15th World Forum of the International University Sports Federation finished with huge success

16/08/2020

With more than 2700 individual viewers and almost 1400 participants the world forum organised by the University of Physical Education and the Hungarian University Sports Federation (HUFS) together with the technical support of the Digital Success Programme (DSP) has concluded. For the first time in the history of FISU it was held in a hybrid form where most programmes, including the presentations, panel discussions and workshops were run virtually. Thanks to the interactive digital platform viewers from 105 countries were able to ask their questions live from the participants.

At the closing ceremony Dr. Balázs Hankó, the Ministry for Innovation and Technology’s Deputy State Secretary for Higher Education, while welcoming the success of the event, spoke of how the huge interest in this FISU world forum, held in the Athen Hall of the University of Physical Education, showed the desperate need for having conversations and sharing knowledge about the current social and sport issues in the sphere of the relevant higher education areas. It was said, that the Hungarian Government was committed to make the highly regarded University of Physical Education, founded in 1925, a part of the Digital Sport Knowledge Centre, by innovating the institution and establishing the digital sport workshop of the Digital Success Programme. The goal was to have the University of Physical Education, which had been hosting this FISU FORUM, as the leading workshop of the higher education sport ranking in Hungary – explained Dr. Balázs Hankó. Moreover, the Deputy State Secretary also highlighted that encouraging physical activities had always been a main priority in the Hungarian universities hence the importance of the “healthy campus” strategy of FISU. Strategical planning is a challenge for the Hungarian university sports sphere as well – claimed Mr. Hankó adding, that the Hungarian Government was expected to accept the Alfréd Hajós Plan 3.0, based on the proposal of the Hungarian University Sport Federation, which would be publicized in international platforms as a good example.

Dr. Verena Burk, Chair of Education Committee and FISU Senior Executive Committee member, Sami Garabedian, Vice-Chair of Education Committee and Viktor Kiss, member of FISU Student Committee also spoke at the closing ceremony. While evaluating the past three days of the forum, they highlighted the event’s success not only among experts but also among students – as out of the more than 1000 participants 600 were students. They closed their appraisal by pointing out the forum’s success in demonstrating in what way digitalisation could aid us in both preserving good relations and further developing university sports life – as in the past 14 FISU world forums the number of participants had never surpassed 255.

According to Oleg Matytsin, President of FISU, it has never been more important to support universities in shaping the leaders of the future. That is why it was especially joyous to see representatives from a record breaking 105 countries participating in this event. The forum successfully brought the importance of sport into our attention in regards of healthy lifestyle and social inclusion as well – said the president of FISU.

During the closing ceremony 2022 World Forum host Costa Rica took over the FISU flag from Hungary. Luis Paolino Méndez, Vice-Chancellor of the Costa Rica Institute of Technology, and Epsy Campbell, First Vice-President of Costa Rica, greeted the attendees and welcomed the opportunity to hold the next world forum. In their speech they emphasised the role of FISU in uniting people through sport thus, they deemed it extremely important to organise the 2022 world forum in the name of compassion, solidarity and cultural diversity.

A panel discussion about university sport and inclusion was held preceding the closing ceremony with the participation of Pál Szekeres, Olympic bronze medallist and three-time Paralympic champion. The Hungarian sportsman and expert talked about the challenges of attracting the younger generations and the situation of disabled people in sports. Regarding the latter issue he added, there was a great need for more accessible sport establishments and properly trained experts and trainers on national and international levels as well. The events of the last day can be watched here.