ENGSO Member OPES Italia hosts a Training Course on Advocacy, Equality, and Human Rights in Sport
The training course, hosted by ENGSO member OPES Italia, took place on 8-9 May in Rome, Italy. The event revolved around the topic of advocacy, equality and human rights in sport, and focused on raising awareness and educating participants how to use advocacy action to improve the state of sport, equality and human rights in and through sport in Europe.
Training Course on Advocacy, Equality, and Human Rights in Sport was held within the Sport4CERV programme, co-funded by the European Union CERV funding, and its 2025 Sport Equality action plan. This year, the programme aims to improve equality, human rights and democratic values within the European grassroots voluntary based sport movement with a long term goal to strengthen and unite communities in Europe.
The training course brought together 20 representatives of ENGSO member organisations, Committees and staff. Under the leadership of EU Advisory (EUAC) Committee Chair Theo Neyenhuis, EUAC Member Kaisa Larjomaa and ENGSO Secretary General Sara Massini, the participants worked on developing advocacy plans and strategies for leading advocacy campaigns and programmes for their organisations.
The first part of the training focused on the tools and techniques of advocacy, while the second part explored the EU’s decision-making processes. Once participants had gained a general understanding, they were invited to design their own advocacy plans promoting equality and human rights in sport.
The training ultimately addressed key topics such as inclusion and equality in sport, improved access to sports education for all, and the importance of high-quality training in and through sport. This included recognising the skills and competencies developed through sport by the diverse groups engaged in sport for all.
Participants will go on to use the advocacy plans created during the training to either integrate them into their national advocacy efforts or to collaborate closely with ENGSO in developing further campaigns to promote equality and human rights in grassroots sport.