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Author: Johanna Adriaanse
Abstract: The article provides an analysis of the situation of women in leadership positions in sport. It also highlights the major problems deriving by the lack of women on the boards and the opportunities of including them.
Link: http://theconversation.com/women-are-missing-in-sport-leadership-and-its-time-that-changed-69979Author: Women in Sport and Comic Relief
Beyond 30%. Female leadership in sport.
Abstract: The report provides quantitative and qualitative research into the numbers and experiences of women on the board and in senior leadership roles in National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of Sport in England and Wales. It incorporates a Checklist for Change comprising of five key areas organisations should address in order to improve the diversity of their board and teams.
Link: https://www.womeninsport.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Women-in-Sport-Beyond-3025-1-1.pdf?x99836Active women and girls strategy.
Author: City of Ballarat
Abstract: the document is the strategy that the City of Ballarat developed in order to provide a tailored response to priority issues identified
within the municipality that may be constraining women and girls’involvement in sport or physical activity, either as leaders or participants.Link: http://www.ballarat.vic.gov.au/media/4455763/2018_active_women_and_girls_strategy.pdf
Gender and sport participation in Montenegro
Author:Cheryl Cooky, Marko Begovic, Don Sabo, Carole A Oglesby, Marj Snyder
Abstract:This study investigates the status of women in Montenegrin sport. It examines gender
differences in sport participation rate and facilitators and
barriers to sport involvement. The facilitators to sport participation were family support and a
“love for the game.” Participants in the focus groups discussed barriers including: lack of family
support; gender division of labor; school–sport balance; and lack of resources. Evidence-based
strategies to increase and improve women’s sport participation in Montenegro are discussed.
Link: https://www.icsspe.org/system/files/Cooky%20et%20al.%20-%20Gender%20and%20sport%20participation%20in%20Montenegro.pdfMultifunctional spaces related to the scale of community centres. From merging concomitance to polyvalence adaptability.
Author: Mihaela Zamfir
Abstract: The article explores the relation between multifunctional space and the scale of community centres.
Link: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mihaela_Zamfir_Grigorescu/publication/308994599_MULTIFUNCTIONAL_SPACE_RELATED_TO_THE_SCALE_OF_COMMUNITY_CENTERS_From_merging-concomitance_to_polyvalence-adaptability/links/57fd2a7008ae6750f8065c13/MULTIFUNCTIONAL-SPACE-RELATED-TO-THE-SCALE-OF-COMMUNITY-CENTERS-From-merging-concomitance-to-polyvalence-adaptability.pdfArguments pro/contra women-only outdoor sport spaces or activities, possibly based on an inventory among different groups of women.
Arguments pro women-only sport spaces/activities are very abundant.
Many of them derive by the benefits that women would gain in terms of physical, mental and social health by removing the barriers that prevent them from having an active lifestyle. As it can be found abundantly described in a UN report about women and sport, an active lifestyle can contribute to the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and it prolongs independency for old women; for girls, it can have a positive impact on childhood health, as well as reduce the risk of chronic diseases in later life. it can promote psychological well-being through building self-esteem, confidence and social integration, as well as help reduce stress, anxiety, loneliness and depression. In addition, outdoor only-for-women places would also provide women and girls with an alternative avenue for participation in the social and cultural life of their communities and promotes enjoyment of freedom of expression, interpersonal networks, new opportunities and increased self-esteem. As a participant to a “run into the wild” report, “relying on your body and push it its full potential can be a mind-blowing experience” . Outdoor only-for-women places and sports also encourage the development of a range of essential life skills, including communication, leadership, teamwork and negotiation. As this quote from the suffragist Susan B. Anthony, suffragist (1896) sum up, “Bicycling has done more to emancipate women than any one thing in the world”.
More specifically, only-for-women sport places help addressing the needs of specific categories of the population. They help to address the traditions of Islamic modesty in dress and the requirements for women’s sport to take place in a single-sex environment. They provide a double benefit to women with disabilities by providing affirmations of self-empowerment at both personal and collective levels. Designing spread sports places and short courses also help to address the short time that women can devote to themselves because of the time-consuming role they often play in the management of the family.
Only for women sport spaces also promote concentration and a distressed atmosphere of the sport activity. Since there is no competition anymore and the rules are created by women rather than passively received by man-oriented infrastructures, competition gives the floor to collaboration and the rhythm is much more balanced according to women’s body .
Finally, in addition to benefits for women and girls themselves, women’s increased involvement can promote positive evolution in sport by providing alternative norms, values, attitudes, knowledge, capabilities and experiences.As for arguments against women-only sport places, only few can be found, probably because of the popularity that this new wave of only-for female outdoor spaces and sport are knowing and because of the practice not being yet so spread to be identified as a threat.
The first argument is that promoting only-for-women spaces would represent a step back in gender equality. It would perpetrate the idea of women as vulnerable people that need special treatments.
The second relates with the risk of spurring a further division between women that are already empowered enough to actually use those spaces, and those that, because of their religious or cultural norms, will not “dare” to do it. This could in turn lead to a further exclusion and cultural distance of marginalized women.
In addition, some highlights that “women’s only” is useful for introducing skills, but at a higher level gender mix is more beneficial. Once women have gained the basic skills, having men in the group is beneficial — it allows for complementary approaches and it “it tends to push everyone to a more advanced level” .1. Examples of public or private women-only outdoor sport/physical activity spaces or activities in your city:
Female participation and popularity in sports increased dramatically in the twentieth century, especially in the last quarter-century, reflecting changes in modern societies that emphasized gender parity. Although the level of participation and performance still varies greatly by country and by sport.
In France mainly sport courses and gym can be found in relation to women-only sport activity.
In Strasbourg, the municipality has developed “Sports au Feminine”, a series of courses that promote physical as well as mental wellbeing, such as yoga, pilates, trekking, qi gong.
Only-for-women gyms have started to appear, especially in Paris, such as Curves, or Lady Fitness. Curves is an American chain that has around 30 gyms in France. Its slogan is « No mirror, no make-up, no men”. Lady Fitness offers women conceived machineries, protect women from men gaze and is not open during the weekend, on the belief that women have different needs than men concerning sport. Similarly, it is also possible to run into only-for-women bootcamps, that target only woman and offer occasions of exercises totally protected from male gaze.
Always in Paris a very innovative offer is Pinky Parkour, an association that organizes only-for women-classes of Parkour, a method of physical training that develops one’s ability to overcome obstacles (both physical and mental) mainly practiced by a male audience. The course is attended mainly by women between 20 and 30 years and is strongly devoted to the empowerment of girls. The teachers are young girls that give customized advices, encourage the participants to trust in themselves and develop their agility. An atmosphere of mutual help and non-judgement is promoted rather than competition and performance.
Outside French territory, “Women at Parc” project in Brussels is also worth to be mentioned. It aims at exploring how to make the parcs more accessible to women by organizing “women explorative walks” that engage women from the scratch in the planning of outdoor measures and infrastructures that correspond to their needs.5) Which are the main impacts of outdoor sport activities at community level?
Playing outdoor sport activities has many positive repercussions at community level.
First among all, it contributes to reduce national health expenditure. Some outdoor activities also require less energetic provision and less resources in equipment than indoor sports (usually requiring conditioning system, lights, music and electricity to make the machineries work).
The positive impact of outdoor activities in social relations and network usually leads to positive effects on the level of mutual aid among citizens; on business partnerships; on exchange and diffusion of opinions, ideas and innovative concepts; on the number of activities or events organised; on the reactivity and mobilization in case of natural catastrophes or urgencies.
In addition, empowered and self-confident citizens are usually better equipped to face challenges, whether in private life, at work or in public life. They are also more likely to mobilize and have more spirit of initiatives.
Last but not least, outdoor sport activities make public space more lively, thus contributing to the perceived security of inhabitants, appreciation of the urban space and social control in the streets.4) Which are the main impacts of outdoor sport activities at individual level?
Outdoor activities have a clear established positive impact on physical health: blood circulation, fitness, immune defences, articulation flexibility are just some of the many positive effects. On the other side, especially when there is a lack of sport culture and basic knowledge of body functioning, practising sports can lead to an increase in injuries given by fell, collision, muscular sprains. Nonetheless, in the long run and especially in the old age people that regularly practiced a sport, people practicing regular outdoor sport activities are less likely to incur in accidental falls or rheumatism.
Outdoor sport activities have also many advantages on mental health: they positively affect individual’s mood, they help to reduce stress, anxiety, loneliness and depression; they help to train perseverance, to build self-esteem, confidence and social integration. They contribute to the management of mental disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Last but not least, it usually increases the connection of the individual with nature, thus contributing to clearing one’s mind, releasing stress and fostering creativity.
A general increase in social relations and connectivity with some dimensions of society are also usually experienced by people playing outdoor activities.3) Which are the areas of social life you believe social impacts or potential changes are much more deployed?
Social relations are one of the areas that I believe can be most impacted by playing sport. Playing outdoor sport activities increases the number of connections and acquaintance, it gives access to a social network, that one’s can refer to in case of need or when organizing activities. Being more in contact with other people, with clothes that differs from work or public life, and usually with common challenges to face also increases the level of empathy among people and it develops their social skills and a more extrovert attitude.
On the other side, when the social capital established among the members becomes particularly strong, it could lead to an excessive identification with the sport and its members, thus leading to fanaticism and to in-group dynamics that could radicalise its members or disconnect them from reality.
Another sphere that is remarkably affected by practicing sport is the use of free time, and especially the social implications of the selected leisure activity. Differently from watching television or reading the news, playing an outdoor activity pushes the individual out of his/her home and of his comfort area, it usually gets him/her in contact with other people and it makes him/her face new challenges and a less predictable environment.Lastly, playing outdoor activities increases the rootedness and connection of the individual with his/her territory, with its morphological, historical and cultural features. The individual playing outdoor activity is usually confronted with the weather, the type of soil, the difference in altitude, the urban planning of the city, the habits and level of acceptation of inhabitants.
2) To which main questions an analysis of the local impact of outdoor sport activities can provide an answer?
Is sport increasing wellbeing of those who practice it?
Are people playing sport benefiting of better social capital than those who don’t play any sport?
Are people playing sport more engaged in the local community?
Do people practising sport play a greater role in the social/political life of the neighbourhood/ city?
Are people playing a sport less likely to commit crime?
Do the neighbourhood with a higher rate of individuals practicing sport report less crime rate?
Are people playing sport performing a better cognitive activity?
Have women playing sport a higher self-esteem, negotiation ability and agency that those not playing?1) How local impact generated by outdoor sport activities can be identified and evaluated?
In order to make a participatory and at the same time agile impact evaluation, it is proposed to engage individuals practicing sport in 3 out of the7 phases of the evaluative process. Priority should be given to those individuals practicing sports that are willing to participate to all the 3 participatory steps of the research. Secondly, both individuals that are very passioned by sport and people that are milder on the issue should be selected in order to have a variety of insights.A short description of the phases of the evaluative process follows:
a. Define the target population: the category of sport practitioners for which we want to analyse the impact should be identified. It could be teenagers, or adults, or women, or people with disabilities, etc. This choice can be taken also according to the category with whom the organization has more contacts and dialogue.
b. Define the scope – as described in the instruction sheet, practicing sport has a wide variety of impact. In order to increase the quality and the timeliness of the evaluation, it is suggested to choose a clearly defined set of impacts. This choice can be done by means of a literature research and by means of 1 focus group with the selected group of sport practitioners that belong to the selected category. The workshop’s aim is to explore what are according to them the impacts of practicing outdoor sport activities and in which of the impacts they are interested in knowing more.
c. Define the indicators and thresholds – this step can be taken in the same workshop organized to identify the scope. Once the scope has been identified, participants are invited to express which aspects of the reality bear witness of the selected impacts, and the value that they expect this aspect to be. For example, if they chose as an indicator the number of social connections that an individual has gained because of playing sport, it is important that they also express how many connections the expect the individual to gain by applying sport.
d. Identify the investigative tools to gather the desired information – will it be a survey? Or qualitative interviews? Or focus group? This should be decided according to the characteristics of the target population and the tools and time at the disposal of the organization.
e. Data collection. If among the participants to the workshop there are particularly interested individuals, the organization can imagine to set up groups to collect the data. It will allow to save energies while at the same time increasing the research skills of the participants.
f. Data analysis: Collected data are aggregated in easy-to-understand numbers and layout and discussed with the participants. In order to understand for who and under which condition there is a certain impact (realistic approach), it is important to verify the correlation between effects: is the reduction of crime always present in individuals playing sport or only when sport lead to higher social relations? Or is it related only with individual of a certain age range?
g. Report writing and dissemination.
h. If there are some very interested participants, the research can encourage them in building up a group for furtherly explore the topic or take some actions to amplify or maximize the identified impacts (according to the research action principles). -
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