Science, Bruno is a black-belt and a certified coach in both Karate and Judo, and he has deep experience working in grassroots sport clubs.
11:00 – 11:30
Coffee break
11:30 – 12:45
Session 4: HealthyLifestyle4All initiative – Legacy of Youth Ideas Labs
This session will address the topic of health in relation to youth.
Ugnė Chmeliauskaitė, ENGSO Youth Chair & Deputy Head of International Development Cooperation Division in the Development Cooperation Agency
Ms. Ugnė Chmeliauskaitė is a Deputy Head of International Development Cooperation Division in the Development Cooperation Agency back in Vilnius, Lithuania. Working in the development area for the last 10 years, she has been dealing with the questions of impact, monitoring and sustainability. Currently working with Civil Society organisations on women and youth empowerment programmes in Africa and ENI regions. Moreover, she is the first female Chair of ENGSO Youth. As ENGSO Youth focuses on the topics of Social Inclusion, Sustainability, Education and Employability, and Sport Diplomacy with the special focus on Youth policies in the sport sector and Health, Ugne signed HealthyLifestyle4All pledge on behalf of ENGSO Youth. Besides hands on approach to the pledge from ENGSO Youth’s side, she also contributed to the European Comission lead Youth Ideas Lab programme implementation and legacy. Lastly, Ugne has been playing field hockey for more than 20 years and has recently finished her career as one of the Lithuanian National team players in 2021. Even if not playing herself, she keeps supporting European and Lithuanian field hockey federations and one of her initiatives – Youth Leadership Academy, was awarded as one of the top 3 innovative ideas in Lithuanian Sports in 2021.
Laura-Maria Lehiste
Laura-Maria Lehiste is working as a Development Officer at the International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA) focusing on fundraising, advocacy, policy and external relations. She has a Masters Degree in Law and she transitioned from an international level judo athlete to working as the Secretary General of the Estonian Judo Association before committing to work in the grassroots sports and physical activity field. She was the co-facilitator of the European Commission’s HealthyLifestyle4All Youth Ideas Labs Initiative in 2022. Laura was also an ENGSO Youth Young Delegate from 2017-2021 focusing on the social inclusion topic.
Pedro Afonso Valente
Pedro Afonso Valente is a PhD student at the University of Coimbra, where his academic journey has been a thrilling partnership between the Faculty of Sports Sciences and the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology.
Pedro’s current research project is a fusion of science and practical application, centred on the pioneering use of infrared spectroscopy in the analysis and monitoring of physical exercise with biological samples. This work carries immense potential to advance our comprehension of the intricate links between physical activity and human health.
Pedro’s journey of social commitment began with the Erasmus Student Network, where he served as the President of the Coimbra section, and had the privilege of being the project coordinator of International Erasmus Games. In 2022, he joined the European Commission’s initiative HealthyLifestyle4All Youth Ideas Labs.
Currently, Pedro is also an ENGSO Youth Young Delegate focusing on the topic of health.
Paulo Rocha
Head of Sports for All Division, Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth, PhD in Human Kinetics, Faculty of Human Kinetics – University of Lisbon
12:45 – 13:00
Closing
Conclusions and official closing