Policy advocacy can be an important part of sport for development organisations’ work supporting their project participants. It can challenge power structures that oppress marginalised groups, strategically position organisations within the policy landscape and ensure programmes are sustainable.
Despite this, there is limited understanding of policy advocacy or support for it within the sector. Policy advocacy is also rarely discussed as a viable tool to promote sustainable social change.
Very little practical guidance or tools exist to support policy advocacy activities. This lack of resources and awareness also limits the involvement of sport for development organisations in policy advocacy.
To address this gap, the Policy Advocacy for Sport and Society (PASS) project is developing a set of tools and resources to raise awareness and understanding of policy advocacy within the sport for development sector. The project aims to increase participation and improve the effectiveness of policy advocacy.
Project objectives
- Map current practices and challenges around policy advocacy in the sport for development sector
- Increase awareness around the benefits and practices concerning policy advocacy in sport
- Build capacity and enable sport and social development actors to engage in policy advocacy activities
Project timeline
1 February 2024 - 31 January 2027
Project outputs
The PASS project will produce the following tools. These will be publicly available and free of charge.
- A mapping and needs analysis (launched in October 2024)
- Evaluation Matrix on Policy Advocacy in Sport and Social Development (PDF)
- A report on case studies and promising practices
- A curriculum and toolkit
- An online course
- A final project report
Project partners
Seven partners are implementing the PASS project. These are three universities, two sport for development NGOs, one international network and an intergovernmental organisation:
- The German Sport University (Project coordinator Dr Karen Petry, Germany)
- Munster Technological University (Ireland)
- University of Applied Sciences Kufstein (Austria)
- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) (Switzerland)
- Fair Play Point (Czech Republic)
- Második Esély Sportegyesület (Hungary)
- International Platform on Sport and Development (sportanddev) / International Sport and Culture Association (registered in Denmark)

European Commission
The project is funded by the European Commission through its Erasmus+ programme. The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.