MOVE Congress 2017 brings the “Human Right to Move” forward

The International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA) held the 8^th annual MOVE Congress in Birmingham (England) with “the Human Right to Move” as core theme. Between October 4-6, attendees were able to attend various sessions, participate in workshops, and acquaint themselves with some of the other 200 participants. People from all around Europe, and from across the globe, united at the congress with the same conviction that the decrease in physical activity must be reversed. A diversity of different factors can be linked to this modern decrease, some of which were discussed during the event. In this way, the MOVE congress offered four different topics to follow: transforming urban spaces, hard-to-reach communities, active schools, and reconnecting humans with nature. It is safe to say that all speakers were true sources of inspiration as they shared their projects, research and experiences. The sharing and interaction amongst such passionate people made it obvious that people are taking action to promote sport and physical activity on all kinds of levels, but the most pressing question remains how to tackle inactivity efficiently and sustainably? The struggle lies in convincing other stakeholders of the cause, not in preaching the choir.

Sport and Citizenship was present at the congress as a partner of the Active School Communities project. Lead by BG Be Active, and funded by Erasmus +, the ASC project ran for three years and facilitated local sport club and school collaboration to offer more physically activity opportunities to children. The 40^th edition of Sport and Citizenship’s quarterly journal is dedicated to the project and its outcomes. It was exclusively released and distributed throughout the congress. By successfully touching more than 5000 kids, ASC illustrates the benefits of grassroots initiatives and collaborations.

The ending notes of the Congress touched upon the need to increase cross-sector collaborations, and to reintroduce physical activity into our daily lives- we were made to move and have the right to, so let’s change our bad habits into good ones.