Sheffield Hallam University is one of the largest public Universities in South Yorkshire, England, with 33.000 students There are four Faculties (Health & Well-Being; Society & Development; Business School; and Arts, Computing, Engineering & Sciences), and 30 research centres, including the Biomedical Research Centre, Centre for Sport & Exercise Science, Sport Industry Research Centre, and the Centre for Health & Social Care Research. SHU’s strategy to 2020 has a clear mission to promote research with applied focus and high impact for the society and on emerging societal, health, and environmental challenges. Project IMPACT will be hosted by the Department of Psychology, Sociology & Politics, Faculty of Development & Society, the largest Faculty of the University with 12000 students and 700 members of staff. The Department of Psychology, Sociology & Politics is focused on research on health and well-being, behaviour change, brain and cognition, and social policy, and 45% of research at the Department has been recognized as internationally excellent. SHU maintains a strong profile in training elite athletes in competitive sports, and also operates the Performance Athlete Support Programme, an initiative that allows talented competitive athletes to balance their life between sports career and University life. Finally, SHU has close collaborations with leading UK sport facilities and organizations, including the English Institute of Sport and the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre. Importantly, in February 2018 the Department of Psychology, Sociology & Politics, became part of the UK Government’s Behavioural Insights Framework partners, a consortium of academic and industrial partners that utilize and translate behavioural science insights to guide effective policies for the benefit of the society.
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki is the largest University in Greece and in Balkans. The main campus is located in the centre of the city of Thessaloniki, and covers an area of about 33.4 hectares. It comprises 7 faculties which consist of 33 schools, 5 faculties which consist of one school each, as well as 4 independent schools. Some educational and administrative facilities are located off campus for practical and operational reasons. A number of these facilities are located outside the city of Thessaloniki or even in other cities. About 81,500 students study at the Aristotle University (72,140 in undergraduate programmes and 8,360 in postgraduate programmes). There are 2,150 faculty members: 739 professors, 435 associate professors, 634 assistant professors, and 342 lecturers. There are also 11 teaching assistants, 58 research fellows, 248 members of the Special Laboratory Teaching Personnel (S.L.T.P.), 69 of whom belong to category Ι and 179 to category ΙΙ, as well as 15 foreign language teachers and 4 foreign instructors. Faculty members are also assisted by 213 members of the Special Technical Laboratory Personnel (S.T.L.P.). The administration office consists of 400 permanent employees and 528 employees under a private law contract of indefinite duration. Moreover, 596 people employed by third parties provide services at the university.
The Dopinglinkki, which is part of the A-Clinic Foundation, is a multi-functional project (www.Dopinglinkki.fi) that focuses on low-threshold health advisory service, education and information sharing between national and international authorities dealing with different aspects of doping in recreational sport. Dopinglinkki is the only government body in Finland that provides people in fitness training with health counselling on doping issues making it unique. The project is funded by grants from Finland’s Slot Machine Association and the Ministry of Education and Culture. The project web site service provides scientifically based information and expert advice on doping issues. It is intended for fitness enthusiasts who use doping substances, their family members and friends, and professionals from different fields who meet users of doping substances in their work. Information is offered in Finnish, Swedish, English and Russian. The non-Finnish language versions have a steady user base outside of Finland (Google Analytics) thus also serving a larger population. The Dopinglinkki web pages has approximately 15,000 national and international visitors on a monthly basis.
Dopinglinkki participates actively in European and international networks and events in its field (e.g. Sportvision 2012 Copenhagen, Denmark, Prof. Arne Ljungqvist Anti-Doping Foundation: Doping as a public health issue 2012, Stockholm, Sweden, Conference of Sports Medicine 2013, Helsinki, Finland, 6th IWG World Conference on Women and Sport 2014, 7th Conference of Baltic Society of Sport Sciences 2014, Tartu, Estonia, MOVE Congress, Copenhagen, Denmark, Anabolic Steroids: Evidence and Engagement Conference 2016, Liverpool, United Kingdom, International Congress on Sport, Doping and Society 2017, Madrid, Spain, Doping in Public Health 2017, Oslo, Norway). Dopinglinkki organized the 5th Nordic Conference on Appearance and Performance Enhancing Drugs & Anti-Doping Work 2015 in Helsinki, Finland. Dopinglinkki also provides education and research on doping in recreational sports. Dopinglinkki does not address doping in competitive sports, it is focused solely on doping in recreational sports.
iNADO is an organisation comprising 67 member National Anti-Doping Organisations (NADOs) from around the world. A primary objective of the organisation is to identify and share best practice in all fields of anti-doping critically including education. iNADO has an online discussion and information sharing tool specifically for the Education Managers in each NADO and consequently has access to and can collect input from the most expert people in anti-doping education from around the world. iNADO has a variety of other tools which also add to its ability to be a hub for the sharing of anti-doping education expertise. iNADO is regularly invited to and contributes to anti-doping education conferences around the world. It has previously participated in the Project – “PrePlay” Doping Prevention Through Peer Learning Among Youth.
The Società Sportiva Lazio (SS LAZIO) is the oldest and largest multisport society in Italy founded in Rome on January 9th 1900. As a Multisport club Lazio promotes several sport disciplines, both professional and grassroots, within the same organization and denomination: currently more than 10.000 athletes are enrolled in 44 sections and 14 associated activities, practicing more than 70 different sports, with a strong social focus in Olympics, Paralympics and Special Olympics disciplines. In its 114 years of history Società Sportiva Lazio has reached top results in both sport and social activities: recognized as “Ente Morale” (Moral Agency) “as an example of rectitude for the Youth” and decorated with the “Golden star” and “Golden collar” for sport merits, the Club has achieved 9 gold Olympic medals, more than 500 international and national titles and more than 1000 at youth level. The interdisciplinary organization and governance, the constant focus on social aspects of sport and the significant results achieved (together with the recent creation of the European Multisport Club Association as described further) entitle Società Sportiva Lazio as potential coordinator of a Europe-wide project Società Sportiva Lazio and 14 more multisport clubs created in 2013 a pan-European network associating top clubs who dedicate their energies to both professional and grass-roots sports: EMCA – the European Multisport Club Association
The Cyprus Anti-Doping Authority (CyADA) is the national anti-doping organization in Cyprus. It was established by Decree of the Minister of Education and Culture in 2009 and is the competent authority responsible for the implementation and management of the anti-doping programme in line with the Cyprus legislation as well as the international conventions and the other obligations of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus. CyADA’s activities include mainly in-competition and out-of-competition testing, results management processes, drug reference resources, scientific research, and awareness and doping prevention programmes. Education represents an extremely important element of an effective anti-doping program. Aiming to create a culture of clean athletes, CyADA provides education to athletes and athlete support persons. Education covers athletes and athlete support persons’ rights and responsibilities in regards to the drug testing process; prohibited substances; the sample collection process; food supplement awareness; therapeutic use exemptions; anti-doping rule violations; consequences of doping including sanctions, health and social consequences; results management information; ethics in sports and harm of doping to the spirit of sport. In support of its educational programmes, CyADA works closely with all interested parties, including athletes’ associations and unions, national sport federations, the Cyprus Sports Organisation, the Cyprus Olympic Committee and the Cyprus Paralympic Committee.
Established in 2008 as a non-profit, independent organisation, the University of Nicosia Research Foundation (UNRF) seeks to inspire and promote knowledge, innovation and development among researchers in Cyprus and its neighbouring countries. Research at UNRF focuses on global and local issues including health, complex networks, social sciences, education, ICT, engineering, and environmental sustainability. Researchers at UNRF are interested in examining challenges to modern life from a wide range of perspectives, including technological and scientific advances, modern culture and thought, and apply their expertise derived from addressing local, regional and national issues to global challenges and develop teams to bring disciplinary strengths together to approach key issues with global impact. UNRF’s researchers have substantial experience in the management and implementation of research projects, funded by the European Union and the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation and are currently involved in projects with a total budget of 1.3 million euros.
