Croatian Academic Sports Federation (CASF/HASS), with the support of the European University Sports Association (EUSA), academic and other partners, hosted the first "4 Healthy Academic Society" conference in Poreč, Croatia on June 8 -9, 2023.

The conference showcased a significant step towards creating a healthier and more active academic environment that will benefit the physical and mental health of students, academics, and professionals. It was the place where multiple scientific presentations and papers were presented, knowledge shared, important data showcased, and networks strenghtened. This conference emphasized the importance of physical exercises and health, while addressing a broad range of topics related to dual careers, health, student physical activity, and physical education at the university level.

The conference was opened with the welcoming words of the CASF President and EUSA 1st Vice-President Mr Haris Pavletic and EUSA President, Mr Adam Roczek. They both pointed emphasized the importance of sport, physical activity and management within sport organizations, giving a special thanks to all the present lecturers, researchers, professors and officials, for all their great work in university sport and beyond.

Two key-note speakers had the honour to open the conference, the first being Professor Bojan Jelaković who presented study data on the topic of "The importance of physical activity in modern society", as well as the importance of diet and dietary habits in relation to health. 

Second key-note speaker was, Professor Boštjan Šimunič, presenting on the topic of Physical activity and sedentary behaviour: Which way out?, focusing on best practices and results of research related to physical activity, the impact of long sedentary behaviour, negative trends, smart interventions, health measures and ideas how to return children to sport.

Next on the program was the first part of the short presentations of publications, projects and researches: focusing on  topics such as: association between sedentary behaviour and body composition, enhancing physical activity for elderly people, the relation between students and physical education classes, the power of mindset and its role in the well-being of the student-athletes, the impact of physical activity on mental health, the impact of smoking to the well-being of students, as well as nutrition and physical activities of students with disabilities.

The second half of the programme, was then continued with the presentations of the next two key-note speakers. First to present was EUSA Treasurer Professor Francis Cirianni, speaking about “University Sports: Development and new perspectives”. Mr Cirianni gave best practices examples of management and event organisation in university sport, having EUSA Games and Championships, as well as the ESOM project as one of the examples. He also presented about promotion of sports, the mission and vision of sports evets, the legacy and most importantly the importance of sports events and their impact in economy, the impact on youth and the cultural impact.

The second keynote speaker was Prof. Mojca Doupona, from the University of Ljubljana, giving a detailed presentation about the way “From EU guidelines on dual career to useful practical tools for student athletes”, emphasizing important best practice examples, projects related to the topic of dual career, as well as sharing knowledgeable examples of her expertise, extensive research involvement, and strategic leadership experience.

Next on the programme, was the second part of the short presentations involving topics, split in two important topics: Dual career and academic sport and Anthropological features of university students. Both parts of these short presentations involved eminent professors and researchers from different universities and institutes from Croatia and abroad.

On the topic of Dual career and academic sport, the attendees had the chance to hear and see study and research data of athletes’ career centre, analysis of the current situation and trends in competitive and recreative university sport, the importance of information in the system of academic sports, as well as new strategies to improve employment opportunities and sports event quality in Europe.

The part dedicated to Anthropological features of university students involved presentations on topics related to physical activity and predicators among students, best practices of motivation for enhancing physical activities anthropological statuses following months of exercise, as well as concrete research about body characteristics, motor skills and functional capacities.

The 4 Health Academic Society Conference was concluded with a Round Table and panel discussion of respected scientists, dealing with problems and potential improvements associated with the position of student athletes, drawing attention to the impact of the quality of physical education, extracurricular sports activities, and academic sports on a healthier academic environment.

The conference was also supported by the Enhancing Sport Organisations and Management (ESOM) project, co-funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ Programme.

For more information, please see https://conference.unisport.hr.