As France will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (FPEU) from 1 January 2022, it intends to boost the sports sector at EU level. In this context, The Presidency is committed to organising the conference “Sport and sustainable development objectives in childhood: the societal challenges of adapted sport practice” on 7 and 8 February. This event, which will be accessible online but will bring together all the speakers at UNESCO headquarters, will be of great interest to ENOS, which will also take the opportunity to present its BOSS project.

EUFP: what is it?

The Council of the European Union is an essential decision-making body for the European Union (EU) – notably in the context of adopting legislative acts, coordinating internal policies or concluding international agreements – and is presided over every six months by one of the Union’s Member States. This system of rotating presidency is a way of leaving it up to each country, throughout the six months, to work out compromises, issue conclusions and ensure the coherence and continuity of the decision-making processes undertaken. It also offers the possibility of organising meetings bringing together experts, stakeholders and European decision-makers on broad themes.

In this sense, the French State, holding the presidency from January to June 2022 – EUFP for French Presidency of the European Union -, is organising its first conference on sport on 7 and 8 February

A conference that promises to be particularly rich in information

Entitled “Sport and sustainable development objectives in childhood: the societal challenges of adapted sports practice”, this event will be an opportunity to examine the benefits of sports practice adapted to the various stages of children’s development as well as the role it can play in learning to live in society. In addition to questioning the activities to be favoured for the physical, cognitive and social development of the youngest children, the aim will be to report on their contribution to the achievement of the objectives of sustainable development: for example, how can awareness of the challenges of sustainable development be better integrated? What are the levers for action in this area at European level?

These are all subjects addressed by the ENOS network. It is therefore not surprising that the organisation’s president, Mike McClure, was invited to speak at this conference.

ENOS invited to present the BOSS project

The conference will be an opportunity to look back at the BOSS project – for Benefits of Outdoor Sports for Society – carried out by members of the ENOS network from 2016 to 2019. The principle? To create, at European level, a mechanism to concretely measure the social benefits of nature sports in economic terms.  An effective way of monetising the added value of outdoor activities and reporting on their real contribution to society, at all levels. 

So, if you want to know more and discover other European projects just as exciting, don’t miss this conference and register now!