The MOVE Congress is set to return to Copenhagen, and it promises to be our biggest event yet! Taking place at the Danish capital’s Tivoli Congress Center, the twelfth MOVE Congress will place strong focus on best-practice knowledge sharing from Denmark and across the world, and offer unrivalled access to a network of over 600 professionals from the NGO, health, sport, education, urban planning, environment and political sectors.
The theme of the MOVE Congress 2025 is #Activating. What are the best strategies to #activate people and communities and promote participation? What are the most inspiring practices of grassroots sports associations, urban planners, municipalities, local communities and other stakeholders? And how can people be best-motivated to engage with their local communities and sport organisations as volunteers?
The MOVE Congress 2025 will tackle head-on the challenges faced by sport, physical activity, play and health organisations and sectors in today’s fast-moving world. How can they remain up-to-date and relevant? And should we be rethinking the future roles of advocacy and cross-sector collaboration?
Under the #Activating theme, topics will include mental and physical health, social inclusion and refugee integration, volunteering, health literacy, active schools, safeguarding and children’s rights, active ageing, and the prevention of gender-based violence.
“We believe in the power of inspiration. And we have seen that sharing practical, real life solutions can achieve more in reality than any theoretical construct. Therefore, we constantly look to create opportunities for our members and partners to get involved in piloting new initiatives, scaling up successful ones, organising events, influencing decision-makers and learning from each other.”
Health goes beyond physical health. Recreational physical activity intersects with physical, mental and social health, enhancing people’s wellbeing.
Grassroots sport can support the integration of refugees, encourage social inclusion and create welcoming communities for everyone, but this requires deliberate effort.
We are all ageing every day. Movement, play, and joyful activity support physical and mental wellbeing, strengthen social connections, and promote healthier ageing. Supporting active lifestyles means empowering individuals and building environments that make staying active easier, balancing personal choice and institutional responsibility.
Volunteers are the backbone of grassroot sports organisations. Volunteering enriches people’s lives by providing a sense of purpose, new skills and social connections in the local community. How can we motivate and engage volunteers?
Just as we teach reading and writing, we must teach physical and health literacy to equip people with the knowledge they need to access and maintain an active lifestyle.
Schools and kindergartens play a significant role in creating healthy habits from childhood. Physically active learning increases participation, and overall well-being by embracing movement throughout the school day.
Engaging children and young people in grassroots sport associations empowers them to shape the future of movement, sports, and society. Beyond viewing them as a target group, we need to amplify their voices in all stages of decision-making and programme design.
Local sports associations can be catalysts for climate action through education, mobilisation, and adaptation efforts. They can promote eco-friendly behaviour by linking physical activity and well-being with environmental sustainability.
Physical inactivity and childhood obesity are deepening crises. How can we ensure that political priorities focus on funding physical activity and grassroots sport, so that everyone has a chance to practice their Human Right to MOVE? What kind of policy changes would we want to see?
Violence has no place in sport. Tackling gender-based violence and safeguarding children’s rights are essential to ensuring safety, dignity, and equality for all in grassroot sport. Everyone deserves to experience sport as a positive, empowering space free from harm, fear, or abuse.
Urban environments play an important role in promoting healthy and active lifestyles. From safe walking and cycling infrastructure to accessible parks and sports facilities, prioritising active living in planning and policy can create healthier, more connected, and more resilient communities.
Physical activity and sport for development sometimes struggle to make their voice heard. The sector could better leverage the strong business cases for investing in them; however, when we focus on “monetising” outcomes we risk devaluing or missing other social impact. How and where can the sector use financial measures to make its case, and what are the limitations of this approach?
If you chose to stay at one of the hotels recommended for the MOVE Congress participants, you got there! Both recommended hotels are located on either side of Tivoli Hotel and Congress Centre on Carsten Niebuhrsgade.
If you’re joining the MOVE Congress from a different location, you can find the instructions on our website or use the information on the venue’s website.
“We empower organisations worldwide to enable citizens to enjoy their human right to move”
Organised by ISCA with Spanish partners Fútbol Más and DES, this edition was held to coincide with the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The line-up included 52 speakers from 24 countries across five continents.
After two years of meeting via computer and mobile screens across countries and continents, 250 physical activity promoters from 40 countries reconnected in person in Brussels.
More than 470 participants, 40 speakers, and 40 Innovation Alley presenters and exhibitors gathered in Budapest for learning, networking, exchanging ideas and trying out the latest technologies in our new Innovation Alley.
This conference edition put the spotlight on local and international initiatives that are removing the barriers that typically stop people from being active in the communities: from social, to socio-economic, to urban planning, distance and cost.
The event gathered 270 delegates from 41 countries to exchange best practices and discuss further cross-sector collaboration that can motivate more people to be physically active.
Rome in Italy, one of the oldest and most visited cities in the world, provided the perfect backdrop for this year’s event with the theme Open City – Active City and discussions on urban planning, healthy lifestyles, partnership and cross-sector cooperation.
The 5th edition of MOVE Congress gathered 276 participants to discuss changes, opportunities and innovations and find new ways of engaging people in physical activity and grassroots sport worldwide.
The event was held outside Europe for the first time, as 480 participants came together in São Paulo, Brazil to debate the cultural and social development of people and communities through sport for all.
More than 300 participants were invited to think global and MOVE local under this year’s event to foster the vision of getting 100 million people active in sports by 2015.
A strategic partnership between the Sport for All and Health sectors were the theme in 2010 to address critical issues and strategies for obtaining maximum benefits for organisations and citizens.
Held for the first time as MOVE Congress, the event brought together participants from across the world to discuss active and healthy cities, as a growing number of people live in urban areas.
ISCA launches World Congress on Sport for All in Copenhagen (19-23 May). The World Congress on Sport for All is renamed Move World Congress in 2009.
The International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA) invites you to experience one of the world’s most dynamic conferences dedicated to sport and physical activity, the MOVE Congress, in Madrid, Spain, from 15-17 November 2023.
Organised by ISCA with Spanish partners Fútbol Más and DES, this edition was held to coincide with the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The line-up included 52 speakers from 24 countries across five continents.
After two years of meeting via computer and mobile screens across countries and continents, 250 physical activity promoters from 40 countries reconnected in person in Brussels.
More than 470 participants, 40 speakers, and 40 Innovation Alley presenters and exhibitors gathered in Budapest for learning, networking, exchanging ideas and trying out the latest technologies in our new Innovation Alley.
This conference edition put the spotlight on local and international initiatives that are removing the barriers that typically stop people from being active in the communities: from social, to socio-economic, to urban planning, distance and cost.
The event gathered 270 delegates from 41 countries to exchange best practices and discuss further cross-sector collaboration that can motivate more people to be physically active.
Rome in Italy, one of the oldest and most visited cities in the world, provided the perfect backdrop for this year’s event with the theme Open City – Active City and discussions on urban planning, healthy lifestyles, partnership and cross-sector cooperation.
The 5th edition of MOVE Congress gathered 276 participants to discuss changes, opportunities and innovations and find new ways of engaging people in physical activity and grassroots sport worldwide.
The event was held outside Europe for the first time, as 480 participants came together in São Paulo, Brazil to debate the cultural and social development of people and communities through sport for all.
More than 300 participants were invited to think global and MOVE local under this year’s event to foster the vision of getting 100 million people active in sports by 2015.
A strategic partnership between the Sport for All and Health sectors were the theme in 2010 to address critical issues and strategies for obtaining maximum benefits for organisations and citizens.
Held for the first time as MOVE Congress, the event brought together participants from across the world to discuss active and healthy cities, as a growing number of people live in urban areas.
ISCA launches World Congress on Sport for All in Copenhagen (19-23 May). The World Congress on Sport for All is renamed Move World Congress in 2009.
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