- Event held for only the second time in a Latin American country.
- Tecnológico de Costa Rica received the Healthy Campus certification from FISU.
Friday, December 9th, 2022, marked the end of the historic week in which the Tecnológico de Costa Rica (TEC) hosted the World Forum of the International University Sports Federation (FISU).
For five days, students and representatives from 60 countries allocated in five continents -with 48 delegations in attendance- filled the halls, courts, auditoriums and classrooms of the Cartago Central Campus to participate in the workshops, sporting events, and presentations of all kinds that made up the Forum.
The closing ceremony took place on Friday at the Center for the Arts and was attended by a large number of students and people who served as organizers, exhibitors, and other attendees to the activities.
The sensations and opinions about the development of the Forum at TEC were positive. "I enjoyed being in Costa Rica, it is a wonderful country from which I highlight the hospitality of the people and students (of TEC). This Forum served as a space to build experiences, we were here to discover that we can continue to grow and for this reason Costa Rica was very important as a venue, after years of not being able to do it because of the pandemic," said Mr. Leonz Eder, Acting President of the Executive Committee of FISU, who also highlighted the country's work in the field of environmental conservation and sustainability.
Rosaura Méndez, from FISU's Executive Committee, said that the event was extraordinary. "The Forum was full of emotions from the people from the 48 countries that participated. It is not every day that you experience something like this and that is why seeing this number of people interacting and building sustainable development from university sports, filled me with joy," said Méndez, who is also a Congresswoman at the Costa Rica’s Parliament. Furthermore, she highlighted the capability of Costa Rica to organize a global event.
Maria Teresa Hernandez Jimenez, Vice rector of student life and academic affairs at TEC, expressed her pleasure at how representative the event was in terms of building rapport.
"In this event (closing ceremony) flags are no longer so important, because today all the delegations are friends, equals, and we are all part of the same group. I want to convey a fraternal greeting to all the people as a single team, working harmoniously for a common goal. That is what we hope to have achieved at this forum", commented Hernández.
The space was also used to present the Croatian city of Zagreb as the venue for the next FISU World Forum, which will be held in 2024, as well as other sporting events that will be held in the future at university scale.
Closing ceremony
Conclusions
During the final day, the presentation of the conclusions, which was in charge of the authorities of FISU, representatives of the Costa Rican Federation of University Sports (FedeU) and TEC also stood out. According to these experts, these are some of the conclusions of the FISU 2022 World Forum:
- Sports can help meet the Sustainable Development Goals.
- The pandemic had to do with crises in people's mobility, which impacted athletes at all levels.
- Universities should encourage students to join sports activities to improve their health and performance.
- All universities should work to organize campaigns to avoid sedentary lifestyles.
- Scientific evidence is needed to prove the importance of sports while studying at university and therefore serious research and documentation is needed.
- Sports are important for the empowerment of women and for them to become athletes and leaders of sports associations.
- Sustainability goals cannot be achieved without quality education.
- Universities must pursue inclusive, equative, and quality education.
- Physical activity policies are needed to create a healthier and more inclusive Costa Rica.
- The population should be educated about the concepts of leisure time, recreation, and health.
- The university should promote and increase women's participation in sports. In addition, national organizations should include and form gender equality policies.
- The university must understand the problem before trying to address it. In addition, it must be clear about the impact that its solution will have on society.
- All the activities that took place at the FISU Costa Rica 2022 Global Forum were framed within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (UN). This event was of great importance for the country and the Institution, since it was only the second time it took place in a Latin American country.
