Slovenia brings Europe together in Lipica to develop a common system for measuring the impact of sport

SLOVENIA, February 26 - The seminar formed part of the EU Work Plan for Sport 2024–2027.

Over the course of two days, Lipica hosted over 100 experts from 25 EU Member States, alongside representatives from 19 international organisations and 15 national sports stakeholders. This event has made a notable contribution to the ongoing European discourse surrounding the systematic measurement of the economic and social impacts of sport.

State Secretary Dejan Židan addressed the participants, presenting Slovenia's increased investment in this area during the current government's term of office from 2022 to 2026, and emphasising that this is a strategic investment at both the national and European levels.

The professional part of the seminar took the form of several roundtable discussions led by Dr Anne Kleissner and Dr Themistoklis (Themis) Kokolakakis, who are renowned European experts in sports economics and statistics. The seminar focused primarily on developing two tools:

• the sports satellite account, which measures economic contribution, and
• the methodology for calculating the social return on investment in sport (SROI).

Special attention was also paid to ensuring comparable and harmonised data between Member States.

Participants also agreed unanimously that sport generates significant economic, social, health, and societal value, which is not yet systematically captured in European statistics. Therefore, progress towards a harmonised European system for measuring the effects of sport is necessary and feasible with appropriate cooperation from all key stakeholders, including statistical offices and relevant ministries.

The event in Lipica represents an important contribution to the development of more evidence-based sports policies in the European Union. Expert contributions and discussions on data harmonisation involving leading European experts will ensure that the contribution of sport to health, employment, social inclusion, and cohesion is considered in future investment and budgetary decisions.

By organising this event, Slovenia has reinforced its position as a leader in developing a shared European approach to measuring the impact of sport, successfully linking political, strategic, and expert decision-making at national, European, and global levels.

Photos from the first and second days can be viewed on the ministry's Flickr profile.