Sporting bodies launch Global Design Challenge for Sport and Physical Activity during and after Covid-19

Teams that are successful at pitching stage will be provided with an opportunity to incubate and develop their idea

Ireland’s leading sporting organisations have come together with global partners including the International Sport and Culture Organisation (ISCA), The Association for International Sport for All (TAFISA), TACTHUB, APO Group, The Rugby Site, Sport for Life Canada, PHE Canada, EUPEA, CEREPS, AIESEP, UNESCO Chair for Physical Activity and Health in Educational Settings (University of Basel, Switzerland), and UNESCO Chair in Inclusive Sport, (IT Tralee, Ireland), with the support of UNESCO and Devpost, to launch a global challenge (Global-Design-Challenge.devpost.com) aimed at reimagining sport and physical activity during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.

UCC Sport, Sport Ireland, Federation of Irish Sport, Cappanlea National Centre for Outdoor Education and Training, Cork Local Sports Partnership and their global partners are looking for the best ideas on how sport and physical activity can survive and thrive in a world radically changed by the experience of pandemic.

We are seeing empty football stadiums, matches taking place behind closed doors, and sports clubs of all kinds restricting access. Social distancing restrictions are making training different and changing the nature of participation in sport. At the same time people are more conscious than ever of the need to stay physically active and the contribution of sport and physical activity to health and wellbeing.

This ‘free to enter’ global challenge is designed to address the question:

How might we sustainably redesign sport and physical activity for children and families, the young and the not-so-young, for participants, spectators, fans and community groups, so that it is inclusive, accessible, attainable – and fun! – during the pandemic and afterwards?

Proposals may be targeted at specific age groups or ability levels, at the different ways in which people interact with sports and physical activities and at how space is used in sport and physical activity.

The Global Design Challenge for Sport and Physical Activity will take place over the weekend of 26th – 28th June 2020

The Global Design Challenge for Sport and Physical Activity will take place over the weekend of 26th – 28th June 2020, with teams asked to submit ideas online to Devpost at bit.ly/3erYLok

The Global Design Challenge is set in the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals following the policy framework enshrined in the Kazan Action Plan (2017):

Developing a comprehensive vision of inclusive access for all to sport, physical education and physical activity
Maximising the contributions of sport to sustainable development and peace
Protecting the integrity of sport bit.ly/2Yn3bHB

Teams will be invited to indicate how their projects are relevant to these goals.

The Global Design Challenge will promote the principles of Design Thinking and teams will receive support in the form of a free Workshop on Design Thinking by internationally recognised expert, Dr Fiona Chambers of University College Cork, Ireland.

To help them prepare their proposals, teams will be provided with video-making resources created by Judie Russell of The Vidacademy.

Teams that are successful at pitching stage will be provided with an opportunity to incubate and develop their idea. All the entries submitted will be visible to the organisers, who may initiate interaction with any team to explore the possibility of developing their idea.

For further information see: bit.ly/2YlzHtn

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Global Design Challenge for Sport and Physical Activity.