On January 21, during the working visit to Kazan, Russian Minister of Sport Oleg Matytsin met with the representatives of the Organising Committee of the FISU Volunteer Leaders Academy. Meeting took place at the Volga Region University of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism. It was also attended by the Director General of the ANO “Directorate for Sports and Social Projects” Maksim Denisov and the rector of the Volga Region University Rafis Burganov.
FISU Student Ambassador Programme results were presented to Mr Matytsin who noted that the programme is evolving year by year with the students representation in national sports federations going up.
Albina Rakhmatullina, FVLA and FISU Student Ambassadors project coordinator, FISU Healthy Campus programme auditor, told about the outcomes of the FVLA in 2021 and plans for 2022.
The fifth edition of the FISU Volunteer Leaders Academy was held in September 2021 at the Kazan Expo IEC on the sidelines of the IX International Sports Forum “Russia – Country of Sports”. Students from 115 national and 5 continental university sports federations attended the event.
In spite of the Academy online format, the educational programme was as eventful as in the previous years. The Academy participants kept up the tradition of ambassadors’ succession – assistance to the national federations throughout the 2021/2022 season in line with the action plan worked out together with FISU.
In 2022, the introductory session is scheduled for June 17 in an online format, and from September 2 to 8, the Academy participants will meet on the premises of the Volga University.
Besides the educational programme, the Academy is planning to visit sports venues, Kazan higher education institutions and present the best practices of the FISU Student Ambassadors. Celebration of the first anniversary (five years) of the FISU Student Ambassadors Programme along with the contribution to the sustainable development, green focus and nurturing social responsibility among students will be the Academy themes.
What is more, as an auditor of the FISU Healthy Campus programme, Albina Rakhmatullina, reported on the implementation of the FISU Healthy Campus project in Russia.
Developed by FISU and introduced in May 2020, the FISU Healthy Campus Certificate was elaborated to facilitate setting standards for health and wellbeing in universities across the world while at the same time promoting sustainable development in compliance with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
As part of the project, universities from all over the world can sign up on a unique Internet platform that enables the participants to directly exchange experiences in organising students’ physical activity, healthy diet, in sparking interest in sustainable development and formation of socially responsible behaviour. The university is assigned the status of compliance (5 levels) and a certificate for the completed programme. Over 90 universities from Europe, America, Asia and Africa have already joined the FISU Healthy Campus programme. Besides, following the results of 2021, 13 Russian higher education institutions became the project participants, including the Volga Region University of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism.
It is worth pointing out that in the long run this FISU project has every chance to grow into a global rating. Higher education institutions successfully implementing the Healthy Campus programme will be obtaining relevant certificates, which will contribute to their promotion at the international arena. The main advantage of the programme is the opportunity for an educational organisation to enter the global university community to exchange the experience.
FISU Volunteer Leaders Academy is an educational event annually held in Kazan since 2017. International University Sports Federation (FISU) along with the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan are the FVLA founders with Norilsk Nickel traditionally being the event general partner.
Since 2017, a rich educational programme has been incorporating lectures and master classes by the experts from FISU, World Anti-Doping Agency, EF Education First, organising committees of the University Games and other high-level sporting events. Participants-oriented cultural and sporting events allow learning about the Republic of Tatarstan and the field of sport as a matter of practice.
Throughout the year, student ambassadors take part in FISU activities and local projects, organise events dedicated to the International University Sports Day, make presentations and publish their news on social networks.
In 2022, the FVLA organising committee will come in on the preparation and implementation of another project – FISU University World Cup Rugby Sevens to be held on August 11-15, 2022 in Kazan.
Press Office of the ANO “Directorate for Sports and Social Projects”