Post by Tuulia Hokkanen

The headquarters of the European College of Sport Science together with the technical team visited the host city of the 20th annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science.

It is stunning to see how much the city of Malmö has developed in the past few years! The first time the ECSS Office visited Malmö was 2010 and at that time the Clarion Hotel and Congress Malmö Live was just a dream on paper. Now in November 2014 you can already recognize the huge construction when stepping outside from the Central Station. The congress venue really is centrally located!

ECSS office and the technical team at Turning Torso, Malmö.

During this three-day-trip to Malmö the ECSS Office met a lot of people from the local hosting team. The invited programme is already available on the congress website and the congress programme as a whole will be available 1st of April next year. The social programme is now finalized, demonstrating the diversity of Malmö as well as Swedish traditions. The city of Malmö will showcase the best of Scandinavia to the participants of the 20th annual congress of the ECSS.

Malmö by bike – and day.

At the Malmö Live the construction of the buildings has been remarkable! Now it was already possible to locate session rooms and reception accurately and it was necessary to get the feeling of the space that was available for us. We almost could imagine the plus 2.500 ECSS congress participants walking through the hallways and mingling in the exhibition areas.

Working on a building…

The congress presidents Susanna Hedenborg and Aage Radmann were terrific guides for the ECSS Office and we got to experience Malmö at its best! Even though the weather was a bit cloudy and rainy, bikes still were the best option to get around the city. Malmö is full of amazing restaurants and pubs. Especially the Little Square (Lilla Torget) will be an amazing place to hang out in the summer and enjoy the unique Swedish atmosphere, hospitality and culinary treats.

Carefully considering the whole situation.

Malmö is a great city. It has something to offer for everyone and especially as a sport enthusiastic it provides countless opportunities to exercise and enjoy physical activity. There are many parks in the city area, which give a great opportunity for a calm morning run. In addition, all the water sports and skateboarding are extremely popular. Still in November the salty sea provided a great platform for a morning dip – with or without sauna.

The congress party of the 20th annual congress will be a night to remember! Keep your eyes open and follow us on twitter to get the first hand information about the location! It will be announced early next year.

Getting an eyeful of Malmö dockside development.

We are looking forward to the 20th anniversary congress of the ECSS and are hoping to see you all there!

Please find more images of Malmö from our Flickr account and visit the congress website for more information.

Tuulia Hokkanen
Communication and Media Manager, ECSS