Sport for Social Change and Development: Sustaining Transnational Partnerships and Adapting International Curriculums to Local Contexts in Rwanda

Abstract

Local Non-Governmental Organisations and sports organizations have been recognized as important and well positioned strategic implementing bodies by the ‘Sport for Development and Peace’ (SDP) sector. Whilst they may be experienced and knowledgeable of the historical and local sociocultural landscape, many seek to form transnational partnerships, for the purpose of expanding their capacity, sustainability, and expertise. Rwanda’s history of genocide frames much of its development objectives, and sport has been an integral method for implementing programmes that speak to social impact and reconciliation aims. This paper examines a transnational partnership active in Rwanda, that uses football as a tool to achieve its shared development goals. We conducted ethnographic fieldwork in Rwanda, by volunteering with the organizations as they delivered SDP programmes across the country. In doing so we were able to deconstruct the management and intricacies of this partnership and contextualize the important negotiations, management and style of approach when tackling difficult issues. This paper contributes to both expanding our knowledge of transnational partnerships and provides unique commentary that aligns the complexities of engaging with local populations in post-genocide Rwanda with ‘Sport for Social Development’ programming.     

“Pick and choose our battles” – Understanding organizational capacity in a sport for development and peace organization

A growing number of sport for development and peace (SDP) organizations seek to address social issues through sport. Hall et al. (2003) created a multidimensional framework that suggests SDP and other nonprofit organizations need human resources, financial, and structural capacities to accomplish their organizational goals and objectives, but may face challenges with developing these capacities. The current study used this framework and examined the capacities of Gainline Africa – a small SDP nonprofit organization based in North America and operating programming in an East African post-conflict community – to identify critical elements that influenced the organization's ability to fulfill its mission. Semi-structured interviews (n = 10) were conducted with its North American staff members. The study's findings build upon the theoretical understanding of organizational capacity within nonprofit sport organizations, and several new elements such as community funding and managing nontraditional Global North-Global South dynamics, were revealed that could be unique to the SDP context. Practically speaking, smaller SDP organizations can use the findings to help increase their organizational capacity through leveraging local partnerships and understanding the role and usage of paid versus volunteer staff members.     

Exploring how external stakeholders shape social innovation in sport for development and peace

The purpose of this study was to examine how innovative SDP organizations’ interactions with external stakeholders influence the social innovation process. Innovation represents the implementation of new or improved ways to promote social change. The authors conducted semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 48 SDP leaders representing organizations located across six continents. Innovative SDP agencies engaged in numerous non-financial relationships with a strong emphasis on collective learning, a shared willingness to spread the risk of innovation across organizational boundaries, and a reciprocal process for co-creating new and improved solutions for how sport can be used better to promote positive social change. Social innovation in the context of SDP emerged across different levels (intra-, inter-, and extra-group) from a collective and interactive process between SDP organizations and external stakeholders. Their innovation activities included identifying opportunities and generating ideas for implementing new practices and scaling creative solutions. This study extends the existing SDP literature and underscores the need to adopt a more specific external perspective when examining the process of innovation in sport organizations.     

Examining the educative aims and practices of decision-makers in sport for development and peace organizations

Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) policy-makers and practitioners continue to offer ambitious claims regarding the potential role of sport-based programs for promoting social change. Yet, it is important to put sport under a critical lens in order to develop a more balanced and realistic understanding of the role of sport in society. Whether SDP programs result in positive or negative outcomes depends on the structures and processes of the implementing organizations. Hence, SDP researchers are paying more attention to the organizational approaches of these agencies. Scholars also argue the outcomes of SDP programs depend on the relationship of these organizations with broader community education and health promotion efforts. Despite the claims of many SDP programs, little remains known about the educational goals of these programs and their relationship with broader educational efforts. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to critically examine the role of education among a randomly selected sample of nonprofit SDP organizations in urban settings across the USA. Findings from in-depth interviews with 17 executive directors indicate a broad range of educative aims, but also innovative organizational practices, highlighting a salient relationship between education and SDP in the USA. Prominent themes emerged related to program models and organizational approaches, academic enrichment programming, partnerships with educational institutions and education-focused nonprofits, and educational outcomes. These findings are examined and implications for future SDP research are also discussed. Although important work is emerging in SDP literature on how educational values are delivered in these programs [Spaaij, R., & Jeanes, R. [2013]. Education for social change? A Freirean critique of sport for development and peace. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 18, 442–457], findings from this study also help stimulate a critical dialogue on the educative aims and practices of decision-makers in SDP organizations.     

Shared leadership in sport for development and peace: A conceptual framework of antecedents and outcomes

A broad range of organizations are involved in the field of Sport for Development and Peace (SDP). The complex environmental factors and internal capacity challenges surrounding SDP organizations put additional pressures on SDP managers who are required to balance multiple organizational demands to achieve sustainable program outcomes. Although scholars have begun to explore managerial aspects of SDP efforts, literature on the nature of leadership in SDP remains scarce. In this article, therefore, the authors introduce the concept of shared leadership and arguments for why considering leadership as a collective phenomenon is of particular value in SDP. Specifically, a conceptual framework is developed to identify antecedents and outcomes of shared leadership in SDP. Nine propositions are presented along with a discussion of future areas of study regarding shared leadership in efforts to use sport as a means for achieving development and peace-building outcomes. Limitations of this leadership perspective are also outlined.     

Antecedents and outcomes of social innovation: A global study of sport for development and peace organizations

The purpose of this study was to examine antecedents and outcomes of social innovation in a global sample of sport for development and peace (SDP) organizations. Specifically, the authors used multiple regression analysis and parallel mediation analysis to test the relationships between innovation capacity, three types of social innovation, and organizational performance. An electronic survey was distributed to 817 SDP organizations. Results indicated five dimensions of innovation capacity explain a significant amount of variance in all three types of social innovation practices by SDP organizations when controlling for geographical location of agencies, where an organization’s founders were from, program location, organizational age, and organizational size. An additional regression analysis indicated two of three types of social innovation were also significant predictors of organizational performance. A parallel mediation analysis revealed the relationship between capacity and organizational performance was partially mediated by social innovation, specifically by program-focused social innovations. The findings from this study provide a foundation for funders and practitioners to identify organizational practices needed for facilitating different types of social innovations in SDP.     

Leveraging community sport organizations to promote community capacity: Strategic outcomes,challenges, and theoretical considerations

Community sport organizations (CSOs) provide valuable contexts for promoting community development. These initiatives are most effective when they involve local stakeholders in the process of development. A key first step to achieving this objective is building community capacity, defined as local stakeholders’ skills, knowledge, and resources that may be leveraged for change. Interestingly, despite this conceptual importance, few researchers have focused on capacity building in the sport context. This has limited the theoretical advancement of community capacity theory as it relates to CSOs and community development. Using a qualitative case study approach, the authors analyze the outcomes and challenges of implementing community capacity building strategies in an American CSO, and draw on the empirical data to contribute to this theoretical conversation. Interviews, participant observation, and document analysis were used to generate data, and deductive techniques were used for thematic analysis. The results highlight the outcomes of the capacity building strategies and challenges associated with implementation. In addition, the conclusion focuses on theoretical contributions to community capacity theory, namely the role of sport in facilitating inter-community relations across social groups and the link with process models of organizational capacity.     

Reflections from a Hybrid Scholar

Abstract

In this paper, I reflect on my journey towards becoming a sport historian. I show how I find myself caught in the middle between sport history, sport management, and sport for development and peace (SDP), and how I essentially view myself as an SDP scholar. The paper further illustrate how I perceive the position of sport history in Norway, and argue that in order for sport history to grow or even continue as a subject in the Norwegian sport educations, we, the Norwegian sport historians, need to step up our game in terms of research and recruitment.     

国内外大众体育成功发展模式的启示

阐述了国际大众体育的发展现状,分析了韩国以及上海市大众体育的成功发展模式,提出了我国大众体育发展的3个目标以及策略:构建开放式大众体育组织网络,不断完善群众体育组织网络;充分发挥社会体育指导员的作用,加快大众体育的科学化进程;大力发展大众体育产业。     

Sport development planning: The Sunny Golf Club

Sport development is about helping people from all backgrounds to start playing a sport, to stay in their chosen sport, and to succeed at it. Sport development planning is a process for achieving these goals. However, due to a lack of sport-specific planning tools, sport organisations have long borrowed and applied generic management principles, theories and models (such as situation analysis and strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis). As sport management is an established field of study, generic management principles alone are insufficient and the need to develop sport-specific practices and theories is clear. This fictional case study, involving the sport development officer of a local golf club in Queensland, Australia, uses a sport development planning (SDP) process that blends traditional planning processes with sport-specific analyses of the attraction, retention/transition and nurturing (ARTN) of participants. The SDP process and its embedded ARTN processes form a theoretical framework which points students towards a three-way analysis of (a) sport development stakeholders, (b) sport development strategies, and (c) sport development pathways that drive the ARTN of participants. This case study challenges students to develop a plan for a sport organisation using a structured and empirically derived approach.     

Corporate social responsibility and social partnerships in professional football

Within the professional football industry one of the most prominent ways to address corporate social responsibility is through a social partnership involving a range of organizations such as a Community Sports Trust (CST), a professional football club, business organizations and local authorities. These partnerships are responsible for the delivery of community initiatives around a range of social issues. This article seeks to understand the managerial aspects of this type of social partnership, and in particular the objectives and motivations for partnering, by drawing on three analytical platforms that take into account how differences between sectors affect social partnerships. Based on a series of interviews, it is shown that organizations get involved in social partnerships for different reasons and perceive the partnerships in different ways; that from an individual organizational perspective it is difficult to perceive a social partnership entirely in the context of one of the theoretical platforms; and that despite what would appear to be a strong sense of homogenization of organizational form across the sector there are significant differences between social partnerships. The article concludes by arguing that further research is needed to better understand the differences between social partnerships.     

Associations between partnership characteristics and perceived success in Dutch sport-for-health partnerships

To reach and include socially vulnerable people through sport, it is important to create partnerships between sports organisations and public health organisations (i.e., sport-for-health partnerships). Working in sport-for-health partnerships is challenging, however, and little is known about how to manage such partnerships. To explore possible predictors of successful sport-for-health partnership, the authors administered a questionnaire among 86 participants in Dutch sport-for-health partnerships. The questionnaire included measures pertaining to three indicators of successful inter-sectoral partnership (i.e., partnership synergy, partnership sustainability, and community outcomes) and nine partnership elements that may predict its success. Multivariate results suggest that (a) partnership synergy may be best predicted by communication structure and building on the partnership participants’ capacities, (b) community partnership outcomes may be best predicted by partnership visibility and task management, and (c) partnership sustainability may be best predicted by partnership visibility. Hence, the authors would recommend actors in sport-for-health partnerships to pay particular attention to communication structure, building on capacities, visibility, and task management.     

刍议群众体育政策执行的公私协力困境与前景

关注群众体育政策的执行,从公私协力理论的视角,分析我国群众体育政策执行的公私协力程度与困境,并提出我国群众体育政策执行公私协力的前景与建议。研究认为:群众体育政策执行的公私协力欠缺完整要素,体现的是偏向自上而下的执行关系,政府较少提供民间体育组织足够的诱因与协助,而民间体育组织自身经营困境也给群众体育政策执行带来阻力。公共部门应加强群众体育政策执行公私协力关系的建立并提高诱因,主动鼓励民间体育组织参与群众体育事务,建立群众体育公私协力活动的绩效管理评估制度;而民间体育组织则主要是加强民间体育组织的经营能力,加强与企业的合作和同业结盟。     

群众性健身团体存在的问题及发展思路

改革开放以来,我国群众性体育健身团体获得了较快的发展,有力推动了体育人口的快速增长。但群众性体育健身团体在发展过程中也出现了一些问题。分析了我国群众性体育健身团体发展现状及存在问题,并提出了相应的解决对策和发展思路。     

The role of mindfulness and occupational stress in the goal orientations of development and winning

Emphasis on winning in youth sport, fueled by media, parents, coaches, as well as communities, has become a key concern for positive youth development in sport. By integrating the topic of mindfulness into organizational behavior in sport management, the author investigated how sport leaders in youth sports focused or refocused on the two athletic goals of development and winning in their stressful working conditions. Data were collected through an online survey completed by 478 sport managers across the United States. The results indicated that mindfulness was negatively associated with perceived stress and positively associated with development goal orientation. Additionally, perceived stress was positively associated with winning goal orientation and fully mediated the relationship between mindfulness and winning goal orientation. The findings of this research highlight the importance of mindfulness and perceived stress in the sport managers’ pursuit of two different goals in youth sport.     

体育资源配置方式的改革与体育资源的开发 ———论社会经济条件变革下的中国体育改革(三)

考虑到我国人口的基本状况、体育事业的社会目标、社会经济实力、体育改革的国际背景及不同体育形态的社会公益性与商业可开发性，我国应采用市场机制与政府行为相结合的体育配置机制。中国体育有潜在的巨大市场，但开发难度较大，应当根据中国国情，进行体育市场细分，加强体育市场的综合开发，组建公司化的体育企业，并针对群众娱乐健身服务、竞赛表演、体育信息服务及体育人才资源各自特点进行开发。我国体育改革的特点既给改革者以较多的主动权和较从容的时间，又可能使人们对改革的深刻性认识不足。     

Transforming communities through sport? critical pedagogy and sport for development

The value of sport as a vehicle for social development and progressive social change has been much debated, yet what tends to get missed in this debate is the way education may foster, enable or impede the transformative action that underpins the social outcomes to which the ‘sport for development and peace’ (SDP) sector aspires. This article draws on the critical pedagogy of Paulo Freire and his contemporaries to examine the nature of transformative action and how it may be fostered within SDP programs. Insights from critical pedagogy are applied to, and illustrated through, qualitative research undertaken with SDP programs located in Cameroon and Kenya. The findings show the complexities of designing and implementing critical pedagogy in a SDP context and, in particular, the challenges of creating and mobilizing for transformative action. Opportunities and lessons for embedding critical pedagogy within SDP programs are also presented.     

Capacity building in nonprofit sport organizations: Development of a process model

Despite the growing literature on organizational capacity in nonprofit and sport organizations, considerable gaps remain when the analysis shifts to building that capacity. This study proposes a comprehensive model of capacity building that recognizes the concepts and relationships involved in that process. The model was developed according to de Groot's (1969) interpretative-theoretical methodology, consisting of four phases that guide the collection and review of relevant literature: exploration, analysis, classification and explanation. As a comprehensive process, effective capacity building acknowledges that a capacity needs assessment occurs in response to some environmental stimulus. The subsequent identification of specific objectives for capacity building is followed by the generation and selection of a strategy(s) and consideration of multiple aspects of readiness to build capacity. The short-term impact and long-term maintenance of built capacity must be assessed following the implementation of the strategy(s) to build, with consideration of the implications for program and service delivery that address the initial stimulus. The model is described in the context of community sport organizations, however it is intended for broad application. Concepts and relationships presented in the model are relevant to the nonprofit voluntary organizational setting in general, while allowing for contextualization based on the unique factors and influences that may be involved in the process of building capacity. The paper concludes with consideration of how the model may be used in practice and directions for future research.     

A community capacity building approach to sport-based youth development

Positive youth development (PYD) is the most popular framework guiding sport-for-development (SFD) research. To date, much of this work has focused on how sport programs are purposefully designed to promote PYD outcomes. However, the youth-context interactions that form the theoretical basis of PYD occur across all aspects of youth ecologies, meaning youth SFD organizations are most effective when they enhance the capacity of communities as well. Although the need to expand current youth-centred perspectives has been noted by SFD scholars, implementing this insight into practice has proven difficult. In this paper, the authors provide a conceptual advancement to the literature through three objectives. First, a theoretical basis for linking PYD and community capacity frameworks is provided. Second, specific capacity building strategies are critically explored within the context of youth SFD organizations. Third, a community capacity building approach to sport-based PYD is presented and discussed in light of key considerations.     

Towards a research agenda in collaborative sport governance

Collaborative governance has its origins in public administration and relates to cross-sector collaboration between parties who, by working together, may achieve common goals and more optimum outcomes than by working in isolation. The purpose of this paper is to explore the utility of collaborative governance as a relevant theoretical underpinning upon which to base future sport governance research focussed on the federal model of governance. To do this, we draw on an integrative framework of collaborative governance from the public administration literature to identify relevant research questions instructive for new research directions in sport governance. We offer evidence indicating that the federal model of sport governance is the type of network well-suited to the adoption of a collaborative governance regime but conclude there are barriers and challenges that could inhibit its implementation. The outcome of our work is a research agenda to guide research and theory development that may enhance our understanding of collaborative governance in sport, and of the barriers to its adoption and how they may be overcome.