ENGSO’s participation in the “Let’s be better” conference in Espoo, Finland
On September 19th, the Finlands Svenska Idrott (Swedish Sport Organisation in Finland) and the National Council of Women in Finland co-organised a seminar on "Changing the culture of sport".
The hosts put together an ambitious and dynamic programme about “Leadership, diversity and gender in sport”, which provided valuable insights and concrete tips to continue the work toward diversity and inclusion in sport.
During the panel on “Modern leadership”, ENGSO President Stefan Bergh was invited to share his experience and opinion about the leadership of today and tomorrow, along with Henrika Backlung, Secretary General of Finlands Svenska Idrott, and Sari Rautio, President of the Finnish Paralympic Committee.
Sarah Townsend, EWS member and co-president of the European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation (EGLSF) discussed transgender participation in sport with Gabriel Airaksinen and former athlete Alex Oksanen after the brilliant contribution of Joanna Harper, researcher in transgender in sports and adviser to the IOC.
The other topics covered were safeguarding and media coverage. The closing words were shared by Birgitta Kervinen, ENGSO honorary President and Terhi Heinilä, member of the EU High Level Group on Gender Equality 2021-2022.
EWS Chair Sallie Barker, EWS Vice-Chair Tarja Krum, Sarah Townsend and ENGSO Project and Equality Officer Floriane Poncet-Rief, stayed in Espoo to discuss and revise the EWS 2023 activities, already looking ahead to next year’s work plan.