Dear Friends,

As we approach the end of 2008, I want to personally thank you all for your continued commitment to the sport for all movement. It was an exciting year for ISCA as we continued to represent sport for all to the governmental, non-governmental and corporate sectors.

2008 also marked the 2nd European Sport for All Congress, which was organized in cooperation with CESS and UBAE. We are now distributing the Congress Review magazine which contains articles, interviews and summaries of this important event.

I often hear from ISCA members and friends and want to thank you for your well wishes, great ideas and suggestions on how ISCA can serve you even better. As we enter 2009, we will continue to improve our work as the leading international representative of the sport for all movement.

Have a safe and happy new year and thank you for being an important part of our success. I look forward to seeing you at an ISCA event in 2009!

Warm regards,

Mogens Kirkeby
President

The European Youth and Sport Forum 2008 gathered over 100 European young people from 32 different countries. Following the European Union presidency the Forum took place in France from the 30th of November to the 6th of December.

This year’s EYSF aimed to demonstrate how young people put the words of the White Paper on Sport, the European Commission’s policy document, into practice. The EYSF 2008 delivered much more than recommendations, it delivered options and solutions for citizens, volunteers, professionals and decision makers to questions posed in the White Paper.

Download the declaration of the EYSF 2008 here.

Download the Pink Paper of the EYSF 2008 here.

The EYSF 2008 Newsletter available here.

Sport organizations from the Mediterranean area held an informal meeting in Bari, Italy on 5th December to discuss regional cooperation. Youth leader development, cultural exchanges and non-formal education through sport were the focus themes during discussions. It was agreed that regional cooperation is necessary in order to achieve greater understanding and exchange of cultural values such as peace and solidarity.

The Bari meeting was organized and hosted by UISP. UISP is an active partner in promoting activities of social dialogue through sport for all. The participating organizations included:

Ministry of Youth and Sport - Albania

FSGT - France

PPSF - Palestine

Sport for All Association - Serbia

AICS - Italy

PASEK - Cyprus

SUS - Slovenia

UISP - Italy

HAPOEL - Israel

In the coming months, the ISCA secretariat will develop a new strategy in the field of Sport and Development to provide contributions to the field and the ISCA members working in this area.

ISCA is a member of the Steering Group of the International Platform on Sport and Development. We encourage you to sign up and register your organization as well as individual staff, volunteers etc. with experience in the area of Sport and Development. Click here: http://www.sportanddev.org/connect/signup.cfm

We also would like to point your attention to the following possibilities:

· The Beyond Sport Foundation award – see more here

· Change the game for Women in Sport (NIKE and Ashoka’s Changemakers competition). See more here.

On 11-13 December 2008, 33 representatives from 14 organizations in seven countries in South Eastern Europe gathered in Belgrade for a seminar to develop common strategies for the future.

The seminar defined the framework for future cooperation in the region and discussed a number of concrete project ideas.

Now follows the next step: to establish a communication platform for the Sport for All organizations in the region. ISCA and ISCA member Sport Union of Slovenia are jointly working on this task. In addition, the concrete project and cooperation proposals discussed at the seminar have to be qualified before the work of planning and, in particular, mobilizing external funds can begin.

ISCA members UFOLEP (France), DGI (Denmark) and FIAF (Italy) were also represented at the meeting to express their interest in bilateral cooperation with the organizations in the region.

If you are interested in further information, please contact Hanne Müller.