Play the Game Academy
As part of its efforts to build networks and spread knowledge about emerging political issues in the world of sport, Play the Game has started developing learning activities under the name Play the Game Academy.
The objective is to offer online courses on a regular basis about current issues in sport where the emphasis is on building and sharing knowledge between the teacher and participants and creating networks for future collaboration.
Courses will be based on the idea of connectivist learning where participants set their own learning objectives and become active partners in building new knowledge about the topic through learning activities. This approach will allow anyone with an interest in the topic to take part in the course regardless of their professional or personal background and level of previous knowledge about the topic.
Inaugural course on sport and climate change
The first offering from Play the Game Academy was the course 'An introduction to African sport and the climate crisis' that ran from 7 to 28 February 2023.
The course was taught by writer, academic, journalist, and activist David Goldblatt and consisted of four online seminars with reading and assignments in between. The course looked at four interrelated themes:
- The impact of the climate crisis on venues and athletes
- The contribution of sport to climate change and ways to measure the sector's carbon footprint
- Responses to the climate crisis from international conventions to initiatives by leagues, sports organisations and NGOs
- Outstanding issues that need addressing: The position of the global south, carbon offsets, the role of the fossil fuel industry, and the need for degrowth in the sports sector
Play the Game partnered with the international social enterprise organisation the Football Foundation for Africa (FFA) to recruit participants for the course from across the African continent.
The first cohort included 30 participants with backgrounds in media, NGOs, sports organisations, and academia and hailing from eight different countries, including Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Play the Game Academy is partially funded by a good governance grant from the Danish government.
