The majority of children in the Nordic countries are members of a sport association. In this conference we will focus on continuity and change in child and youth sport, as well as similarities and differences between the Nordic Countries. The conference is hosted by the Norwegian Research Centre for Children and Youth Sport and will be held over two days. On the first day, invited speakers from the nordic countries will present and discuss the topic. The presentations will held be in English.
On the second day the presentations will be held in Norwegian. If you would like more information about the lectures on day two, please follow this link.
Program
08:30 – Welcome – Åse Strandbu (FOBU)
08:45 – Children and youth sport in Norway – Ørnulf Seippel
09:00 – Trends and challenges of Sport participation of children & youth in Finland – Hannah Vehmas
09:15 – Breakout rooms and questions
09:30 – Break
09:45 – Children and youth sport in Sweden – challenges and possibilities – Johan Norberg
10:00 – Characteristics and value of children and adolescent sports in modern Icelandic society – Thordis Gisladóttir
10:15 – Breakout rooms and questions
10:30 – Break
10:45 – Continuation and change in political (macro), organizational (meso) and participatory (micro) dimensions of children and youth sport in Denmark – Bjarne Ibsen
11:00 – Questions
11:15 – Panel: Sport children in the Nordic countries: participation, values and challenges. Discussion and challenges
11:45 – End of conference
Speakers
Bjarne Ibsen
Ibsen is a professor at the Institute of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark (SDU).
The governing idea in his research is sociological analyses of the civil society and voluntary associations, primarily in the field of sport, physical activity and health but also in other areas of society. The particular focus of this research is voluntary work in the civil society, the characteristics of voluntary associations, the relations between the voluntary and the public sector, changes in the pattern of associations, social capital and health and physical activity policy. In addition, I also do research in physical activity and sports participation, the organization of sport and sports policy.
Hanna Vehmas
Vehmas has a PhD in Sport Sociology. Since 1999 she has worked as a lecturer and researcher in sport sociology and sport management at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, mainly teaching international students in Sport Management and Health Promotion.
Her research interests and activities focus especially on sport participation, the societal role of physical activity and private sport sector. Currently Dr Vehmas acts as the Secretary General of the European Association for Sociology of Sport (EASS).
Ørnulf Seippel
Seippel is a professor of sociology of sport at the Norwegian School of Sport Science. He has a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Oslo and has previously worked at Institute for Social Research, Norwegian University of science and technology and Norwegian Social Research. Seippel’s research interests cover sport organizations, volunteering/professionalization, sport politics, social integration, social capital, social networks, social inequalities and text analysis.
Johan Norberg
Norberg is Professor in Sport Sciences at Malmö University and researcher in Sweden in the fields of sport policy and
sport governance.
He wrote a thesis in history concerning government support to sports and outdoor recreation in Sweden during the 20th century. He was Chief Secretary of the Sports Committee of inquiry 2007‐2008. Since 2010, he is researcher at The Swedish Research Council for Sport Sciences with the task to evaluate government support to sports.
Thórdís Gísladóttir
Gísladóttir is an Assistant Professor in the Sport- and Health department of the School of Education, University of Iceland. She received her BSc from the University of Alabama in the United States and her MA degree from Bifrost University in Iceland. In 2015, she received her PhD from Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
Her research fields of interest are youth health and well-being, and the effects of sport in society. She has published articles on physical fitness, motor competence, and the effects of sport and physical activity for youth. She conducted the first ever study on the economic value of sport in Icelandic society.
