• Education – Children’s Gymnastics and Youth Sports – Ph. D. Don Sabo, Research Director for the Women’s Sports Foundation
• Health – Health Promotion – Prof. Dr. Walter Brehm, University of Bayreuth
• Integration and Migration – Gymnastics and Sports with and for Immigrants – Dr. Tess Kay, Loughborough University

Click here, to see the official Turnfest 2009 trailer.

ISCA member UISP (Italy) is implementing several initiatives during the World Social Forum, to be held in Belém, Brasil, from January 27 to February 1, 2009.  These initiatives will fall under the themes of ‘Sport for All’ and ‘Sport and Development.’ The activities include:

• ‘open for all’ non-structured and self-organised sport activities such as volleyball.
• ‘Run for Rights and Solidarity’ a run of approximately 6km and which goes through several parts of Belém.
• ‘Sport Against Discrimination Workshop’

The Run For Rights activity is organised by UISP in cooperation with ISCA member SESC, Office of Sport and Loisir of Parà, World Social Forum organisers and supported by ARCI, the Italian Coordination FSE – FSM and the Region Tuscany.  More information about UISP activities at the World Social Forum can be found here.

The Italian Sport for all Association (UISP) promotes a common reflection on the importance of sport in promoting rights and equal opportunity for all to practice sport, and how much sport can intervene in the policies of Welfare to improve the lifestyles of all the citizens. The final goal is to create models of good practice where it is possible to talk about sport and rights for all citizens.

Jean-Luc Frast, ISCA Programme Officer, has been selected to become a member on the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe.  He will be a member for the period 2009-2011.

The nomination of Jean-Luc Frast was supported by ISCA President Mogens Kirkeby.  Kirkeby states “ISCA has developed a strong reputation as a reliable and operative partner in the youth sector.  Jean-Luc has facilitated this rapid development and will be an excellent contributor to the Advisory Council.”

The Council of Europe Directorate of Youth and Sport received fifty applications for the ten places available. The selection process for the candidates proposed by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to the Committee of Ministers was based on established criteria, bearing in mind the need to respect a balance between organisations and networks active in the priority fields of the youth sector for the coming year, geography, and the renewal of some seats.

At their meeting, held on 21 January 2009, the Ministers' Deputies of the Council of Europe designated the members of the Advisory Council for the aforementioned period and Jean-Luc Frast was included in the final list.

More information about the ISCA Youth programme can be seen here. 

• 13 twinning meetings in Slovenia, Denmark, France and Italy
• participation on the PATHE Seminar 2008
• preparation of the PATHE materials: PATHE leaflet, PATHE pamphlet and draft for PATHE Handbook

The last few years has seen the merge of three major sport organizations in the Netherlands. The Nederlandse Sport Alliantie (NSA) is the new national umbrella organization which provides services for Dutch organizations NKS, NCSU, and NCS. A recent meeting between ISCA and NSA revealed how NSA is using sport as a tool for social change.  The primary work areas of NSA include:

• Sport and Respect
• Integration/Asylym seekers
• Community Development (school clubs, community clubs, etc.)
• Sport and Homosexuality (sensitization campaigns/projects)
• Sport and Development a) in Netherlands b) external countries
• Volunteerism
• Health (including Seniors)

You can learn more about NSA at www.sportalliante.nl.

SESC São Paulo presents the 14 edition of SESC Summercampaign, organizing physical and sportive activities to enhance the personaldevelopment. This year’s program will be based on the theory of MultipleIntelligences developed by the American Psychologist Howard Gardner circling aroundKinesthetic Intelligence, Verbal and Linguistic Intelligence, MusicalIntelligence, Logical-Mathematic Intelligence, Spatial Intelligence, Interpersonaland Intrapersonal Intelligence and finally Environmental Intelligence.

The program also emphasizes the democratization of physicaland sportive activity and stimulates the integration, giving priority toaspects of cooperation and socialization for the development of citizenship andsocial inclusion.

SESC SUMMER 2009 takes place in all branches of SESC,in the capital and cities of São Paulo State. Around 1.2 million people areexpected to use this exceptional offer.

According to Danilo Santos de Miranda, Regional Director ofSESC São Paulo, “a program of such nature demonstrates the importance of sportas an asset accessible to everyone as part of the formation of citizenship”.Miranda adds, “at SESC branches, sport creates its relationships with thecultural and the social as important tool to improve education, health andsocial insertion”.

You want to know more about this fantastic event, get in contact with ISCA's Latin American office at iscala@sescsp.org.br.