Now is a very exciting time! Over the past two years we have developed the concept of Grassroots Sport Diplomacy together with our partners and diplomacy experts from across the world. Along the way, we have discovered that Grassroots Sport Diplomacy gives us a brand new angle to our work. And this angle will allow us to find new partners, new opportunities, new activities – and from today, a range of brand new resources including a free online course.

The very first Grassroots Sport Diplomacy online course is now open on the International Sport and Culture Association’s (ISCA) online learning platform learn.isca.org and can be accessed for free and completed at your own pace. We hope it will inspire you as a grassroots sport or physical activity professional and anyone interested in international relations or sport for development to get started in this field.

With support from the EU’s Erasmus+ Sport programme, ISCA and our partners have designed the Grassroots Sport Diplomacy online course to capture learning points and experiences gathered from a mapping of different types of diplomacy, an extensive stakeholder consultation and, seven pilot actions that were tested during the project.

How you can use the Grassroots Sport Diplomacy course to your advantage

Diplomacy is an opportunity for us in grassroots sport. It is value-based communication and exchange across borders. It has in fact been taking place as citizen-to-citizen engagement for centuries – maybe you have been part of international exchanges in grassroots sport as well? But so far, this work has been taking place outside of the governmental and political radars.

Would you like your work to be recognised as a Grassroots Sport Diplomacy action? Join us as one of the frontrunners in this space by completing the online course and get in touch – we want to hear what you have learned or about any existing experiences you can share.

Your professional development in 2020 starts here

By completing four modules and utilising the learning materials you should be able to describe Grassroots Sport Diplomacy and be able distinguish it from sport diplomacy, cultural diplomacy and other related concepts. You will learn how to identify key actors who carry out Grassroots Sport Diplomacy, and how to approach relevant stakeholders who can work with you on Grassroots Sport Diplomacy actions.

There are also examples of Grassroots Sport Diplomacy for your inspiration. We believe that after completing the full course you will understand how to design and develop a Grassroots Sport Diplomacy initiative of your own.

We have a chance to contribute to better diplomatic actions through grassroots sport – let’s take the first step together!

Watch our video introduction to the Grassroots Sport Diplomacy course

Take the course here: https://learn.isca.org/courses/grassroots-sport-diplomacy/

Visit the official Grassroots Sport Diplomacy website

The Grassroots Sport Diplomacy course was developed by the following project partners: International Sport and Culture Association (coordinator), European Observatory of Sport and Employment (France), Think Tank Sport and Citizenship (France), French Institute for International and Strategic Studies (France), Danish National Olympic Committee and Sport Confederation (Denmark), UBAE (Spain), UISP (Italy), National School, University and Leisure Sport Federation (Hungary), Portuguese Institute for Sport and Youth (Portugal), and SESC São Paulo (Brazil).