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Welcome

We were delighted to be able to invite people back to our Bedford campus in 2022, and were excited to hear from our keynote speaker, Professor Robert Copeland, Professor of Physical Activity and Health, Director of the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam 天美传媒 who gave our opening address on 'Placing physical activity at the heart of the NHS: A systems approach'.

COVID-19 has seen a great disruption to our lives. Our conference theme aimed to highlight the importance of connections in society, and how this can be enhanced through physical activity and sport. Sustainability and health are key priority areas for us in ISPAR, and heard from our guest speakers from the Sustainable Transport Team at Bedford Borough Council. Our conference showcased the impactful research that our staff, postgraduate students and collaborators are engaged in within each of our three research centres. The day was brought to a close with a warm welcome back to two of our former ISPAR PhD graduates, Dr Jane Williams and Dr Marsha Brierley, featured as our Alumni keynotes who showcased their work and careers since graduating.

ISPAR's three research centres featured throughout the day. Our Centre for Health, Wellbeing and Behaviour Change is led by Professor Angel Chater, our Centre for Physical Education, Sport and Human Movement is led by Dr Joanne Hill, and our Centre for Physical Activity and Sports Performance is led by Dr Jeff Aldous. We are passionate about health and wellbeing, with talks including topics on prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases, including obesity and diabetes; cardiometabolic risk, and glycaemic control. We shared our work in supporting optimal human performance through cooling strategies in team sport and the effects of footwear on postural stability. And we showcased our value for social justice, with talks on the importance of an LGBTQ+ Leadership Programme in Higher Education, girls' academy football coaching, and tackling racial exclusion and discrimination in university sport and physical activity.

The impact of our work in ISPAR has been recognised, with 89% of our research classified as internationally excellent/world-leading in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF2021) assessment. Our research informs our work with the local community through our UoB Exercise Clinic, where we offer exercise sessions to individuals to help with their long-term health conditions, our Human Performance Centre, where we work with a range of people from elite athletes and sports teams, and individuals to optimise performance and our links with education and schools through the Faculty's training for Physical Education (PE) teachers and higher education.

We are incredibly proud of ISPAR and are pleased to share our research with you. We hope our research and outreach work will inspire various ways to connect through physical activity and sport and we encourage you to connect with us during and after the conference, with a view to exploring new and continuing research opportunities and collaborations.

With special thanks to the ISPAR 2022 Organising Committee: Julia Fruer, Angel Chater, Joanne Hill, Mike Newell, Martyn Morris, Jeff Aldous, Phoebe Brook-Rowland, Nimra Butt, Dionne Jules, Abigail Saunders, Diana Soares.

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Past Conferences

• ISPAR Conference 2021
• ISPAR Conference 2020
• ISPAR Conference 2019
• ISPAR Conference 2018
• ISPAR Conference 2017