A little different from my normal blog… here is a short overview of a project I am currently a Research Associate on. It is all about Australia and the UK and everything ‘Sports Diplomacy’. I have written many a blog/piece about this concept and as you will read below I’ve joined forces with Claire and Emma to do a research project (scoping review). Please have a read… this post is to inform any interested party about the project AND launch our survey which is aimed at individuals in and around ‘Sports Diplomacy’ activities in Australia and the UK (public, private, and third sector).

Why and what is ‘Sports Diplomacy’?

We believe this is very much up to interpretation and depends on several personal understandings of social, political, economic, and cultural contexts. Many academics, organisations, and individuals have promoted variations of this concept. Our research wants to explore and review this further. Our starting point is to consider in-depth the approach, individuals, and activities undertaken by varying people in the UK and Australia. We want to hear from public, private, and third sector voices to understand a variety of perspectives to compare the UK and Australia.

Why the UK and Australia?

Sporting and diplomatic activities are synonymous with these nation-states historically and in the contemporary era. Yet, few academic studies have attempted to compare the how, what, who, and why of ‘Sports Diplomacy’ across these two nation-states.

• • UK Government: British Council, The Sources of Soft Power, February 2020
  • Australian Government: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Sports Diplomacy 2020, February 2019

Based out of and funded by the University of Hertfordshire, School of Life and Medical Sciences, our research project (January 2020 to July 2020) seeks to conduct a scoping review of ‘Sports Diplomacy’ practices in the UK and Australia.

Our research project next steps:

• Please send and fill out the survey: SURVEY LINK 
• Contact us for further information, and we are very much conducting this review in dialogic and consultative way: Email Verity here
• Follow our project for updates and additional conversations: via Twitter [@crjenkin, @verity_pos and @emmaesherry] or this blog.

Research project team:

• Project Investigator: Dr Claire Jenkin, University of Hertfordshire 
• Project Co-Investigator: Professor Emma Sherry, Swinburne University of Technology 
• Research Associate: Dr Verity Postlethwaite, employed on this research project by the University of Hertfordshire

Thanks for reading and we hope you will get involved!

VPos