Minister believes that sport innovation will boost the population’s well-being
Tiago Brandão Rodrigues (Portuguese Minister for Education)
Copyright: European Union
Source: https://newsroom.consilium.europa.eu/permalink/p118612
31 May 2021
The Minister of Education, Tiago Brandão Rodrigues, said today that sport innovation can improve the well-being of populations, promoting “more inclusive” societies, with “healthier lifestyles”.
During an intervention at the 2021 European Union (EU) Sport Forum, organized by the European Commission, which runs until Wednesday, the responsible for the sport portfolio in the Portuguese Government stressed that the sector should be thought about in terms of “socioeconomic” and ” environment”, as well as its role in improving people’s health, being open to new “products and services”.
“Innovation in products and services calls for the participation of our citizens in sport and physical activity, increasing the overall well-being of our population, which has already been established as one of the main ‘flags’ of the Commission, with a great impact on citizens of the European Union”, he stressed, in his speech.
For Tiago Brandão Rodrigues, this innovation, capable of improving sports ‘performance’, of increasing the proximity between citizens and of making societies “more inclusive”, with the means to build “bridges” between “cultures and nations”, passes either infrastructures or the “digital transition”.
The minister justified the inclusion of sports diplomacy among the priorities of the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union, considering that the issue in question is “language, practice and universal aspiration”, which is asserted as a tool of “soft power” for the Union assert itself on the “global stage”.
The official also stressed that the promotion of this initiative should follow the EU Work Plan for Sport 2021-2024 and stressed that the discussion about the recovery of the sector following the covid-19 pandemic, carried out last week by initiative of the Portuguese presidency, gave “excellent clues” to a future in which sport and a more “healthy and sustainable” Europe are desired.
Tiago Rodrigues Brandão also mentioned the launch of the Lisboa Call on Sport Innovation, during the seminar “Sport Innovation: beyond business as usual”, scheduled for June 16 and 17, in the Portuguese capital.