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Over the last two decades, the sport for development (SFD) sector has grown significantly, and there has been a concurrent increase in research and educational activities to support the field. In particular, academic institutions are taking a more significant role, contributing to a growing body of literature and developing numerous SFD-specific courses. Despite these initiatives and the important role assigned to academia, academic activities related to SFD have remained fragmented along geographic or disciplinary lines, and our knowledge of academic activities and collaborations is limited and focused on actors in the Global North. This study seeks to address these gaps and, through an international survey of academic institutions, aims to (1) establish the teaching, research and partnership activities within and between academic institutions around the globe; and (2) identify challenges and inform solutions for greater cooperation within and between academic institutions in the SFD context. Overall, our results show that the SFD is a highly multidisciplinary field involving institutions from a perhaps wider-than-expected range of countries. However, funding, support and recognition of SFD and associated academic actors, especially in the Global South, remains limited. To conclude, we propose potential ways forward to address some of these issues.

Sport for development (SFD) has become an increasingly well-defined field of academic inquiry, and numerous related theories have emerged. Existing theories have however been critcised for their lack of interdisciplinary engagement, lack of connection to specific outcome areas and challenges translating to practice. These issues are especially evident concerning the linkages between sport and social cohesion. Sport has been prominently positioned as a vehicle to promote social cohesion, yet the term remains vaguely defined and programme practices are underreported. The following paper seeks to address this by presenting a conceptual framework linking common practices, mechanisms and social cohesion outcomes. Findings from literature and previous work are contextualised against existing theories, allowing practices to be connected to mechanisms and specific social cohesion outcomes. In turn, this framework can help provide practical guidance to implementers, support programme design, and identify areas for future development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade, the field of sport for development (SFD) has continued its impressive growth, including as it relates to academic output. This output, however, has not come without criticism. In particular, concerns have been raised about the quality of evidence presented, the dominance of the Global North within SFD research, and the apparent lack of transdisciplinary cooperation in the field. In the following, we take a specific interest in the last two points and use a bibliometric analysis of SFD literature to identify authorship, disciplinary and thematic patterns within this work. Overall, our results show that SFD is still a highly Northern-led field and this is reinforced by several small, highly productive, self-referential authorship consortia. In light of this, we critically assess these trends and reiterate a number of recommendations to enhance disciplinary and international collaboration in SFD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation remains a critical concern across Europe, including within the sphere of youth sports. Research has shown that youth sports can be a fertile environment for discrimination and bullying and that coaches play a key role in preventing or mitigating discriminatory situations. Given the crucial role of coaches, it is therefore important to build our understanding of the experiences, perspectives, and needs of those coaches concerning discrimination in sports. Against this background, this paper presents the results of an applied survey of 174 European youth sport coaches conducted as part of the INCLUDE project. In particular, this survey focuses on the experiences of coaches when witnessing and reporting discrimination, as well as their perspectives on what needs to be done in the policy and educational areas to combat issues of discrimination. Results show that 25% of coaches witness discrimination on a monthly basis and that fans or spectators are perceived as the most common perpetrators. To combat the issues, coaches report a need for greater policy support, funding, training, and awareness raising. To conclude, we discuss the practical, policy, and research implications of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sport for development (SFD) initiatives have faced numerous criticisms around the focus on individual-level (micro) outcomes and lack of integration at the community (meso) and structural (macro) levels. As a result, there is growing recognition that programmes need to find ways to work with and engage a wide range of community members and stakeholders through more inclusive, participatory approaches. One such approach is known as Living Labs. In the following conceptual article, we present the Sport and Social Cohesion Lab (SSCL) project, which implemented a Living Lab approach in various sport-based programmes from four different European countries. The main components of the Living Lab framework are presented, and practical insights are derived from the project. In addition, the unique and sometimes critical role of sport is reflected upon in relation to the Living Lab context. Through this, this article provides practitioners and academics with potential building blocks to implement Living Labs and/or embed participatory approaches in sport and physical activity contexts and social settings more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 16th European Network of Sport Education (ENSE) Forum was held in Rome, Italy at the University of Rome 'Foro Italico' on 21 and 22 September 2023. The Forum was organised under the theme Sport Education for Sustainable Development: The Euro-Med Perspective and featured presentations and input from over 40 researchers, officials and policymakers. In this report, we highlight the key themes addressed at the Forum and highlight some of the notable contributions at the event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sport for development (SFD) field has grown significantly, and there has been increasing professionalization within the sector. E-learning tools, in particular, have increasingly been deployed to provide education opportunities within the field. Despite this, little is known about the delivery, content or pedagogical approaches within e-learning connecting sport and sustainable development. Against this backdrop, this paper provides an initial mapping of existing online courses connecting sport and sustainable development. To do so, we conduct a systematic search using two online resources and map out the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and pedagogical approaches present within courses. Our results show that courses are primarily self-paced, asynchronous offers that focus on health, inequality and peacebuilding. Furthermore, offers mainly rely on the motivation and resources of individuals and organizations to complete courses and provide limited technical or social support. To conclude, we propose ways for courses to provide more engaging and inclusive experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Violence and maltreatment in sport threaten athlete rights and undermine sport's potential contribution to positive social development. This problem remains prevalent in organised sport and limits sport's potential social contribution. In response, numerous European and international actors have pursued activities to address this serious issue. In particular, for more than two decades, the Council of Europe (CoE) has played an active role in promoting and supporting safeguarding policy in sport. However, though extensive time and resources have been invested in these actions, their extent and impact remain unclear. Therefore, using the Council of Europe's Start to Talk initiative as a case, we aim to analyse the inputs, activities, and policy outcomes of their work around safeguarding policy in sport. In turn, this will allow us to identify successes, challenges and future directions for European policy activities. We rely on document analysis and more than 20 semi-structured qualitative interviews with national and international experts to generate our results. Based on this, we find that the CoE has helped politically legitimise action on this topic and has helped generate engagement with policymakers and the public. However, a broader lack of policy monitoring, especially at the systems and target population levels, restricts further progress and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within Botswana, there has long been a narrative that the Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC) and the Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) have been at odds. For more than two decades, both organisations have been engaged in a rivalry that has hindered sport in the country. This commentary highlights the challenges posed by this conflict and makes a case for a merger. Policy remains poorly coordinated, and many programmes are hindered due to the relationship between the BNOC and BNSC. In short, the continued separation of both organisations has ultimately led to overlap, competition, and obstruction. Though there are inherent financial and human risks associated with any merger, I argue that the current downsides outweigh the risks and that there is a strong case for the merger of Botswana's two main sporting bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Joining the Olympic Movement provides smaller countries with material and symbolic benefits. The Olympic Games represent a unique symbolic stage for national recognition and identity construction. Resource-poor countries can also access sport development funding programmes. However, participation in the international sport system comes at the price of a 'coercive policy transfer'. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) requires countries to subscribe to a western sport system that includes 'sports autonomy' as a key governance principle, which restricts the discretion of national governments. Previous scholarship suggests that coercive policy transfers can create institutional and policy misfits, which inspire translation and customisation on behalf of the receiving countries. The current paper investigates the interactions between public authorities and the National Olympic Committee of Botswana, which has been imposed by the IOC as an autonomous organisation. The study of three policy processes suggests that the interactions between the National Olympic Committee and governmental authorities are shaped by a persistent institutional misfit and organisational rivalries, which are only manageable because all actors in Botswana sport policy-making share a common interest in increasing national sporting success. At the same time, it is hard to assess to what extent the coercive policy transfer has improved policy development and implementation in Botswana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been growing efforts to harness sport to tackle social issues and promote development. Social cohesion is arguably the most prominent objective of these activities. However, social cohesion remains a contested concept subject to many definitions, and we do not have a clear picture of how social cohesion is defined or supported in sport programmes or organizations. This makes it difficult to identify successful approaches, develop measurements and build theories. To begin addressing these gaps, we have conducted a systematic scoping review, leading to an analysis of 35 studies exploring sport for social cohesion. Overall, we find that the literature fails to consistently define social cohesion, though it tends to coalesce around a set of core dimensions. Likewise, programme elements are inconsistently reported. Moving forward, we call on researchers to clearly define social cohesion and explore its sub-dimensions in more depth, which, in turn, can foster greater theoretical development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With more transition or developing economies hosting major sports events (MSE), it is increasingly relevant to research how they can impact sport organisations' capacity in such environments. Using the Gaborone 2014 African Youth Games (AYG) as its research setting, the goal of this paper is to investigate how hosting a MSE can impact the perceived organisational capacity of sporting organisations within the context of a developing or transition economy. Data were gathered through 13 semi-structured interviews. Results are deductively coded and presented according to Hall et al.'s (2003) conceptualisation of organisational capacity. Results show that individuals perceived positive capacity outcomes related to skill development, international relationships and, in some instances, material resources. Conversely, adverse outcomes included lack of opportunities to apply new skills, strained relationships, and unmet financial expectations. Moreover, the findings reveal that the AYG generated similar capacity outcomes as other MSEs, but that the relative impact of those outcomes may differ. The findings re-emphasise the need for hosts to engage in strategic management to maximise positive capacity outcomes. Researchers are encouraged to investigate the impact of MSEs on sport organisations using multiple methods and settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]