4th Symposium: Sino-European Perspectives on Urban Sport and Health Development, 2019

For the fourth time, the Institute for European Sport Development and Leisure Studies hosted a transnational symposium on sport development in China and Germany in December. The topics of previous symposia discussed so far included sports structures, institutions and associations as well as changes in football and other sports. The symposia had their counterpart in corresponding events at the Beijing Sport University. The aim of these events which are primarily oriented towards academic exchange, is to identify, illuminate and analyze similarities and differences, but also interactions between sport development in China and Germany or Europe.

The most recent symposium in 2019 focused on the two policy areas of "health" and "urban development". Since the announcement of the "Health China 2030" agenda by the Chinese government in October 2016, topics such as prevention and health promotion, which have long been of central importance in Germany, have also become the focus of attention in China in addition to the topics of rehabilitation and health care.

13 speakers from China, representing 10 different universities and research institutions, reported on the current status of the implementation and enforcement of sports-related health policy measures to improve public health. It became apparent that in the individual Chinese regions different or regionally specific strategies and approaches are pursued regarding health-promoting mass sports. The same applies to the second topic area and the connection between sport and urbanisation. The keynote address by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Schwark on major sporting events embedded in this symposium as well as the poster presentation by young academics were appreciated by all participants.

It is planned to continue the academic symposia as an important and fundamental modality in the cooperation between German and Chinese sports sciences.

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