Where Sport Meets Mental Health Policy

Forty-five percent of adults in the EU say they never exercise or play sport, according to the most recent Eurobarometer survey on the subject. That is usually treated as a physical health problem, but physical activity is also one of the strands the BSR Mental Health Platform draws together, which is why the platform will take part in MOVING People, MOVING Europe 2026 in Wrocław from 24 to 27 November.

The fifth edition of the conference is organised by ISCA together with the V4Sport Foundation and the Krokiet and Lama Academy, and will bring more than 200 policymakers, researchers and sports leaders to the DoubleTree Hotel in Wrocław. ISCA, a partner in the platform, has included it in the conference programme alongside the other European projects it works on.

Mental health and well-being through sport is one of eight themes on the conference programme, alongside early intervention, inclusion, urban design, youth engagement, technology, community and sport policy.

A good deal of work in the region already uses physical activity, sport and time spent in nature to support mental health, much of it in schools and community settings, and much of it developed project by project without the results being brought together. Consolidating that work is one of the platform’s thematic tasks, along with the harder question of what allows it to become part of mental health policy rather than remaining a set of well-regarded projects. Practitioners see those conditions from the other side, which is why a conference of this kind matters to the work.

Programme Manual Online

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