International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs

Purpose: The EU funded Placemaking & Sport project enabled sport organisations to rethink their sport and physical activity offers through placemaking and local community involvement. The project encouraged sport organisations and towns in Denmark, France, Spain, Malta, and Italy to explore new ways of engaging communities in an active lifestyle to bring public space to life. Project Description. Development and Implementation: Coordinated by ISCA, the project paired grassroots organisations with city representatives – Azur Sport Santé and the City of Nice (France), UISP and UISP Matera (Italy), MOVE Malta and Sport Malta (Malta), DGI and the City of Copenhagen (Denmark), DES and City of Valencia (Spain). The project showcased how, by engaging the local communities’ needs, movement can thrive in unexpected spaces, promoting healthier and more connected cities. After 18 months of experimentation in diverse cities across Europe, various placemaking methodologies were piloted with the focus on engaging local citizens in decision-making and together transforming spaces into active thriving public places. This included teenagers in Italy, elderly in Denmark, schools, sport and nature organisations in Malta, neighbourhood associations in Spain, and street art associations & museums in France. Through physical activity and play, but also sharing memories, rekindling childhood connections to parks and squares, inventing games, and telling stories, the transformative power of placemaking in creating more vibrant and inclusive communities was showcased. Dissemination: The dissemination efforts were focusing on the storytelling of the local activities that were amplified through podcasts and videos. A follow-up initiative in France has already been funded to continue developing their pilot. The learning materials and resources are collected on https://placemaking.isca.org to further build capacities of the sector. Conclusions: With urban areas facing a shortage of sport facilities, the project demonstrated how squares and parks could serve as accessible venues for physical activity. It sought to reshape the perception of where and how people move while keeping the community at the centre of it through diverse engagement activities. It promoted flexible, inclusive spaces that encourage walking, socialising, and informal recreation ensuring that movement becomes a natural part of everyday life for people of all ages and abilities. Keywords: Participation, placemaking, physical activity, sport, urban development

This research note explores the intersection of Indigenous rights and health from a legal and sociocultural perspective, focusing on the unique challenges faced by Indigenous communities in Brazil. It critically examines the tension between individual and collective rights as they pertain to health, highlighting the divergence between Western biomedical models and Indigenous worldviews of "well-being" or "sumak kawsay." The study reviews the existing legal and normative frameworks—ranging from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to Brazil's constitution—that aim to ensure culturally appropriate healthcare for Indigenous peoples. Despite these frameworks, significant challenges persist, including cultural and linguistic barriers, distrust of formal health services, inadequate access to care, and institutional discrimination. Through case studies, such as the health crisis among the Yanomami people, the note illustrates how these issues manifest in practice and argues for the need to incorporate Indigenous healing practices into the broader health system. The study concludes by advocating for a more intercultural health approach that respects and integrates Indigenous knowledge, enhances community participation, and fosters a more inclusive, just, and effective health system for Indigenous peoples in Brazil.

This paper contributes to the perception of the future engineer and the competencies needed. Besides a good basic knowledge of engineering, business, technology and management our students need training in softer skills such as international cooperation, collaboration, communication, teambuilding and teamwork, language and understanding of other cultures, their behaviour, costumes, habits and expectations. The Chinese saying: "Ru xiang sui su" meaning "Enter village and follow costume" tells it all. The future engineer must be able to work in international project groups with multidisciplinary and cross-cultural participation. In the European Project Semester, EPS, described in this paper, students are exposed to a multicultural environment in which they study and work together on real projects provided by industry. Here new learning and teaching methods and competencies are introduced and are not just an opportunity to practice what has been previously taught. Normally students from 10-12 different universities in EU, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia and Lithuania participate. Also universities in Chile and the US are now sending their students to join. EPS contributes to international understanding and competitiveness.