XL, l'house organ di OPES anno 1, n°8, ottobre 2019 | Page 31

XL / Ottobre 2019
The second edition of the European Sport Platform was held in
Rome on 4 and 5 October 2019. The international event organized
by ENGSO, this year was hosted by OPES, the Italian member of
the European organization. Within the nice framework of the Appia
Park Hotel, members of local, national and international sports
bodies from various countries, representatives of national and
international institutions, athletes, and young people interested in
the sporting field discussed about three relevant topics: the value
of volunteering in sport, diversity in sports governance and the role of
sport in promoting mental health. During the two days of the event,
presentations and workshops alternated and combined with informal
exchanges. A participatory approach was created and maintained
for the entire event, favoring an atmosphere of confrontation and
exchange between people from different contexts, an added
value to the success of the event. Greetings
from the ENGSO president Stefan Bergh
officially started ESP2019’s works. Following the
institutional welcoming, the conference began
with a focus on the topic of volunteering. The
following interventions allowed the audience
to reflect on the impact of volunteering in the
sports field and to question how to measure
the economic value of volunteering. The panel
continued with a focus on the methods that can
be used to attract and maintain new volunteers,
a theme enriched through the good practices
shared by the speakers and the audience. The
day ended with a session on networking and
European funds in the sports sector. The panel
benefited from a presentation held by Yves
le Lostecque, head of the sports unit of the
European Commission DG EAC, followed by
a workshop facilitated by Sara Massini, director
of the international relations, international
cooperation and project designing department
of OPES. The first part of the following day
started with the topic “diversity in governance”,
reflecting, in particular, on the contribution that
the participation of under-represented groups
such as women and minorities can give to the
sports sector. Within this session, a particular
focus was placed on the SCORE project, carried
out by ENGSO between 2014 and 2016 and
aimed at promoting gender equality in sports
coaching. In the panel, the project “Play to
Train” was introduced. It is currently carried
out by OPES as a follow-up of SCORE and is
taking place in three countries: Italy, Bulgaria
and Slovenia. The last part of the event was
dedicated to the impact that sport can have on
mental health, reflecting together on the tools
available to sports clubs to promote the psycho-
physical well-being of individuals. The second
edition of the European Sport Platform ended
with an invitation to maintain and strengthen the
network between the various representatives of
the sports fiel and with the appointment to the
next year for the third edition of ESP2020.
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