UNESCO Chair
"Sport for Development, Peace and Environment in a Multidisciplinary and Global Perspective"
Dr. Karen Petry has been awarded the title of Co-Chairholder for the new UNESCO Chair "Sport for Development, Peace and Environment in a Multidisciplinary and Global Perspective" by UNESCO. The UNESCO Chair was applied by Prof. Dr. Tegwen Gadais (Chairholder) from the Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada (UQAM), Département des Sciences de l'Activité Physique. Following approval by the Canadian UNESCO Commission, the application was reviewed by the UNESCO Headquarter in Paris and initially approved for 4 years. This means that there are currently 10 UNESCO Chairs in Sports Science worldwide.
The new UNESCO Chair focuses on sport, physical activity and physical education initiatives and projects that are implemented in response to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targeted by the United Nations, specifically in the four areas: Gender and Equity (SDGs 5, 8, 10), Environment and Nature, Climate Change and the Outdoors (SDG13), Health and Education (SDG3, 4), Peace and Social Cohesion (SDG16). It brings together experts from all continents, in many languages, on several themes to offer a global, multidisciplinary and collaborative vision of research work between the “Global North“ and “Global South” countries. The UNESCO Chair focuses mainly on collaborative projects, or the creation of partnerships at several levels (local, regional, national or international) and between several actors (researchers, civil society, administrators, beneficiaries). In addition, the Chair places particular emphasis in its projects on disadvantaged and marginalized populations (e.g., refugees, indigenous peoples, youth from disadvantaged backgrounds) and the involvement of younger generations (practitioners, students and researchers).
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News
New Approaches to International Sport Politics? The United Nations and UNESCO as Players
Date: 18 June 2024, 11.30 - 15.30 PM
Venue: German Sport University
International sport politics usually has a focus on the IOC and the international sports federations, which are generally responsible for the organization and development of their respective sports worldwide. By contrast, transnational or international organizations are among the actors in international sports policy that have received little attention to date. This neglect of state actors at international level can be explained by the dominant role of international sports organizations, but also by the limited readiness of (European) countries to become more involved in international sports policy and to engage in more comprehensive networking.
The UN system has a special position at international level, in which state actors have at least occasionally or selectively been involved in sports policy. As a relevant UN actor in the fields of education, science and culture, UNESCO has been involved in sport policy issues since 1978 through its Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport (CIGEPS). The most visible format of this activity is the International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS), which last took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 2023. The document adopted there, the "Fit for Life Alliance", is primarily of an encouraging nature and does not establish internationally binding regulations. The most recent MINEPS VII conference in particular documents the weak response to such activities: In Germany, there was only a very limited media response to MINEPS VII and there was also generally only limited interest from European countries in becoming more involved into the recent UNESCO activities.
Against the backdrop of these developments, the symposium, organized jointly with the German Commission for UNESCO, shed light on the extent to which German sports policy is prepared to get involved in UNESCO activities and thus assume responsibility in terms of international sports policy. These and other questions were discussed with experts and representatives from politics, the DOSB and GIZ.
In a second part of the event, the objectives and work program of the new UNESCO Co-Chair established at the Institute for European Sport Development and Leisure Studies were presented. The UNESCO Chair entitled "Sport for Development, Peace and Environment in a Multidisciplinary and Global Perspective" has been established at the University of Montreal (UQAM) (Chairholder: Prof. Dr. Tegwen Gadais), with Dr. Karen Petry acting as Co-Chair. The other participating researchers from the Czech Republic (Prof. Simona Safarikova) and Brazil (Prof. Billy Graeff) jointly presented the work program for the next four years.
The symposium had the character of an expert workshop for a small group of people.
During the last week of July, Karen Petry, Alana Richardson and Sally-Ann Jennifer Fischer represented the UNESCO chair and the Institute of European Sport Development and Leisure Studies at UNESCO’s Change the Game Ministerial and Partner Forum. On day 1, the Partners’ forum, we gained interesting insights from a range of sessions on the social impact of sport, investing in people and infrastructure, and innovating investments. On day 2, the Ministerial forum, 4 sessions focused on quality physical education and sport for sustainable social legacies, fighting racism, discrimination and hate speech: the role of sports teachers, gender equality in and through sport, and safe and equal sport. The forum also launched UNESCO’s new report ‘The Social Impact of Sport: unlocking the potential of sport to drive social transformations’. The report provides recommendations for policy-makers, academics, investors and sport stakeholders. As academics within the chair, we look forward to contributing to the calls for more evidence-based insights, research and collective action to #ChangeTheGame over the coming years.