"Like winning Willy Wonka's golden ticket"
The national anthem, the FISU anthem and joik were musical elements when the FISU World Forum was inaugurated on Monday. And already at the press conference, it was stated by student ambassador Halima Bakkar from Algeria – having the opportunity to participate is like winning the highest prize.
"It feels like I've got Willy Wonka's golden ticket. Here I get the chance to make friendships and discuss the future of university sports. I want to take the experiences from the event back with me to Algeria and Africa," said Halima Bakkar, student ambassador (in white shirt on the right).
Mid Sweden University is hosting the international forum where Halima has had the opportunity to participate thanks to the International Federation for University Sports, FISU. At the press conference, she stood side by side with representatives from them, SAIF and Mid Sweden University. All emphasized the importance of the event, including FISU President Leonz Eder:
"It brings together more than 150 participants from five continents, which makes this an important platform for the global university sports movement. The goal is to create a better life at universities through sports. We must learn from each other, ask each other critical questions in order to develop and face a world in rapid change," he said.
The chairman of the organizing committee, Lovisa Broms, emphasized that the choice of Mid Sweden University as the host of the event was natural for SAIF:
"Sport can help strengthen students' well-being and make them flourish. An excellent example of how sports and universities can work together can be found here in Östersund, at Mid Sweden University, she said.
Vice-Chancellor Anders Fällström nodded in approval to Lovisa's words and reminded that the international character of the FISU World Forum is well in line with how several of Mid Sweden University's research centres work.
"Our sports research is just one example of how research with strong regional roots can reach international significance through collaboration, knowledge exchange and global networks. I hope that the FISU World Forum will be an opportunity to create new relationships that contribute to development long after the forum has ended," he said.
The FISU World Forum runs throughout the week and in addition to the formal program, participants will be given good opportunities to get acquainted with local culture, sports and "the Swedish fika". The opening ceremony at lunchtime on Monday offered both the Swedish national anthem, the FISU anthem and an atmospheric performance by the Sami artist Anna Kråik, accompanied by Roger Rådström. Her joik drew great applause.
And when the forum's first keynote speaker, Michelle Tanner, took on her assignment, she too was met with warm applause. As Head of Sport and Physical Activity at Trinity College Dublin, she leads the strategic development of sports facilities, programmes and services for students as well as for the wider community. One of her messages was that universities need to take a more proactive approach to students' health and well-being. At the same time, she is well aware of the challenges that many universities face:
"The obvious answer is funding and resources, as most universities face competing challenges when it comes to funding and staffing different areas of activity and priorities. However, in my experience, the biggest challenge is to gain institutional commitment to develop and implement a shared vision to promote health, well-being, and physical activity for students and our campus communities.
The FISU World Forum runs until August 28 with large parts of the program located at F214.
Here you will find the program if you want to listen to the keynote speaker or panel discussion
Footnote: FISU (International University Sports Federation)