HSSF plays a key role in the promotion of physical activity in Europe
One of the most prestigious conferences on quality physical education in Europe was organized for the second time by the Hungarian School Sport Federation
HSSF proved to be an important key actor in the promotion of health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA) – Following the first conference held in 2014, Hungarian School Sport Federation organized its second international conference called HIPE for HEPA on November 10-11th, 2016 in Budapest. Attended by the representatives of professional organizations active in the field of HEPA as well as prestigious European experts, the conference provided a platform to share research results and experiences on development programs. HSSF as organizer also received positive feedback on its professional work as well as its efforts to promote health-enhancing physical activity, which was also the focus of the conference this year.
In addition to Prof. Ken Hardmann from UNESCO and Joao Breda programme manager from the World Health Organization, also Michal Rynkowsky, representative European Commission’s Sport Unit, Claude Scheuer, president of European Physical Education Association (EUPEA), and Jacob Schouenborg, secretary general of the International Sport and Culture Association held presentations at the conference as keynote speakers, among other lead experts who arrived from more than 10 different European countries.
At the conference, HSSF also announced the development of the concept on the national health-enhancing physical activity program. Representatives of the HSSF were proud to report Hungary being the first European Union member state introducing such national development program, because of both economic and public health reasons, also contributing to the implementation of the evolving national public health strategy.
The event was opened by Zoltán Balog, Minister of Human Capacities, who emphasized that daily exercise remains essential not only to achieve a meaningful, active elderly age, but also to maintain economic competitiveness throughout our lives.
‘Today, in Hungary, 1 million and 173 thousand students are active on a daily basis. Furthermore, we are proud of the fact that the number of children in competitive sports increased by more that 60% over the past 3 years. The number of applicants in teacher training programs tripled in the past three years, meaning that young generation sees a future in becoming a PE teacher’ Zoltán Balog explained.
In his opening speech, Gábor Balogh, president of the HSSF emphasized: ‘Europe is aging, and based on the White Book on sustainable pensions of the European Commission, in mid-term we have to become capable of working in the labor market for a longer period of time. As a result, healthy workforce is more critical than ever. Regular physical activity, physical fitness is therefore not only a fashion determining quality of life, but also became a challenging employment issue by now.”
On the second day of the conference, several good practices received opportunity for introduction: European School Sport Day programme, Hungarian Student Olympics, SloFit programme, TE IS sport-volunteering programme, and Active School Communities programme’s HEPA-focused elements were presented at the poster section.
Please find the homepage of the conference here.
