On the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe celebrates the transformative power of sport as a driver of human rights, social cohesion and environmental responsibility. Beyond competition, sport is a powerful tool for fostering dialogue, building bridges between communities and promoting shared values rooted in dignity, respect and sustainability. Sport brings people together, protecting the environment preserves the spaces we share, and both are essential foundations for building lasting peace.

Today, the triple planetary crisis of pollution, climate change and loss of biodiversity are also affecting how and where sport can be practiced. This highlights the urgent need to fully integrate the environmental perspective into the world of sport, which has the capacity to mobilise, raise awareness, and act as a lever for change.

As Ghizlane Akourim (Morocco), Strategy Consultant, Trainer - Learning Facilitator, alumna from the HEY Programme as participant in the 2025 edition of the course on Sport stressed: “All actors in sport should integrate environmental responsibility into every aspect of their activities. Sustainability must be central to the organisation of sporting events, as well as to the production and use of equipment and sportswear. As environmental changes threaten the future of certain sports, athletes also have a key role to play in using their platforms to advocate for everyone’s right to a clean and healthy planet.”

The second edition of the HEY course on sport will start as from next week, engaging fifty participants from Europe, Africa and the Middle East for a month of interactive learning. The course explores human rights in and through the sport sector, the organisation of the sports movement, including key stakeholders, their responsibilities, as well as the challenges faced by sport. It also provides tools to make the world of sport more responsible and respectful of human rights, thereby strengthening sport’s capacity to promote development, peace, inclusion, and dialogue.

For over five decades, the Council of Europe has advocated fair play and respect in sport, tackling corruption and helping make sport safe, ethical and accessible to all. This work contributes to the creation of inclusive, democratic societies which respect human rights and the rule of law – the Council of Europe’s raison d’être. The HEY Programme aligns with the Reykjavik Declaration, which states that “human rights and the environment are intertwined and that a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is integral to the full enjoyment of human rights by present and future generations”. In this sense, the HEY course aims to harnessing sports in a holistic way to advance human rights, promote peace and protect the planet.

The HEY online training course on Sports benefits from voluntary contributions by North-South Centre of the Council of Europe member states and is implemented with the financial support of the South Programme VI “Strengthening Euro-Mediterranean legal space for shared prosperity and human security”, a joint initiative between the European Union and the Council of Europe, co-financed by both organisations and implemented by the Council of Europe.