International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA) 

A global platform for grassroots sport and physical activity 

Citizens in Power has joined the International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA) as a MOVER-level member, with membership valid for five years.  

ISCA is a global platform open to organisations working in sport for all, recreational sport and physical activity. It was established at a founding meeting in Copenhagen on 10 February 1995 and today works with 260 member organisations, international NGOs and public and private sector stakeholders across 89 countries.  

ISCA’s founding purpose was to offer an alternative to an increasingly performance-based model of sport, on the understanding that movement regulates social behaviour and creates a sense of belonging that contributes to a more inclusive society. Its working method is to build the capacity of members and partners to deliver their own initiatives, on the understanding that physical activity promotion succeeds or fails at local level.  

Why this collaboration matters 

Physical inactivity is among the most consistently documented public health challenges in the European Union, and Cyprus performs poorly on comparative indicators of participation in sport and physical exercise. The problem concerns everyday participation: whether ordinary people, in ordinary places, have accessible, low-cost, socially acceptable opportunities to be active and whether the organisations positioned to create those opportunities have the methods and confidence to do so. 

CIP works consistently with the population groups most affected by inactivity and by exclusion from organised sport: young people outside education, employment or training; adults with low qualifications; women with care responsibilities; migrants and third-country nationals; older adults; and residents of rural and peripheral communities. What we have not previously held is a tested repertoire of physical activity event models and the European network needed to adapt them credibly. ISCA membership supplies both, and does so in a field where Cypriot civil society remains under-represented at European level. 

What ISCA offers members 

Members gain access to ready-to-use physical activity event models and implementation guides through the NowWeMOVE platform; to an on-demand catalogue of online courses, podcasts and webinars for staff development; to international conferences and seminars, including the MOVE Congress, which developed from the World Congress on Sport for All and took its present name in 2013; and to partnership opportunities in European projects. ISCA has also developed international guidelines and a self-assessment tool enabling grassroots sport organisations to evaluate and improve their governance structures.  

What CIP brings to the network 

CIP joins ISCA with a decade of practice in non-formal education, community engagement, inclusion and civic participation, delivered through European cooperation projects and directly with beneficiaries in Cyprus. Specifically, we contribute: 

• Reach into under-served groups in Cyprus, including NEETs, low-qualified adults, women, migrants and refugees, and learners in rural and peripheral communities. 

• Non-formal and experiential learning methodologies that transfer readily to physical activity settings, including gamified and peer-led formats. 

• Project design and management capacity across Erasmus+ (including the Sport strand), CERV, AMIF and Horizon Europe, together with established dissemination and evaluation systems. 

• A route into the Cypriot institutional landscape, through cooperation with municipalities, schools, VET centres, higher education institutions, sports clubs and civil society organisations. 

• A small-country perspective on adaptation. Event models designed for large European cities require re-engineering for small municipalities with limited institutional density; Cyprus offers a demanding test bed, and the lessons transfer to other small member states and island regions. 

• Sustainability and public space expertise through the Center for Sustainability (C4S), relevant where physical activity initiatives intersect with active mobility, urban space and environmental objectives. 

How CIP will engage 

Our participation is intended to be operational rather than nominal. Over the five-year membership period CIP will: 

• Work towards recognition as MOVE Agents, building the internal capacity required to deliver NowWeMOVE activities in Cyprus to the standard the network expects.  

• Adapt and pilot ISCA physical activity event models for the Cypriot context, prioritising formats that reach groups with low baseline participation and documenting adaptation requirements transparently. 

• Use ISCA’s capacity-building material of online courses, webinars and podcasts to develop staff competences in physical activity promotion, event design and behaviour-change communication. 

• Apply ISCA’s good governance guidelines and self-assessment tool to strengthen our own organisational practice in the grassroots sport field. 

• Take part in ISCA conferences and seminars, including the MOVE Congress, contributing evidence from Cyprus and identifying partners for future consortia. 

• Contribute to NowWeMOVE campaigns and the European Week of Sport, delivering #BeActive activities and connecting ISCA’s messaging to Cypriot audiences in both Greek and English. 

• Develop Erasmus+ Sport applications with ISCA members whose priorities align with ours, extending our portfolio into grassroots sport, health-enhancing physical activity and sport for inclusion. 

Policy alignment 

This collaboration aligns with the HealthyLifestyle4All initiative and with the European Week of Sport and its #BeActive campaign, and supports the targets of the WHO Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018–2030 on reducing physical inactivity. At project level, it corresponds to the Erasmus+ Sport priorities on promoting participation in sport and physical activity and on encouraging social inclusion and equal opportunities in sport.