The Sport and Recreation Alliance is leading the UK's bid to win the right to host the International Working Group on Women & Sport (IWG) from 2022-2026. As part of the responsibilities of winning this bid, the UK will host a World Conference in the year 2026 to conclude the IWG's nineth quadrennial and to pass the baton to the next host nation.
The city submitting the winning application will be named in the UK's bid as our proposed World Conference host and the submission pack will be made part of our bidding documents.
The conference will take place over 4 days (Thursday – Sunday) and is expected to host 1,000 delegates in person and up to 500 delegates digitally. Traditionally the conference has been held in May or June, but July is also acceptable and will depend on venue and host city availability and cost.
The conference will require a mixture of spaces including an auditorium with a capacity of up to 1,000, series of breakout spaces and meeting rooms plus exhibition hall.
There is a requirement for sustainable catering for international delegates with varying dietary requirements throughout the day.
As a world leading conference attracting senior international officials and sporting figures, the Opening and Closing receptions and Gala Dinner will be expected to be held at iconic venues either at the conference venues or within the City.
To read more information on the background to the IWG and the UK's bid to host the 2022-26 quadrennial please download the following documents here:
IWG on Women and Sport World Conference Host City Bid Requirements
IWG on Women and Sport World Conference Bid Background Information
In preparing the Alliance to receive applications from prospective cities we have been working with Arc Event Consultancy.
TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION for the opportunity to be the UK's host city for the IWG World Conference 2020, or should you have any questions regarding the materials attached please direct emails to the following people:
- Clare Hartley: clare@arceventconsultancy.co.uk
- Rebecca Leach: rebecca@arceventconsultancy.co.uk
- Ricky Boardman: rboardman@sportandrecreation.org.uk
Further Background Information on the IWG
International Working Group on Women & Sport (IWG) was founded in 1994 with the first World Conference on Women and Sport in Brighton, UK. At this conference, the Brighton Declaration on Women and Sport was signed. The declaration was later developed at a following conference in Helsinki to become the Brighton-Helsinki Declaration. Today, the Brighton-Helsinki Declaration has more than 600 signatories from organisations around the world.
The vision of the IWG is a sustainable sporting culture that enables, empowers, and values the full involvement of women.
The Alliance are already working collaboratively with a cross government working group and are now looking for a Host City Delivery Partner to join the bid team. The following agencies have all already confirmed their initial support for the bid; DCMS, UK Sport, Sport England, Women in Sport, BOA and BPA.
The host will also develop a programme of initiatives over the period that delivers a ‘step-change’ in empowering women and advancing sport. The host country is required to secure the support of Government, NGO and commercial partners to invest in a programme of compelling and meaningful initiatives for the benefit of women within the country and around the world over this 4-year period. The programme would draw on IWG’s values of collaboration, inclusiveness, transparency and being outcome focussed, as well as commit to advancing the Brighton-Helsinki Declaration and any additions from 2022 IWG host, Auckland, New Zealand.
