With the 2025 MOVE Congress fully underway, Copenhagen’s south waterfront is buzzing. Under the theme Activating – People, Participation, and Communities, nearly one thousand participants have gathered at the Danish capital’s Tivoli Hotel & Congress Centre for the premier event in the community sport and physical activity sector’s calendar.

The Oct 29 opening ceremony featured a spectacular gymnastics extravaganza by the National Danish Performance Team — a touring company famed for its dazzling displays. Recognized as a world leader in performance and display gymnastics, the team performs in a variety of venues, from sports arenas and theatres to grass lawns and muddy fields.

Back in 1995, ISCA was founded in a small office just a short walk from the venue of the MOVE Congress. In his welcome address to participants, ISCA President Mogens Kirkeby reflected on a long and eventful 30-year journey that has today brought the organisation back to its roots. Although the sports sector has changed, he said, the founders’ vision of grassroots sport and physical activity bringing people together and improving health is still held close by ISCA. In a sector dominated by a vast commercial entertainment‑sports industry where profit takes precedence, he noted that the need for an alternative sports sector—one driven by “meaning over medals” and “values over money”—has never been greater.

DGI’s support was instrumental in the formation of ISCA, and National Chair Charlotte Bach Thomassen also extended a warm welcome to participants. Citing the example of local Danish sports clubs, she emphasised the role of grassroots organisations in strengthening democracy, bringing people together and enhancing physical, mental and social well‑being.

The first keynote address of the Congress was delivered by Oliver Percovich, Founder and Co‑Executive Director of Skateistan. Founded in Afghanistan, this dynamic organisation operates in some of the world’s most insecure and unequal communities, creating safe‑spaces where marginalised people can learn, play and shape their futures. “Skateboarding, like life, is full of uncertainty,” Percovich said.

After establishing Skateistan’s first facility in 2009 — with educational classes taking place alongside skateboarding lessons and a strong focus on women — he described the constant challenges faced by his organization – almost no financial security, unrest in the streets, buildings collapsing, and suicide attacks claiming lives.

When the Taliban regained control of the country in 2021, the organization took the a difficult decision to prioritising the evacuation of their female employees and their families. Some 165 Afghan nationals were successfully relocated. Years of experience have taught him that you must get back on your feet after a fall — “but you should never stop taking risks”. Disorder can be a positive driver, he pointed out.

With a record-breaking line-up of speakers and events, the Copenhagen edition of the MOVE Congress is a landmark event for global grassroots sport and physical-activity. With four out of every five attendees joining the Congress for the first time, ISCA and DGI hope that the energy of the MOVE Congress will encourage people across the world to get #activated.