Good Governance in elite and professional sport would typically address challenges such as corruption, match fixing, doping, excessive salaries, etc.

ISCA claims that Good Governance is equally important for grassroots sport. If grassroots sport organisations are not governed in an appropriate and legitimate way, they will not only lose their reputation, but also credibility, societal legitimacy, membership and public financial support. Grassroots sport is most often based on small, local sport clubs relying heavily on voluntary work, and thus we need to address crucial issues regarding the financial stability and the relations to public authorities. This is the starting point for the Good Governance in Grassroots Sport project. The project runs from December 2011 to March 2013, and is supported with 200.000 Euros by the European Commission Sport Unit as part of their Preparatory Actions in Sport.

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ISCA President Mogens Kirkeby will join the Friends of Europe round table 'Encouraging healthy eating and active living in the family setting' organised as part the Social Europe programme, taking place the 1-2 December 2011 in Brussels. Representatives from academia, civil society and European and international institutions will debate the challenges and opportunities of the family setting for promoting health through better diets and more physical activity whilst aiming to understand the context of modern European family lives and its influence on health behaviours. The roundable features among others:

- Roberto Bertollini, Chief Scientist and WHO Representative to the EU

- Kirsten Davison, Associate Professor of Nutrition and of Society, Harvard School of Public Health

- Despina Spanou, Principal Adviser, European Commission Directorate General for Health and Consumers

- Robert Manchin, Chairman and Managing Director, Gallup Europe

- Paul Estabrooks, Professor of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise at Virginiatech University, United States

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As part of the MOVE project ISCA is inviting organizations working in diverse fields such as health, physical activity and sport, citizenship, urban planning and others to submit descriptions of their own physical activity projects and initiatives aimed at socially disadvantaged groups, in particular youth, girls and women, seniors, ethnic minorities and immigrants. Your participation in the MOVE collection of project experiences is not only much appreciated, it also involves several tangible benefits to the contributing organizations.

Read more about the questionnaire >>>.

On behalf of the Danish Presidency of the European Union, ISCA is delighted to invite you to its ambitious and wide-ranging conference addressing the most pressing challenges in Sport for All.

The conference will be your opportunity to benefit from state-of-the-art examples of promotion of volunteering in sport for all, novel initiatives in the fight against fitness doping, creative samples on financing and health in sport for all, high-level political debate and agenda-setting, and excellent networking and partnership opportunities, and unique study tours.

The European SPORTVISION2012 Conference will address the present challenges in Sport for All through a varied programme that will allow us to ask the difficult and critical questions and to explore answers and solutions.

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The SPORTVISION2012 Conference Consortium invites you to submit a Fair presentation for the “SPORTVISION2012 – OPEN MARKET and POSTER FAIR”. This is your chance to set the spotlight on your project, become an active contributor and to assist developing SPORTVISION2012 into a rich and diverse event.
 
The OPEN MARKET and POSTER FAIR is an open exhibition showcasing one or more of the SPORTVISION2012 thematic fields as good examples. The exhibition will run throughout the conference with the possibility for presenters to share their project/programs/activities or/and research-based presentations during the coffee breaks and lunch on 19th and 20th of March 2012.

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ISCA is delighted to present the EuroVolNet magazine as a special issue of the scientific journal developed  in partnership with the Sport and Citizenship, partners of the EuroVolNet project and with the support of the European Commission. 'Volunteering in sport: trends, opportunities and challenges' provides answers on: What is at stake in Europe when dealing with volunteering? Can we imagine a European status for volunteers? How to recruit and further support volunteers? What is the social and economic impact of volunteering?

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The EuroVolNet brochure is a common product of ISCA and EuroVolNet partners dedicated to volunteering. It includes European facts on volunteering, opportunities and challenges for volunteering in sport and 'volunteers cards' dedicated to volunteers in sport.

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ISCA is part of the NGO coalition for the European Year of Active Ageing 2012, and has contributed key elements on physical activity and health to the manifesto of the coalition. The manifesto foresees the design of new ways for organising our societies, where everyone is empowered to play an active part in their community assuring, thereby, a sustainable future in Europe. AGE and the Coalition of stakeholders believe that it is crucial for EU to promote a society for all ages with equal rights and opportunities enabling the active participation and solidarity between generations in response to demographic change and aging of population. The Manifesto underlines this ambition deserves the support of the EU, national, regional and local actors to reach the objective of an Age- friendly EU by 2020.

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At the occasion of ISCA’s General Assembly 2011, ISCA’s Annual Report 2011 has been officially released.

The report provides a comprehensive insight to ISCA’s work, both with respect to political priorities, achievements and the numerous international projects that have been implemented throughout the past year. Furthermore, the report features the President’s address and financial pointers regarding the organisation’s financial development.

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International Roma Integration through Sport is a transnational project fighting traditional and new anti-Roma stereotypes, whose persistence and diffusion are at the roots of discriminatory actions against Roma people. ISCA is a partner in the IRIS project.

The IRIS partners meeting in Plovdiv, Bulgaria 10-11.11.2011 gathered together 8 partners to discuss project progress and an action plan for 2012. The project was officially launched on 21.02.2011 in Italy during the kick off meeting hosted by the leading partner UISP Settimo Ciriè.

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The MOVE 2011 has been a great success and me are glad to remind you that the presentations, photos and videos are available at the MOVE2011 website.  So if you haven’t had the chance to join us in Paris have a look at the sections below:

• To see all PRESENTATIONS, click on the following link :
  http://www.move2011.info/presentations/presentations

• To see all PHOTOS, click on the following link :
  http://www.move2011.info/presentations/photos

• To see all VIDEOS, click on the following link :
  http://www.move2011.info/presentations/videos

The Lithuanian Country Sport and Culture Association NEMUNAS celebrates its 20 years anniversary as Lithuanian umbrella association for sport and culture.

NEMUNAS organizes 70 sport and culture events during the year in partnership with its 161 members. The members of NEMUNAS are primarily sport clubs, schools and municipalities.

At the 20^th anniversary general assembly the 28^th October in Alanta, Mr Vytautas Grušauskas was elected as President and Mr Kestutis Levickis was elected as chairman of the Board of NEMUNAS.

The Lithuanian Country Sport and Culture Association NEMUNAS was one of ISCA’s founding members.

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Erasmus for All, the new EU programme for education, training, youth and sport proposed by the European Commission, foresees €238 million funding for European cooperation in sport between 2014 and 2020. This means an average of €34 million per year during seven years.

Support will be given to transnational projects involving two or more partners, non-commercial European sport events of major importance, strengthening the evidence base for policy making in sport and capacity building in sport. Beneficiaries will be public bodies and civil society organisations active in grassroots sport. The support should help Member States and sport organisations implementing guidelines and recommendations in areas such as good governance, dual careers, participation in sport and physical activity. The seven-year Erasmus for All programme is due to start in 2014.

'Investing in education, training and sport is the best investment we can make for Europe's future. Investing in transnational activities that strengthen grassroots sport in Europe can make an important contribution. The new programme will fund valuable European sport projects and contribute to the development of non-commercial sport organisations' said Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth.

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A new research network called MEASURE will focus on sport participation. MEASURE stands for Meeting for European Sport Participation and Sport Culture Research and this network will contribute to the understanding of the differences in sport participation in Europe from a sport policy perspective.

Researchers from the MEASURE network just published the report; Understanding the Game, Sport Participation in Europe – facts, reflections and recommendations. This report give an overview over sport participation in Europe.

“We welcome initiatives as the MEASURE project. The sport sector is unfortunately still influenced by a lot of myths and outdated data. To meet the future societal needs and demands to the sport and physical activity sector, we have to be innovative and to take qualified political decisions. A good starting point for such innovation and political decisions is genuine data”,  says ISCA Europe Chairman Filippo Fossati.

The MEASURE network is initiated in by Koen Breedveld and Remco Hoekman of the Mulier Institute in Belgium and Jeroen Scheerder of the K.U.Leuven, from the Netherlands.

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The volunteers take a certified spanish course and work as sport instructors with Tierra de Tod@s, a local association operating in the Peruvian capital. TIERRA DE TOD@S offer low cost Spanish courses and worthwhile and beneficial voluntary placements in disfavored neighborhoods and schools in Lima.

This program is open for people who wants to make a positive change in the lives of children and youth. We all the employers are local people, thus ensuring we have a positive impact on the community. Our ethos encompasses mutual respect, cultural exchange, responsible travel and a beneficial outcome for all.

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