More than 500 top experts on the physical activity of children and adolescents to meet in Jyväskylä on 13–17 May 2024
The AIESEP (International Association for Physical Education in Higher Education) congress is the most important annual meeting for the researchers of sport pedagogy and physical education. The event in Jyväskylä in May is unique and has plenty of participants because this is the first in-person gathering for the AIESEP community in Europe after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The amount of physical activity has decreased internationally, also in Finland, to an alarmingly low level.
"Promoting the physical activity of children and adolescents is a common mission of our international researcher community.”
“The latest studies show signs that Finland has been able to stop the decline and that in some age classes the amount of exercise has even slightly increased,” says Associate Professor Arja Sääkslahti from the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences at the Ģֱ.
“However, we need efforts to improve the situation because before school age more than 80 per cent of children exceed the physical activity recommendations, but at the age of 17 less than 20 per cent of adolescents have enough exercise from a health perspective. Promoting the physical activity of children and adolescents is a common mission of our international researcher community.”
The congress will explore the physical activity and physical education of children and young people through an extensive and diverse programme. More than 600 researchers from all parts of the world submitted research abstracts for the congress. Of these, 329 oral presentations, 168 poster presentations and 33 symposiums were accepted for the programme of the congress.
The keynote speakers of the congress are four high-profile researchers in the field: Professor Eeva Anttila (University of the Arts Helsinki), Associate Professor Michael Hemphill (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA), Professor Nadia C. Valentini (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasilia) and Professor David Lubans (University of Newcastle, Australia).
“Lubans is one of the world’s leading experts in the promotion of physical education at schools,” Sääkslahti says. “His special expertise includes the implementation and planning of various physical activity interventions, of which we will hear practical examples from Australia.”
The theme of the congress is “The past meets the future”. The theme was selected to honour the life’s work of the late Professor Risto Telama,a researcher and significant figure in sport pedagogy, and to highlight 60 years of the globally renowned sport pedagogy education at the Ģֱ. Following in ձ’s footsteps, Finnish researchers of sport pedagogy have continued to develop research-based physical education.
The Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences at the Ģֱ is the organiser of the congress and 24 researchers from the faculty at different phases of their careers will present their research at the event.
Topics and expert interviews for media
Media representatives are welcome to participate in the programme of the congress and to interview top experts of sport pedagogy and physical education from all over the world. We are happy to offer topics for articles and help in arranging expert interviews.
Further information:
Arja Sääkslahti, Associate Professor
Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, Ģֱ
arja.saakslahti@jyu.fi, +358408053974
Kasper Salin, Associate Professor
Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, Ģֱ
kasper.j.salin@jyu.fi, +358408053964
Media contacts:
Katri Lehtovaara, Communications Specialist
Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, Ģֱ
katri.lehtovaara@jyu.fi, +358504750815
