OSC Canterbury News
Activities in 2019
Dr. Susannah Stevens Appointed NZCOS Co-Director
The 2019 academic year in New Zealand is well underway. A key development for this year is the appointment of Dr. Susannah Stevens as co-director of the NZCOS. Dr. Stevens has been heavily involved in Olympic Studies since graduating with a Bachelor’s degree over 12 years ago.
NZCOS Involvement in the ‘GFH’
As reported last time, the NZCOS is an active ‘player’ in the ‘Global Foundation for Community Health’(GFH) where the work of the GCH has become globally significant as it collaborates with UNESCO in working towards achieving the United Nations 17 Sustainable Goals. The Foundation for Global Community Health (GCH) focuses on utilizing the ‘Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child’ framework for the development of child well-being. This framework was developed by the ‘Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’ (USA). The GCH has implemented a school-based well-being programme, currently reaching 2-3 million children daily in 70+ countries throughout the world. A key strategy of the GCH is building international networks, and in cooperation with an international team of advisers, GCH has emerged as a key global player for delivering a research-based locally focused and globally scalable digital well-being platform to the world’s 1.9 billion young people. In this delivery, GCH has developed an impressive network of scholars and community leaders – see website http://www.gchfoundation.org/. This network delivers the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) on a unified platform utilizing the CDC's Coordinated School Health framework via Labs, online GCH support platform, and in the process establishing a SDG School Index overseen by the United Nations. What is particularly relevant is that the work of the GCH is consistent with the philosophy of Olympism where holism and the balanced development of young people is a priority.
GCH Promotion and NZCOS International Activities
Dr. Stevens and Prof. Culpan from the NZCOS are involved in the GCH where they are promoting the importance of Olympism within physical education as an avenue to the achievement of individual and collective well-being. An example of this work is Prof. Culpan’s recent visit to China at the ‘World Congress on Teaching Learning, and Curriculum in Physical Education’, where he was an invited speaker. Both Dr. Stevens and Prof. Culpan have also received invites to South Africa in October and the Philippines in November. Prof. Culpan has also been invited to a symposium ‘think tank’ in Brazil in early 2020. Further to this the NZCOS will be hosting the founding leader of the GCH, Professor Dr. Mingkai Chin, at the University of Canterbury in July.
Closing Message from the NZCOS
The NZCOS (University of Canterbury) continues to collaborate with the GSU and the Autonomous University of Barcelona in the imminent publishing of the third issue of ‘Diagoras: International Academic Journal on Olympic Studies’. Furthermore, the student exchange scheme between the GSU and the University of Canterbury is due to get underway later in 2019.
In closing the NZCOS values the collaborations with Prof. Wassong and the staff of the GSU as it helps us stay connected to scholars in the field and in so doing contribute to the developing global network of Olympic studies.
Report compiled by Prof. Ian Culpan, Director of the New Zealand Centre for Olympic Studies, University of Canterbury, NZ.