A student project that looks at enhancing the development pathway for leaders of the future, and a second one that proposes using sport to address emotional and mental health concerns among university students were adjudged the two best student projects of the 2020 FISU World Forum that concluded earlier this month.
The theme for this year’s student projects at the FISU World Forum was ‘Promoting Positive Impacts of University Sport on Health and Wellbeing of Students as Tomorrow’s Leaders’. Nearly 100 students representing 61 countries were part of the student competition.
Divided into seven groups, the students had the chance to start working on their group projects even before the Forum started on 12 August. They had access to some online learning sessions and received guidance from the FISU Education Committee members on how to develop and run a project. The brief for the student projects, as always, was that the project should be relevant and realistic, and should respond to real needs or be addressed to a concrete target group.
“Apart from project management, the pre-learning programme for students focused on leadership and work in international groups,” explained Renata Renata Bojczuk, member of the FISU Education Committee. “Indeed, students were challenged, not only with the competition but also with the task of creating a team out of people they have never met before and couldn’t meet in person. People from different continents, time zones and cultures. What was linking all of them was the passion for university sport.”
“For me, the most valuable part of the student programme was that students learned how to work in international groups,” she added. “How to respect and understand others’ views, attitudes, how to overcome the obstacles linked to working digitally, and how to enrich a project proposal with the diversity of ideas and unique experiences of each of the group members.”
Based on the preset criteria, a jury composed of Inès Maria Gomez (FISU Education Committee member), Viktor Kiss (FISU Education Committee and Student Committee member), Sabina D’Ess (FISU student ambassador), Lilia Barieva (FISU Education &Development Director), and Fernando Parente (FISU Healthy Campus & Relations with Universities Director) chose the winning projects.
An excerpt from Group 1’s winning student project at the 2020 FISU World Forum
“It was wonderful to have so many engaged, positive and professional students from across the world, join us for the successful online implementation of the student projects,” said Donna Spethman of the FISU Education Committee, also Secretary General of FISU Oceania.
“All students who were involved displayed flexibility to adapt to the online environment and were eager to further improve their leadership and project management skills. It was a pleasure to work with all students as well as my colleagues from the Education Committee on the 2020 FISU World Forum.”
“Working with people from all around the world, hearing their stories as well as their culture, I feel very fortunate,” said Eng Chin An, a participating student from Singapore. “We understood that we all come from different backgrounds and still managed to successfully deliver the project despite our differences. Overall, I am glad that I made new friends through this student programme.”
An evaluation survey has been launched among the participating students to further delve into how the student projects were beneficial for them.
The group delivering the winning project(s) receives a special award from FISU and the 2020 FISU World Forum Organising Committee.
Group 1, that presented a project to enhance the development pathway for leaders of the future, focused on the holistic development of a person through sport, better heath and active lifestyles.
The project included steps to involve the participants of the annual FISU Volunteer Leaders Academy, as well as the vast FISU alumni network.
An excerpt from Group 2’s winning student project at the 2020 FISU World ForumThe second winning project, presented by Group 2, aimed to address mental health concerns among the university student community. The action plan of the project includes implementation during FISU annual events like International Day of University Sport (IDUS) and the FISU Healthy Campus project.
The project revolves around local activities on each university campus, and thus, fits the brief well. Importantly, the project also looks to identify the main factors affecting the emotional exhaustion of students today. The main proposal of the project is to create an educational platform of good practices for dual career, recuperation, recovery, and enjoyment.
Jihad Hamadi from Libya, who was part of this winning group project said the experience itself was very valuable.
“Working and making new friends with people who share the same goal and vision despite our different cultures and languages, was great,” he said. “Everyone was understanding and inclusive.”
“The FISU World Forum has always attracted the strongest and most engaging of University students, but this year’s cohort dealt with many challenges to produce superb results,” concluded Education Committee member Bill Thompson. “It is so encouraging to see the level of projects submitted and to know that these future leaders will be the future of University Sport.”
Composition of Group 1
|
Name |
Surname |
Country |
|
Pamela Jimena |
Lechado Castillo |
Costa Rica |
|
Rodrigo |
Leiva |
Guatemala |
|
Aurelio |
Talavera |
Panama |
|
Taahir |
Bulbulia |
Barbados |
|
Zahra |
Bassiri |
Iran (Islamic Republic of) |
|
Agustín |
Gutiérrez |
Argentina |
|
Joaquín |
Mones |
Uruguay |
|
Peter |
Boyes |
United Kingdom |
|
Joshua |
Miethke |
Germany |
|
Yauheni |
Puzan |
Poland |
|
Lindo |
Zwane |
South Africa |
|
Jill |
Nussbaumer |
Switzerland |
Composition of Group 2
|
Name |
Surname |
Country |
|
Ronald |
Segura |
El Salvador |
|
Valeria |
Rojas |
Mexico |
|
Cesar Raul |
Velasquez Lazo |
Peru |
|
Nicole |
Kristof |
United States |
|
Diego Galdino |
França |
Brazil |
|
Iddi |
Mohammed Faried |
Ghana |
|
Fabio |
Nunes |
Portugal |
|
Nóra |
Oláh |
Hungary |
|
Zrinka |
Tabain |
Croatia (Hrvatska) – EUSA |
|
Salvador |
Angosto |
Spain |
|
Jihad |
Hamadi |
Libya |
|
MOFFAT |
MWANDILA |
Zambia |
