Sport contributes to people’s health and happiness, breaking down barriers and building trust and community spirit. Sport constitutes a major vector of transmission of education and values, in particular for young people. Nevertheless, sport faces major challenges globally from doping, match fixing and dangerous stadiums to abuse of young athletes and discrimination.

The training course aims at providing young people active or engaged in sports in different ways, including athletes, coaches and representatives of sports associations and civil society organisations, with a better understanding of how the world of sport can become more responsible, respectful of human rights, safe, inclusive and ethical for all those who may be affected and impacted by sporting activities and events.

The training is open to young people aged between 18 and 30 years old from Council of Europe member States as well as from Africa and the Middle East (with priority given to North-South Centre member states. Participants are based on the quality of the applications. Priority is given to candidates active in civil society or youth-related organisations with the potential to act as multipliers.

Participants must be aged from eighteen to thirty years old, able to work in the language of the course selected. Selection will be carried out by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe, ensuring gender and geographical balance. The Council of Europe encourages applications from all eligible candidates, in line with its commitment to diversity, equality and non-discrimination.

Participants who successfully complete this HEY course will have the opportunity to apply for the Trainings of Tutors (ToT) to become certified HEY tutors. In 2026, two ToTs are planned in the framework of the Summer Youth Universities. Other networking and participation opportunities will also be available.

The methodological framework of the course is based on the HELP programme and the Global Education Guidelines by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe. Participants’ learning process is focused on the CoE Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (RFCDC). Through a non-formal learning approach, collaborative and interactive activities and exercises allow participants to contribute to their own learning process. The training course is fully online, hosted on HEY Programme e-learning platform. Two tutors accompany participants during the 4-week activity providing feedback, moderating discussion, giving inputs, and promoting further reflections on the main topics of the training.