On November 13, the third European Sport Platform organized by the European Non-Governmental Sports Organization (ENGSO) in cooperation with Lithuanian Sports University, Lithuanian Sports Federations Union, European Lotteries and Vilnius GO took place.
The event was opened and welcomed by the ENGSO President Stefan Bergh, the member of the European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel Cabinet Guglielmo di Cola, Lithuanian Sports University Rector Prof. Dr. Diana Rėklaitienė and Arjan van ‘t Veer, Secretary General of the European Lotteries.
The main topics of this year’s # ESP2020 event were as follows – Equality in sport – from strategy to implementation and Respect! Sport against violence and bullying.
The first session focused on equality in sport, from policy to practice, moderated by Niina Toroi, Chair of the Equality Committee of the ENGSO Sports Committee. Following a speech by Lisa Wainwright, Director of the Sport and Recreation Alliance, on equality in the UK practice, three examples of good practice were presented: “Mentoring – Solution for Everything?” (Anja Veum, Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports), “Mentoring – Solution for Everything?” (Hanne Sogn, PhD student, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences), “#HeForShe Initiative” (https://www.ltok.lt/heforshe-lietuva/) (Agnė Vanagienė, National Olympic Committee of Lithuania).
The second session focused on respect, sport against violence and bullying. The session was moderated by the new ENGSO Secretary General Sara Massini. After an introduction to the topic by the ENGSO Youth Chair Ugnė Chmeliauskaitė, criminologist and researcher Tine Vertommen spoke about effective interventions to protect children in sport, and three presentations were delivered – two presentations based on research and one on good practice: “Aggressive Behavior of Young Athletes: SAVE Project” (Prof. Antonino Bianco, University of Palermo), “Bullying in Organized Youth Sport: Is It Really in Your Team?” (Prof. Dr. Vilija Bitė Fominienė, Lithuanian Sports University), „Unified Sports® – against bullying and discrimination“ (Tobias Staebler, European Special Olympics, Eurasia).
The event was summed up by the ENGSO President Stefan Bergh, who invited everyone to meet next year at the fourth European Sport Platform in Vilnius.
The European Sport Platform brings together ENGSO members and stakeholders across Europe – professionals, volunteers, policy makers and researchers; its aim is the dissemination of information and ideas and discussions on issues related to sport. For more information, click on the link: https://www.engso.eu/
