The University of Montpellier, partner of the international congress "Les Enjeux des Jeux" from December 12 to 15, 2022
In the run-up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Les Jeux de Paris 2024) to be held in Paris in 2024, the University of Montpellier is organizing, through its "Health, Education, Disability Situations" (SANTESIH) research team, the international congress "Les enjeux des Jeux" in partnership with the Centre de Research Sciences Sociales Sports et Corps (CRESCO, Université Toulouse III Paul Sabatier) and the ACHAC research group. It will take place from December 12 to 15, 2022 at the Corum in Montpellier.
Under the patronage of French President Emmanuel Macron, the congress will open at 9am on Tuesday October 13, in the presence of Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, Minister for Sport and the Olympic Games, Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024, Michaël Delafosse, Mayor of Montpellier, and Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier. Throughout the four days, researchers from the UM and around the world will be able to discuss and debate scientific advances in the field and thus contribute to research into the human and social sciences of sport for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games intend to serve as a support for youth education, the promotion of health through sport and real equality between women and men, but also as a gas pedal of the ecological transition and a lever for action in favor of a more inclusive and supportive society. These ambitious objectives, which outline a political project for the legacy of the Games, involve a wide range of players, all of whom have inherited the Olympic tradition to a greater or lesser extent, and underpin a diversity of goals and issues.
The "Challenges of the Games" international conference in a nutshell
The Paris 2024 Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (COJOP) has clearly stated its ambition to organize the most shared games in history. In this stimulating context, the learned societies in the Human and Social Sciences of sport have decided to organize this multidisciplinary colloquium together, less than two years before the event. The aim of the conference is to analyze, question and take a critical and constructive look at this global event, positioning the debates at a fair distance from militant positions ("pro" or "anti" Olympic Games). The aim is to identify what is at stake (both in terms of expectations and impacts) in relation to the objectives set out by the Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. To what extent can the detailed knowledge accumulated in each scientific discipline and the tools available (both conceptual and methodological) enable us to think about, support and evaluate the multiple and complex effects of the Olympic and Paralympic Games at all stages of the process (before, during and after)? What original perspectives for research and public action is this multidisciplinary symposium likely to open up? Can the scientific debates surrounding the Olympic and Paralympic Games be seen as a platform for reflection and the construction of interdisciplinarity?
The congress will feature 5 plenary lectures, 4 round tables, 28 symposia and 104 papers outside symposia, bringing together experts for 3 days. It will help structure the scientific network for the years to come, as well as contributing to research into the human and social sciences of sport for Paris 2024.
The role of the University of Montpellier in this congress
The University of Montpellier enjoys international recognition for the excellence of its education, research and capacity for innovation in a wide range of fields, notably through its I-SITE Excellence program, which brings together all its scientific and educational strengths around major societal challenges. But the University of Montpellier also enjoys recognition and legitimacy through its ecosystem revolving around sport and the human body, with, in particular, its internationally-renowned "EuroMov Digital Health in Motion" European movement research center, which aims to foster the cross-fertilization of artificial intelligence, movement and health sciences to understand human behavioral plasticity in order to improve sensorimotor performance and envisage new therapeutic approaches, and find a scientific metaphor in it. The SANTESIH team (Health, Education, Disability Situations), for its part, brings together social science researchers who study the dynamics of the processes involved in producing and reducing disability situations, notably through the use of physical and sporting activities. Last but not least, the Faculty of Science and Technology of Physical and Sports Activities (STAPS) is one of France's leading sports science faculties. The University of Montpellier shares a number of common values and objectives with its partners, making it a major player in the organization of this event, as well as in the quality of the work that will be carried out. It is no coincidence that this international congress is taking place in Montpellier, an area where sport is an institution and where a large number of disciplines are represented at the highest level (soccer, rugby, handball...), making Montpellier a "Terre de Jeux 2024" territory.