About

Laurent Petrynka

Laurent Petrynka

ISF President

Philippe Close

Philippe Close

Mayor, City of Brussels

Benoit Hellings

Benoit Hellings

First Alderman in charge of Climate & Sports, City of Brussels

Mariya Gabriel

Mariya Gabriel

European Commissioner in charge of Innovation, Research, Education & Youth

Valérie Glatigny

Valérie Glatigny

Minister of Sports and Promotion of Brussels of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation

Brigitte Dero

Brigitte Dero

Managing Director, VinylPlus

The largest INTERNATIONAL EVENT PROMOTING SCHOOLGIRLS’ PARTICIPATION AND LEADERSHIP IN AND THROUGH SPORT

Founded in 1972, the International School Sport Federation (ISF) is an international non-profit sport organisation, acting as the umbrella organisation and governing body for national school sport organisations around the world, organising sport, and educational events for youth from 6 to 18 years old. Recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 1995, the ISF currently consists of 132 members over the five continents organising over 10 events per year and has more than 30 different sports included in its competition programme.

Founded by the International School Sport Federation (ISF), the SHE RUNS – ACTIVE GIRLS’LEAD event aims at promoting girls’ health, empowerment, and leadership through sport and schools. As a flagship international non competitive and grassroots sport event striving for Gender Equality promotion, the first edition of She Runs has been launched in March 2019 in the framework of the International Women’s Day campaign. In 2022 the Capital of Europe, Brussels decided to host and co-organise the second edition to highlight its vision in regards to women’s participation in sport and women leadership in and through sport. 

“She Runs – Active Girls’ Lead” is a unique international running and educational event promoting the girl’s wellbeing and leadership through school sport. The event message focus on the importance of participation and accessibility of young women to sport through school and how it contributes to develop leadership skills and empower themselves. She Runs – Active Girls’ Lead is a specific event of the International School Sport Federation to contribute to gender equality, while creating and developing a network of young women leaders in school sport

Participating Countries

  • Afghanistan
  • Bangladesh
  • Belgium
  • Brazil
  • Bulgaria
  • Congo
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • England
  • Finland
  • France
  • Iceland
  • Lithuania
  • Morocco
  • Nepal
  • Nigeria
  • North Macedonia
  • Romania
  • Serbia
  • Sierra Leone
  • South Africa
  • Ukraine

Laurent Petrynka

Dear ISF She Runs participants, Brussels and Belgium authorities, Speakers, Friends of School Sport,

School Sport is more than just sport, it is a school of life, integrating the most crucial societal topics that we must all address together for the harmonious development of our communities. It is for this reason why ISF created an event solely dedicated to girls; ISF She Runs – Active Girls’ Lead, for promoting health, empowerment, and leadership among our international network of sport and education stakeholders and most importantly, the youth.

It is crucial for ISF to help our youth participants understand that it is only by cooperating with all stakeholders in a transversal way that we will be successful in overcoming these challenges. Indeed, the implementation of “ISF She Runs – Active Girls’ Lead” is the result of the cooperation and support with the European Commission (Erasmus+ Sport Programme), the city of Brussels, which pays particular attention to sustainable development and inclusion as well as our key partner VinylPlus, who proactively contributes to addressing the global challenges and priorities through its sustainability programmes. Without this cooperation as well as level of expertise, the experience of the participants would not be the same. Let me take this opportunity to thank them all.

So dear participants, and dear partners, we wish you an enjoyable and fulfilling ISF She Runs – Active Girls’ Lead” and we look forward to further cooperating with you to develop the values of School Sport.
Yours Faithfully, Laurent Petrynka

Q

Philippe Close

Dear ISF She Runs participants, Brussels and Belgium authorities, Speakers, Friends of School Sport,

School Sport is more than just sport, it is a school of life, integrating the most crucial societal topics that we must all address together for the harmonious development of our communities. It is for this reason why ISF created an event solely dedicated to girls; ISF She Runs – Active Girls’ Lead, for promoting health, empowerment, and leadership among our international network of sport and education stakeholders and most importantly, the youth.

It is crucial for ISF to help our youth participants understand that it is only by cooperating with all stakeholders in a transversal way that we will be successful in overcoming these challenges. Indeed, the implementation of “ISF She Runs – Active Girls’ Lead” is the result of the cooperation and support with the European Commission (Erasmus+ Sport Programme), the city of Brussels, which pays particular attention to sustainable development and inclusion as well as our key partner VinylPlus, who proactively contributes to addressing the global challenges and priorities through its sustainability programmes. Without this cooperation as well as level of expertise, the experience of the participants would not be the same. Let me take this opportunity to thank them all.

So dear participants, and dear partners, we wish you an enjoyable and fulfilling ISF She Runs – Active Girls’ Lead” and we look forward to further cooperating with you to develop the values of School Sport.
Yours Faithfully, Laurent Petrynka

Q

Benoit Hellings

3000 young girls who take their place in the public space and in sport: the City of Brussels could not have hoped for a better message to convey to everyone through She Runs. Inclusivity, visibility and presence in the public space are the key words of the sports policy of the capital of Europe.
Through debates, conferences, but also and above all sporting events, She Runs will reinforce this week a positive and emancipatory dynamic that we want to see every day develop even more in our streets, in our parks, but also in the personal and professional.

This is why with She Runs, with the ISF, and through our daily action, we want to encourage young women to take their place in a world of sport and in a society that must become totally egalitarian.

Q

Mariya Gabriel

The “She Runs” project is exemplary, building on three essential elements that reflect well the Commission’s aspirations for EU Sport Policy, the European Sports Model and the Erasmus+ programme: sport, equality and empowerment.

Practicing sport has an incredible impact on people’s health. Sport is a source of well-being and personal fulfilment. Setting up good and healthy habits from an early age is important.

Equality between women and men is a fundamental principle of the European Union in which women and men, girls and boys are free to pursue the path they choose. No women or girl should be left behind and sports must be a powerful area to foster inclusion for all.

Empowering young girls to be active, make their voices heard and believe in themselves is crucial. It is already halfway to having inspiring women leaders in future, particularly during our European Year of Youth and the legacy it will have.

I am looking forward to continue working together with the International School Sport Federation to inspire more girls to lead the run. Let me also thank the International School Sport Federation for their countless contributions to our European initiatives contributing to a healthy and active Europe!

Q

Valérie Glatigny

« She runs » : sport as a vehicle for values and emancipation !
Sport, as we all know, is essential for everyone’s balance and health. Furthermore, it is also a fantastic vehicle for positive values as gender equality, mutual respect and emancipation.

« She runs » is an initiative which allow young women from Brussels to meet young girls and women from all over the world, through a range of activities made up to (re)discover our capital city with sport as a common thread.
The goal is for women to be able to meet other inspiring women, to push their limits further, to gain self-confidence and therefore to become fully aware of their talent and their strength.

Another way to show the positive social and societal role of sport !

Q

Brigitte Dero

VinylPlus®, the European PVC industry’s Commitment to sustainable development, is proud to be once again a partner of ISF for She Runs – Active Girls’ Lead to promote female empowerment and leadership through sports.

Sustainability is at the core of VinylPlus and continues to be a critical issue of our times. At the same time, sports are becoming more and more innovative, creating new, sustainable solutions for materials, equipment and facilities. She Runs – Active Girls’ Lead is therefore a great opportunity to highlight the use of more sustainable materials such as vinyl (PVC) to improve the sustainability performance of sporting events.

Vinyl has long been used in sport due to its unique functional properties (durability, reuse, recyclability), which, when combined with environmental responsibility, enable architectural innovation in sports. This year, we want to make a step forward and highlight the concept of reuse. The resistance and versatility of vinyl make it a material of choice for sporting events and competitions, since it can be used and reused many times without losing its essential properties, sparing production costs and CO2 emissions.

We are here to tell that the vinyl industry is committed to sustainable development and engage with the young generation in the environmental impact of sporting events – and sustainable development more broadly.

Q