ISCA is partnering in a brand new Erasmus+ Sport project led by our Grassroots Sport Diplomacy partner the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS) to work towards a common framework of EU Sport Diplomacy. The ‘Towards a European Sport Diplomacy (TES-D)’ project was launched on 27 January 2021 at an online kick-off meeting. The two-year project is set to build on ISCA’s Grassroots Sport Diplomacy concept by exploring sport diplomacy at a community sport level, an academic level and at a political level in the EU and beyond.

In addition to IRIS and ISCA, six universities are taking part in the project: Edge Hill University (United Kingdom), the National University of Physical Education of Sports (Romania), SOAS University of London (United Kingdom), the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Italy), the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium), and the University Carlos III of Madrid (Spain).

As the nexus between sport and diplomacy has gained strategic significance within the EU, TES-D aims to develop a set of policy recommendations to establishment a common concept of sport diplomacy at the EU level by adopting a multi-disciplinary approach and building upon existing foundations. It intends to build a network of relevant stakeholders while developing pilot actions in order to assess the feasibility and sustainability of an EU sport diplomacy policy, in addition to conducting empirical research on the very concept of sport diplomacy and existing sport diplomacies within all 27 members of the European Union.

TES-D has the ambition to implement concrete policies and enable long-term dialogue among key stakeholders – such as policy makers, diplomats, academics, sports organisations, athletes – interested in the strategic challenges created by sport and diplomacy within the EU.

Towards a European Sport Diplomacy is co-funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ Sport Collaborative Partnerships programme.

Follow TES-D on Twitter with #EUSportDiplomacy #TESDiplo

https://www.tes-diplomacy.org/ 

Adapted from official press release from IRIS