Mapping of Sports Facilities
The Council of Europe's Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) and the Mulier Instituut are organising a series of three online meetings on the Mapping of Sports Facilities.
Each meeting revolves around a different topic and brings together experts in the field, including sports organisations, NGOs, academics and representatives of the European Union and the Council of Europe.
These meetings aim to enrich the work of EPAS on the topics in question by gathering different ideas and points of view from the sports world and beyond.
Meeting 1 - Insights into changing patterns in facility use during the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the use of sports facilities across Europe, as attested by a study commissioned by EPAS amongst others.
The ripple effects of this continue to be felt by sports facilities across Europe. In this context, EPAS and the Mulier Instituut hosted a first online meeting on the issue on 14 December 2021.
Objectives:
- Gain insights into changing patterns in facility use during the COVID-19 pandemic;
- Bring together researchers and national level policymaking experts to identify solutions to minimise the negative impact in behavioural patterns by identifying the barriers to a return to normality and proposing strategies to ensure that such a situation does not occur in the same manner again.
Report and agenda
Meeting 2 - Sustainability
Sustainability is a key area flagged up in the revised European Sports Charter and falls under “sports ethics”, which includes respect for human rights and sustainability (Article 7). Article 9 of the Charter sets forth the wide parameter covered by sustainability.
The second meeting on the mapping of sports facilities focused on sustainability in a wide sense, but with a particular focus on environmental sustainability in relation to sports facilities.
The meeting took place on 5 July 2022.
Objectives:
- Gain insights into current sustainability measures in sports facilities;
- Bring together researchers and national level policy-making experts to identify solutions to explore how to maximise sustainability measures in or related to sports facilities across Europe and at national level.
EPAS reports on "Social sustainability of major sports events"
Meeting 3 - Insights into financing of sport facilities
In most countries the funding of sports facilities takes up most of the sport budget. Insight into different ways of financing sports facilities is therefore of vital relevance. The question as to how to fund and run sports facilities in a cost-effective manner is becoming even more prominent with rising costs (e.g. due to the energy crisis).
In this context, EPAS and the Mulier Instituut hosted on 13 December 2022 a third meeting on the mapping of sports facilities directly pertaining to this issue of the financing of sport facilities.
Objectives:
- Gain insights into different ways of financing sport facilities;
- Gain insights into different modes of operations for sport facilities and its relation with the costs to run a sport facility;
- Gain insights into the social return on investment or societal value of sport facilities;
- Bring together researchers and national level policy-making experts to identify solutions to keep sport facilities affordable for all groups in society.
@CoE_Sports, #CoE4Sport
For more information please send us an email at sport.epas[at]coe.int
Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport
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