2012 IOC World Conference on Sport, Culture and Education

The 8th edition of the IOC World Conference on Sport, Culture and Education is being organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and in collaboration with the National Olympic Committee of the Netherlands (NOC*NSF).

The Conference will take place from 25 to 27 November 2012 in the city of Amsterdam (Netherlands). The programme will highlight the importance of sport as a mediator for social and economic development within the context of a sporting, educational and cultural framework.

Conference participants and high-level speakers include representatives from the sporting community, the United Nations system, civil society organisations, special interest groups, academia, governments, non-governmental organisations, the corporate sector and the media. The registration process for the 8th IOC World Conference on Sport, Culture and Education is now closed.

The conference will however be live streamed for those who do not have the chance to come to Amsterdam. Visit the dedicated conference website at http://www.iocworldconferencenl2012.org/

For any questions or concerns, please contact events.amsterdam2012@olympic.org

Key topics:

The two-day Conference programme will be structured around plenary and dialogue sessions and will reflect three pillars of transition from Policy to Practice to the potential of sport and Olympism as it relates to education and culture. The Conference will also involve young people who are at the heart of many related initiatives set up by the Olympic Movement.

Items on the agenda include:

• innovative approaches for sustainable education;

• the value of sport in civil society, specifically in terms of family structures;

• cultural exchange and identity angle;

• the impact of the Youth Olympic Games and Olympic Games Cultural Olympiad;

• the socio-economic benefits of sport and quality physical education;

• follow-up of the 7th World Conference on Sport, Education and Culture, “Giving a Voice to Youth”

• contribution to preparatory discussions ahead of the 5th UNESCO International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS V) to be held in 2013.

Click here to preview the preliminary programme

Conference venue:

Amsterdam’s Maritime Museum will provide the monumental backdrop for the opening ceremony, and also host the presentation of the 2012 IOC OlympiArt Award and the presentation ceremony for the medal winners of the IOC 2012 Sport and Art Contest. The Conference will be held in the NH Hotel Krasnapolsky.

Background Information:

The IOC Commission for Culture and Olympic Education was created in 2000 to advise the IOC on the best policies and programmes to help promote culture and Olympic education.

Working with the Commission, the IOC developed an Olympic education policy that seeks to provide greater resources to help promote culture and education through sport at a national, regional and international level. Activities related to the education of young people through sport play a key role within the Conference programme.

The IOC’s World Conference on Sport, Culture and Education, which takes place every two years, is an important interactive platform to take stock of the progress made and to develop a significant impetus for the way forward. The previous Conference, held in Durban, South Africa, attracted more than 500 participants and concluded with a strong action plan within the relevant domains of activity.

UN partnership:

UNESCO is the United Nations’ specialised agency for education. Since its creation in 1945, the organisation has worked to improve education worldwide. The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the IOC and UNESCO has enabled a long-standing partnership between the two leading organisations.

NOC*NSF:

The Netherlands Olympic Committee * Netherlands Sports Confederations (NOC*NSF) is the umbrella body for organised sports in the Netherlands. The 95 member organisations include 76 national federations, which account for 28,000 sport clubs with almost 6 million members. This makes up a third of the Dutch population.

NOC*NSF uses the power of sport to unite and to inspire everyone in the Netherlands to greater achievements. This is articulated in the mission statement of NOC*NSF: ‘’To each, his or her Olympic dream’’. The Dutch NOC also celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2012.