Sport for Health Conference, Doha, Qatar, 4–6 October 2022: summary report

Summary report Sport for H ealth Conferen ce Doha, Qat ar, 4–6 Oc tober 2022 Sport for Health Conference, Doha, Qatar, 4–6 October 2022: summary report ISBN 978-92-4-007640-2 (electronic version) ISBN 978-92-4-007641-9 (print version) © World Health Organization 2023 Some rights reserved. This work is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO licence (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo). Under the terms of this licence, you may copy, redistribute and adapt the work for non- commercial purposes, provided the work is appropriately cited, as indicated below. In any use of this work, there should be no suggestion that WHO endorses any specific organization, products or services. The use of the WHO logo is not permitted. If you adapt the work, then you must license your work under the same or equivalent Creative Commons licence. 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Design: Eddy Hill Design ii iiiSport for Health Conference, Doha, Qatar, 4–6 October 2022: summary report Acknowledgements iv Executive summary 1 Introduction 2 Overview of keynote addresses 4 Scientific session 1: Strengthening community and grassroots sport 8 Scientific session 2: Sport mega event legacy in relation to participation in sport and physical activity 12 Scientific session 3: Scaling delivery and measuring impact of sports events 16 Closing session: Reflections and what next? 22 Contents ii iiiContents The World Health Organization (WHO) would like to thank the World Innovation Summit for Health 2022 for providing the opportunity to convene the Sport for Health Conference and the 4th Annual Meeting of Football is Medicine at the summit. WHO is grateful to the Sport for Health Conference organizers and to all the delegates, both in-person and online, for their hard work and dedication to making the conference a success. Special thanks are extended to the Qatar Ministry of Public Health for its support in hosting the conference, and to WHO’s partner organization, Generation Amazing Foundation, for its support. Thanks also to the Football is Medicine leadership and delegation – both in-person and online – for incorporating the 4th Annual Meeting into the conference in the context of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM. And finally, we would like to thank all the speakers for sharing their knowledge and expertise. This report summarizes the presentations made and summary of the keynotes reflect the views of the speakers and not necessarily the views of the organizations. Further information on the programme is available here: https://2022.wish.org.qa/sport-for-health-conference Acknowledgements iv 1Sport for Health Conference, Doha, Qatar, 4–6 October 2022: summary report The first Sport for Health Conference, hosted by WHO, the Qatar Ministry of Public Health and Generation Amazing Foundation in Qatar, took place in Doha in October 2022. It provided an opportunity for global sport and health experts, scientists and policy-makers to share their knowledge of the legacies associated with sport mega events, and the impact of such legacies on increasing participation in sport and physical activity to improve health and well-being. Regular physical activity and sport can make a powerful impact on the physical, mental and social health of all people. Physical activity is a well-established contributor to the prevention of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), and participation in such activity promotes positive mental well-being. Sport is also recognised as a contributor to building lasting friendships, community cohesion, and peace and development. Mega sports events such as the Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup™, and other world championship events in different sports can have a long-lasting impact. The legacy of an event is a vital consideration and ambition for host countries, policy-makers and event organizers, as its impact can transform people, communities and economies. Experts and speakers at the Sport for Health Conference were drawn from the Commonwealth Secretariat, the International Olympic Committee, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, as well as representatives from sports including golf, cycling, football and rugby. The forum discussed key challenges to legacy planning and delivery, and the relationship between community sport programmes and health at a local level. Executive summary 1. Strengthen partnerships between sport and health sectors to create sustainable, community-wide impact through sport mega event legacy. 2. Build capacity and strengthen skills for planning, delivering and evaluating sport mega event legacy. 3. Share experiences, identify key challenges and valuable lessons in relation to sport mega event legacy, through follow up meetings and forums. 4. Develop and build consensus on common indicators of sport mega event legacy. 5. Invest in building evidence on the impact of sport mega event legacy on physical activity and health. Presentations and panel discussions that examined the key issues in addressing the challenges of promoting Sport for Health and healthy legacies culminated in a set of actions that should be taken going forward: iv 1Executive Summary Sport and physical activity have a profound effect on health and well-being. Regular participation in physical activity helps reduce the risk of chronic conditions such as obesity and diabetes, as well as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Aside from the physical benefits, physical activity and sport can help build social connections and enhance mental health by reducing stress and improving overall mood. To this end the World Health Organization’s Global Action Plan on Physical Activity (GAPPA) 2018–2030 provides countries and relevant stakeholders with a tool to promote and sustain participation in physical activity and sport for all, across all ages and abilities, for a healthier world. Introduct ion We are confident that the partnership between the state of Qatar and WHO will provide a benchmark for other nations hosting mega sports events like the FIFA world cup Qatar 2022TM, and showcase the legacy initiatives of the Supreme Committee. The timely Sport for Health Conference is an opportunity to learn from international experiences on community-based sports programmes to strengthen policy of practice, not only in Qatar, but also regionally and globally.” Her Excellency Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, Qatar Minister of Public Health The Sport for Health Conference was designed to promote international dialogue around building a healthier population by improving health and well-being across the life-course, preventing NCDs and promoting mental health. NCDs are the leading cause of death globally, causing 74% of deaths each year. In the lead up to the Healthy FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM, the Sport for Health Conference took place 4–6 October 2022 in Doha, Qatar. Held as part of the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), the conference provided a forum for leading experts, researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers from around the world to discuss the latest advances in delivering sports mega events for health and social development and promoting physical, mental and community well-being, and share experiences from research, policy, and practice. Sport mega events have the potential to build legacies that go beyond the duration of the event and catalyse positive behavioural change. They can inspire communities to engage in sport activities, be more active, and adopt healthier lifestyles. From partnerships and capacity building to policy- making and social development, sport mega events can provide long-term benefits to host cities and their residents. To underscore how learning from past events and better planning can lay the foundations for health and sustainable sports legacies, a new report co-authored by WISH partners and WHO, 2 3Sport for Health Conference, Doha, Qatar, 4–6 October 2022: summary report 1 Bull F, Simpson P, Thompson D, Al-Mohannadi AS, Mamtani R, Sheikh J et al. Playing the Long Game; A framework for promoting physical activity through sports mega events. Doha: World Innovation Summit for Health; 2022. https://www.who.int/news/item/06-10-2022-wish-summit-calls-for-sustainable-mega-sports-event-legacies- which-boost-physical-activity 2 All speakers completed declarations of interest, as per WHO policy. No conflicts of interest were identified. The key aim of the conference was to advance understanding of evidence-based models of sport and health to help inform policies and community-based programmes across diverse global contexts. The conference objectives were: • promoting physical activity; • addressing knowledge gaps in sports programmes in Qatar and globally; • facilitating learning from international experiences on community-based sports programmes to improve policy and practice; • showcasing legacy sports events around the world; • scaling the delivery and measuring impact of sports events. This report summarizes the conference 2 and provides highlights and actions for sport stakeholders, federations, and hosts of sport mega events, as well as community sport providers and government officials in health and sport. Measuring impact is vital if we are to increase investment in sport for health. Promoting dialogue among international experts, sharing learnings and practical experiences, and figuring out how to put that knowledge into programmes and into policies that benefit global health… that is what this conference is all about! We all need to ask ourselves the question – what difference can we make and how?” Dr Fiona Bull, Head of Physical Activity Unit, Department of Health Promotion, WHO headquarters Playing the Long Game; A framework for promoting physical activity through sports mega events, 1 was launched during the conference. The Sport for Health Conference is a result of the partnership between the state of Qatar and WHO, which serves to strengthen models of sport mega event legacy for health and provide guidance to other nations hosting future sport mega events. The Sport for Health Conference is a crucial step towards consolidating a strategy for sport and health that transcends national boundaries. We must cultivate a global society that views sport and health as two sides of the same coin.” Dr Ahmed Al-Manhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region 2 3Introduction New initiatives such as “Football is Medicine” and “Sports for prevention and treatment of noncommunicable diseases” have inspired the fields of health and sport to work together more cohesively and take advantage of high profile global events like the FIFA world cup Qatar 2022TM. They also encourage those in the field to share evidence, case studies and lessons learned, and advance research and community engagement. The Sport for Health Conference provides a unique opportunity to profile the role of sport events in promoting good health and generating a lasting health legacy; outline the impact of sports on preventing and treating lifestyle disorders; and highlight the importance of iconic stadia and sports venues in encouraging increased sport and physical activity participation. The potential sustainable development and social legacies to be derived from the FIFA world cup Qatar 2022TM, and other significant sport events, are considerable, and the positive impact that sports and physical activity can have on overall health and well-being cannot be overstated. Overview of keynot e addresse s Key messages: • Football, as the world’s most popular sport, is a versatile tool for promoting health regardless of gender, age, or skill levels because of its reach, popularity, and the fact that to play it requires only some space and a football. • By adopting a holistic and integrated approach rooted in specific policies and planning, sports stadia are key settings that can be used to promote healthier lifestyles to a large and diverse population, including visitors, fans, players, employees, and the surrounding community. • Sport can address a variety of social issues, especially ones that impact youth and their well-being. Programmes focused on mental health can provide practitioners of sports for development with the tools to help cultivate self-awareness and influence positive behavioural change. 4 5Sport for Health Conference, Doha, Qatar, 4–6 October 2022: summary report 2 Krustrup P, Parnell D, editors. Football as medicine. Prescribing football for global health promotion. London: Routledge; 2020. https://www.routledge.com/search?author=Peter%20Krustrup Peter Krustrup, Professor of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Southern Denmark Prescribing football for global health promotion The popularity of football among children and youth, and the positive impact playing football has on fitness levels and general well-being, is well documented. There is now scientific evidence supporting the use of recreational football to prevent and treat lifestyle diseases thanks to its notable positive effects on cardiovascular, metabolic and musculoskeletal fitness. Football is an effective combination of strength, endurance and high-intensity interval (HIIT) training and has been used as an approach and tool for providing health education and health promotion in school-based programmes in 25 countries across Africa, South America, and Europe, including Denmark. 2 Research has also shown that different football programmes introduced in a variety of populations can improve physical and social well-being, especially among girls; increase fitness levels and improve body composition (fat, bone, and muscle mass); and also reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes, and hypertension. 2 Football is a versatile tool for global health promotion, regardless of gender, age, or skill levels. Football is for all, football is for life, and football can be used as medicine across the globe.” Peter Krustrup Overview of keyno te addres ses Keynote s peaker 1: 4 5Overview of keynote addresses Dr Matthew Philpott, Executive Director, Healthy Stadia Network Healthy Stadia: How can sports venues contribute to raising level of physical activity among populations? Sports stadia are iconic and emotive for many fans. They can engage large numbers of people both in and around the stadium and they are increasingly mobilized as “health promoting settings” where relevant policies and practices can help all stadium users – fans, players, workforce, guests and the surrounding community – to make healthier choices. Examples of this include active mobility strategies such as walking and cycling to and from stadia to promote physical activity and cleaner air; strong tobacco-free stadia policies to protect against the dangers of second-hand smoke; and healthier catering options and free access to clean drinking water to encourage a healthier diet. Healthy Stadia, an NGO promoting this approach, is supporting sports venues and professional sports organizations in Europe to create healthier stadium environments and promote physical activity and healthy lifestyles through sports. They recommend community and fan health interventions, campaigning and advocacy, and, of particular importance, embedding health policies and targets in bidding criteria for potential host venues. This helps ensure positive health outcomes and provides the opportunity to extend and scale up policies and interventions at national level. From small amateur clubs through to large national stadia, local communities can benefit from stadium-based policies and community-focused practices that contribute to population-based approaches to address NCDs and health inequalities. The term ‘healthy stadia’ is defined as stadia that promote the health of visitors, fans, players, employees, and the surrounding community.” Dr Matthew Philpott Overview of keyno te addres ses Keynote s peaker 2: 6 7Sport for Health Conference, Doha, Qatar, 4–6 October 2022: summary report Overview of keyno te addres ses Keynote s peaker 3: Nasser Al Khori, Executive Director, Generation Amazing Foundation, Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, Qatar Football for development and the Qatar World Cup Legacy Sport mega events such as the FIFA World CupTM can act as platforms to help address global challenges and accelerate social change in communities, nationally and internationally. Such events can leave a sustainable legacy which contributes towards developmental outcomes and reflects the views or involvement of all the beneficiary communities. The Generation Amazing (GA) Foundation of Qatar implements a human and social legacy programme under the auspices of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM. GA has four programmatic pillars: • youth festival – a unique annual sports event; • youth advocates – a youth advocacy programme; • community clubs – in areas that don’t have access to a football pitch; • Football for development (F4D) initiative. These all ensure a central role is accorded to youth, beneficiary, or stakeholder voices to shape development activities and design legacy locally, regionally and internationally. GA has also established a Football for development curriculum module focused on mental health which aims to provide sport for development practitioners with the necessary tools to help cultivate self-awareness and influence positive behavioural change. Football can connect people from all walks of life, transcending cultural barriers, creed, race, gender and class, to mention a few. We know there is no better time than now to leverage the ultimate mega sporting event, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM, to produce sustainable impact and ensure a lasting healthy legacy for generations.” Nasser Al Khori 6 7Overview of keynote addresses Overview This session focused on the power of sports to strengthen community-based and grassroots initiatives that promote physical activity and decrease the risks of NCDs and premature mortality, and improve mental health among people of all ages and abilities. The session introduced several initiatives that are delivered through stadia and club infrastructure to specifically target populations with higher levels of health inequalities. For example, Healthy Stadia and its European Fans in Training (EuroFIT) programme leverage the power and appeal of football to improve the health of less active men, while Movember, the leading men’s health movement, uses Rugby League as a tool to improve mental health. Scientific session 1 : Key messages: • Stadium-based interventions using football that are culturally appealing for men and provide a supportive environment for long-term health behaviour change can promote healthier lifestyles and reduce NCDs among middle- aged men. • Scaling interventions to national level and providing sufficient funding to support implementation with strong links to education and primary health care are key to reaching priority groups. • Sport can be used as a tool to promote mental health, break down stigma, and signpost mental health services. Strengthening community and grassroots sport 8 9Sport for Health Conference, Doha, Qatar, 4–6 October 2022: summary report 3 Wyke S, Bunn C, Andersen E, Silva MN, van Nassau F. The effect of a programme to improve men’s sedentary time and physical activity: The European fans in training (EuroFIT) randomised controlled trial. PLoS Med. 2019;16:e1002736 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002736. by Dr Matthew Philpott: Delivering physical activity and well-being outcomes through professional football club settings European Fans in Training (EuroFIT) is a stadium-based intervention that uses football to engage inactive men who are keen football fans. The goal is to reduce physical inactivity and overweight in middle-aged men by implementing a 12-week programme delivered by football coaches to fans aged 30–65, with a BMI ≥ 27 kg/m². EuroFIT is specifically designed to provide a supportive gender-sensitive environment for long-term health behaviour change. The core components include group learning, a behaviour change toolkit, physical activity (football) sessions, and self- monitoring technology. Hosted in iconic sport stadia, it offers participants the opportunity to go behind the scenes, meet coaches and players and connect with their football team in an inspirational way. EuroFIT was evaluated by 21 football clubs in Norway, Portugal, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, funded by the European Union (EU) research programme, that demonstrated improvements in levels of physical activity and reduction in time spent in sedentary behaviours. 3 In addition, programmes resulted in significant improvements in diet, weight, well-being, self-esteem, vitality, and biomarkers of cardiometabolic health in favour of the intervention group. Following the success of EuroFIT delivered in professional football settings, Healthy Stadia partnered with the English Football Association at regional level to test EuroFIT’s effectiveness in grassroots football settings and to scale up delivery, providing direct pathways into regular football activities for participants. The EuroFIT programme has now been successfully implemented across six European countries with ambitions to test and scale up delivery in additional locations outside Europe. Healthy Stadia is an interlocutor. We are the bridge between academics and clubs, so we need to translate research into public health and social impacts.” Dr Matthew Philpott Presentat ion 1:Session 1 8 9Scientific session 1: Strengthening community and grassroots sport by Professor Andrea Seabra: Football for the whole lifespan – the perspective of a national football federation The Portugal Football School, as part of the Portuguese National Football Federation, has three main purposes: to educate and train stakeholders; implement research into performance and health; and transfer knowledge to enhance the lives and health of the society in which it functions, including children, adolescents and adults. It adopts a holistic life-course health approach and has set up programmes to address a range of health issues, including recreational football programmes to reduce childhood obesity, and walking football specifically to aid prevention of prostate cancer and type 2 diabetes. Challenged by low sports participation in Portugal, particularly among school-aged children, the Portugal Football School has recently developed after-school structured interventions that include physical activities to enrich the curriculum, and free-time activities (including sport) for elementary school children. To encourage and support the engagement of students and teachers, the Portugal Football School offers sports equipment, health education, training for teachers, regional coordinators, and is currently undertaking 24 pilot programmes in 24 municipalities in all districts across the country. More than 20 universities are involved in assessing the health levels of the children, and more than 10 national entities support the programme, including the health education department, local municipalities, and communities. We are much more than a football association, or a sport organization. We are a scientific and community research project established to promote health, quality of life, and well-being of children, adolescents, adults, and elderly people.” Professor Andrea Seabra Presentat ion 2:Session 1 10 11Sport for Health Conference, Doha, Qatar, 4–6 October 2022: summary report by Tracy Herd: Movember Ahead of the Game – Mental Health Programme Movember, the world’s largest men’s health movement, focuses on mental health, men’s cancers, and men’s health and well-being, with a vision to build a future where men in all their diversity live happier, healthier and longer lives. Movember’s “Ahead of the Game” is an evidence-based adolescent mental health initiative delivered through local community sports clubs. The programme is aimed at young athletes, their coaches and parents, and focuses on both increasing mental health literacy and building resilience. In 2021, Movember teamed up with the Rugby League World Cup 2021 to deliver the world’s first major sporting tournament “Mental Fitness Charter” with the aim of educating every player, team official, match official, teammate, and volunteer to look after their own mental fitness and that of those around them, as well as delivering mental fitness workshops to 8000 young Rugby League players and their parents. The Rugby League World Cup Interim Social Impact Report showed that young athletes had a better understanding of the importance of being mentally fit and healthy, were more confident in recognizing signs of mental health conditions, and had a better understanding of where to seek information and support for mental health. Strong partnerships, multi-sport approaches, investment in evidence-based programmes, parity in investment in social impact programmes, and commitment from international and national sporting tournaments are essential features of this type of initiative. It is about finding those partners that hold the same values, and the desire to support boys and young men to live happier, healthier, and longer lives. The opportunities are endless.” Tracy Herd Presentat ion 3:Session 1 10 11Scientific session 1: Strengthening community and grassroots sport Overview Sport mega events are significant opportunities to promote the health and social benefits of physical activity and sport, and ensure a lasting health legacy for generations. But too often they are missed opportunities to produce sustainable change. This session underscores how learning from past events and better planning can lay the foundations for health and sustainable sports legacies. It highlights experiences from the city of Paris’ plans for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, the golf Open Championships, and Union Cycliste Internationale’s Cycling Cities Initiative. Key messages: • Sport mega event legacy planning needs to start early and build a strong stakeholder network. • Although many sports events can promote physical activity, there remain challenges, including ensuring inclusivity and diversity. • Sport mega events can be accelerators for funding and wider infrastructure improvements. • An overarching challenge of many of these initiatives is quantitative data and impact evaluation. Sport mega event legacy in relation to participation in sport and physical activity Scientific session 2 : 12 13Sport for Health Conference, Doha, Qatar, 4–6 October 2022: summary report by Marie Barsacq: Progress and learning from Paris 2024 Legacy Low physical activity levels among the French population, particularly among youth, indicates that two-thirds of French youth will face health problems due to sedentary lifestyles. Motivated by the Paris 2024 Olympics, planning has begun to build a legacy that will address this situation by programmes designed to build good physical activity habits linked to where people spend their time, in the city or suburbs, at school or work. The first programme, “Moving More at School with Generation 2024”, involves 30 minutes of daily physical activity at school (aged 6–11 years) and was started as an experiment. Now more than 40% of schools in France are voluntarily implementing this initiative, with the government planning to extend it to all schools. The programmes are evaluated frequently to assess impact, and data are continually collected to measure success. It is recommended that legacy planning should start early, as building a strong stakeholder network is vital. We need to build a strong stakeholders’ network. We can’t act alone because at the end of the day, we won’t be there. So, stakeholders need to be on board from the very beginning.” Marie Barsacq Presentat ion 1:Session 2 12 13Scientific session 2: Sport mega event legacy in relation to participation in sport and physical activity Presentat ion 2:Session 2 by Dr Andrew Murray: Golf and health: lessons learned from Open Championships 2022 The Golf and Health programme, launched in 2015 by the World Golf Foundation and the R&A (the organization with responsibilities for governing the rules of golf, staging The Open, and developing the sport), aims to promote golf as a means of improving physical activity, longevity, and wellness. This programme is based on three core philosophies: golf can make people healthier and happier, the health benefits of golf should be promoted, and key actions that should be implemented for policy and decision makers. The programme seeks to promote physical activity through golf events, with more than 290 000 spectators at The Open Championship given the opportunity to learn about health and wellness. An experimental intervention demonstrated that golf event spectators walked an average of 11 500 steps per day, meeting over 80% of the daily physical activity recommendations. The intervention resulted in increased time spent in green spaces, social satisfaction, and better overall well- being for 30% of participants, who reported being more active and healthier 3 months later. Despite its successes, the programme faces challenges, including promoting inclusivity and diversity, preventing harm, and preserving planetary health. Overall, the Golf and Health programme demonstrates that golf can be for everyone and can promote physical activity in countries that host The Open. Golf can contribute to the health of everyone. Increasing physical activity through sport or through active travel can hopefully also contribute to improving planetary health.” Dr Andrew Murray 14 15Sport for Health Conference, Doha, Qatar, 4–6 October 2022: summary report by Isabella Burczak: Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) – Cycling Cities Initiative UCI’s Cycling Cities Initiative aims to establish cycling as a healthy, sustainable and accessible form of transport and everyday activity. The organization’s “Cycling for all” mission consists of four key points: • promoting cycling as an economical and sustainable form of transport; • advocating and speaking on behalf of cycling; • empowering national federations to support advocacy activities; • inspiring greater mass participation through elite cycling events. UCI has launched the UCI Bike City Label initiative to create a long-term legacy by rewarding cities and regions that invest in both elite cycling events and everyday cycling strategies and infrastructure. The label is awarded and assessed based on two pillars – sport and cycling – with 10 criteria. The long-term vision of the initiative is to create a globally recognized network of UCI bike cities, demonstrating how cities can use sport to create better and safer cities for all people on bikes, regardless of their age, level of fitness, and/or cycling activity – and thereby create more active societies. Key learnings from previous projects emphasize the importance of partnerships and using events to accelerate funding and wider infrastructure projects. However, one of the challenges is obtaining quantitative data and evidence on the impact of cycling events. You don’t need to do big things to change the world. All you need is a bike.” Isabella Burczak Presentat ion 3:Session 2 14 15Scientific session 2: Sport mega event legacy in relation to participation in sport and physical activity Overview Maximizing cost-effectiveness by scaling up delivery of community-based sport and measuring its impact goes a long way to helping mobilize more resources from government and funding agencies to build knowledge and capacity in the field of physical activity, sport and development. Common frameworks, indicators and quality data are needed. This session describes the initiatives being led by the Commonwealth Secretariat, the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, Olympism 365 – IOC, and work on building capacity and leveraging the impact of sports-health research. Key messages: • Improving national, institutional, and programmatic monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems will contribute to better decision-making on where, how, and why to invest in and implement sport-based policies and programmes. • However, there remain challenges in developing common indicators for different types of events, given their varied duration, spatial scales, and time horizons. • Such indicators and data are needed to accurately measure the impact of sports mega events on health and well-being. • Investing in sport and social change programmes, building capacity, designing places and spaces for sports, promoting stories and research, and connecting partners and networks can maximize sport’s contribution to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Scaling delivery and measuring impact of sports events Scientific session 3 : 16 17Sport for Health Conference, Doha, Qatar, 4–6 October 2022: summary report by Caroline Brooks: Model indicators for assessing how sport contributes to achieving the SDGs The Commonwealth Secretariat aims to help break the cycle of limited investment and to highlight the contribution of sport to sustainable development by developing and implementing common global indicators for measuring and maximizing sport’s contribution to the SDGs. Through this global initiative, the Commonwealth Secretariat and UNESCO aim to address (1) the lack of systematic data on the role and impact of sport as a development tool; (2) the lack of common terminology; (3) the burden of designing monitoring frameworks that is often placed on governments and stakeholders. This will help reporting aligned with SDGs; and through progress in all of these areas, increase investment in sport initiatives to fully optimize their impact. A global multisectoral collaboration of over 250 stakeholders, including individual countries, governments, civil society, and intergovernmental organizations, were involved in developing the indicators. The framework of indicators is divided into six domains: • participation in sport and physical activity; • active schools and educational environments; • social impact, inclusion, and equality; • economic development and employment; • environmental sustainability; • governance of sport. The enhanced data produced by improved national institutional and programmatic monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems will contribute to better decision- making on where, how, and why to invest in and implement sport-based policies and programmes. We need to improve capacity to collect and analyse sport-related data at scale; this is our number one priority.” Caroline Brooks Presentat ion 1:Session 3 16 17Scientific session 3: Scaling delivery and measuring impact of sports events by Karen McGuire: Developing a framework for measuring the impact of global events The OECD Co-operative Action Programme on Local Employment and Economic Development (LEED) aims to promote employment by collaborating with various ministries to build communities that are attractive for workers and firms. When considering global events and local development, the OECD recommends developing and implementing a framework for global events that leverages economic, social and environmental benefits; evaluates the event’s impact on local development; ensures effective multi-level government coordination, collaboration, and institutional capacity; and establishes collaborative partner relations with international event owners. However, challenges in developing common indicators include differences in the types of events, as well as their duration, spatial scales, and time horizons. Therefore, future needs include establishing agreement on indicators, engaging in more consultations, creating practical guidelines for hosts, building capacity to use impact methods and indicators, and addressing factors that may hinder impact. … we can never have enough data...” Karen McGuire Presentat ion 2:Session 3 18 19Sport for Health Conference, Doha, Qatar, 4–6 October 2022: summary report by Oliver Dudfield: Partnership to Scale Impact of Sport, Olympism 365 Systems-based approaches and networked partnerships are important in scaling up sports development to benefit the health of populations. There is a need to move beyond the simplistic terminology of partnership and consider different configurations of relationships that have varying applicability for actors involved in using sport to achieve the SDGs and global health targets. Olympism 365 connects people and their communities to contribute to the SDGs through sports and physical activity. Promoting a healthy mind and healthy body through sports and physical activity, while also fostering social and psychosocial skills development, is a key ambition of the Olympic movement. Implementing and delivering such a strategy requires engaging multiple partners and stakeholders, and applying systems-based thinking to connect to WHO’s Global Action Plan on Physical Activity and the SDG agenda. The key elements for the Olympism 365 consortia are investing in sport and social change programmes, capacity building, designing places and spaces for sports, promoting stories and research, and connecting partners and networks. Coordination, engagement, and support of partnerships are key for successful action, but there remains the challenge of defining the network map within the sports ecosystem, particularly in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. Working together across the sport and health ecosystems allows us to build momentum towards our shared, common goal: more people, from more diverse communities, benefiting from sport, physical activity and Olympism through community activities.” Oliver Dudfield Presentat ion 3:Session 3 18 19Scientific session 3: Scaling delivery and measuring impact of sports events by Karim Khan: Building capacity and leveraging impact of sports-health research Advocacy and action to maximize the impact of sport and exercise on health are challenged by a lack of quality data and evidence. This is the result of limited research funding overall and the understandable tendency for many large health research funding agencies to prioritize the medical model of mechanistic basic research over what might be termed implementation research, or knowledge translation and mobilisation. A systems- based approach involving stakeholders from diverse contexts to strengthen research capacity can drive the policies necessary to increase physical activity and achieve better health outcomes. The Global Action Plan on Physical Activity aims to address these challenges by creating active societies, designing fostering environments, and establishing policies and legislation. While sport mega events are often seen as promoting sport, they can do much more than that to contribute to sport and health. Powerful data and better funding are needed to accurately measure the impact of sport mega events on health and well-being. As sports-health researchers, we have to keep on promoting the undervalued benefits of physical activity, engage to educate cynics, synthesize the evidence to add weight to our case, and above all strive to be cohesive.” Karim Khan Presentat ion 4:Session 3 20 21Sport for Health Conference, Doha, Qatar, 4–6 October 2022: summary report 20 21Scientific session 3: Scaling delivery and measuring impact of sports events A panel discussion 4 reflected on the shared science, knowledge and insights gathered during the conference and considered how best to deploy resources to realize a shared ambition to bring the field of health and sport much closer to improve global health. The panel confirmed that sport brings joy, and that sport and football are vehicles for health promotion. Building a sustainable legacy from sport mega events is key, and much will be learned from the sharing of experiences and lessons learned. The evidence base demonstrating that sport – including football and team games – impacts physical and mental health and supports the management of NCDs, is very strong and growing. International stakeholders are committed to leveraging sport to deliver health innovations at local, regional, national, and international levels – and world championships, sport mega events, local sports clubs and national federations can all support community and grassroots sports in delivering the health agenda. A platform for the measurement of the impact of sport on health now exists, which will support integrated planning, evaluation and surveillance going forward. The key highlights of discussion during the conference confirmed that systems-based approaches and partnerships are needed to create sustainable social impact and long-lasting legacy. Networked partnerships help achieve objectives beyond resource mobilization, such as regulation, policy development, capacity building and communication. Healthy infrastructure is needed to encourage greater engagement in physical activity i.e., bike lanes, green spaces, parks, and ensuring that “making healthy choices becomes the easier choice”. 4 Moderator: Dr Tim Cable (Director of Institute of Sport, Manchester Metropolitan University). Panelists: Mr Nasser Al Khori (Executive Director, GA Foundation), Dr Roberto Bertollini (Advisor to Minister of Public Health, Qatar), Dr Oliver Dudfield (Associate Director Olympism 365), and Dr Fiona Bull (Global Physical Activity Lead, WHO). Closing se ssion Reflection s and wha t next? 22 23Sport for Health Conference, Doha, Qatar, 4–6 October 2022: summary report Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of interventions taken by various stakeholders is critical for the development of sports programmes and can be strengthened by greater use of and alignment with existing data and information systems, where possible. Capacity building in the sports for development sector could be included in the state educational curriculum rather than developing separate programmes. Capacity building among the health workforce needs to include the promotion of physical activity and sport long before patients seek medical care for the development of NCDs such as coronary artery disease, obesity or diabetes. Policy development and research in achieving objectives have a prominent role in establishing sustainable programmes that are needed for change. However, a shared global agenda is needed if we are to address the systemic and structural challenges and overcome cultural and contextual barriers to effectively integrating sport and health to benefit all. The conference concluded with the following suggestions for actions: 1. Strengthen partnerships between sport and health sectors to create sustainable, community-wide impact through sport mega event legacy. 2. Build capacity and strengthen skills for planning, delivering and evaluating sport mega event legacy. 3. Share experiences, identify key challenges and valuable lessons in relation to sport mega event legacy, through follow up meetings and forums. 4. Develop and build consensus on common indicators of sport mega event legacy. 5. Invest in building evidence on the impact of sport mega event legacy on physical activity and health. 22 23Closing session: Reflections and what next? ISBN 978-92-4-007641-9 For further information, contact: Department of Health Promotion World Health Organization 20 avenue Appia 1211 Geneva 27 Switzerland Website: www.who.int I 0-2