Danish move congress highlights global push for integrated physical literacy across sectors

The Danish physical literacy team used this autumn’s MOVE Congress in Copenhagen to reflect on a multi‑year effort to embed physical literacy across education, sport and community provision, and to press for more research and practical collaboration internationally. According to the original report from the Physical Literacy UK blog, PL‑Net Denmark outlined an “honest reflection” of how it first engaged with the concept and then worked with practitioners and academics to translate theory into programmes and study.

The session formed part of the broader MOVE Congress, organised by the International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA), which ISCA says was the largest MOVE yet and drew an unusually broad international audience. ISCA reported that the 2025 congress attracted participants from more than 60 countries and hundreds of organisations, bringing together professionals from health, sport, education, urban planning, environment and politics to exchange best practice. ISCA has framed the event as a showcase for Danish grassroots approaches while also facilitating global learning.

PL‑Net Denmark’s presentation was joined by representatives from IPLA members and major national bodies, who used the platform to share concrete examples of how physical literacy is being translated into practice. The original report records contributions from Change the Game Sweden, Sport England, Sport for Life Canada and others, with speakers emphasising the need to integrate physical literacy across policy, school curricula and community sport to produce healthier, more active populations. Industry data from the host partnership highlights Denmark’s strong grassroots base as a productive backdrop: DGI, which co‑organised the congress, represents over 6,600 sports clubs with some 1.9 million members.

Speakers from India and England described very different routes to embedding the concept. According to the original report, Amit Malik of the International Physical Literacy Association described how engagement with IPLA encouraged Pullela Gopichand, a celebrated badminton player and coach, to adopt physical literacy at his elite training academy, while Malik himself has worked to bring the idea into schools, universities and policy circles. Charlie Crane of Sport England outlined how his organisation coordinated a consensus statement and convened “positive experience collectives”, collaborative small projects that embed a physical literacy focus across partner activity.

Across panels, practitioners and academics repeatedly called for more rigorous evaluation alongside practical action. The movement’s advocates argued that physical literacy can act as a ‘golden thread’, aligning stakeholders in education, health, sport, environment and community development behind shared outcomes for participation and well‑being. The call for expanded research and evidence‑sharing echoed the congress’s stated purpose of “activating people, participation and communities”.

The congress organisers emphasised networking and knowledge exchange as central outcomes: ISCA promoted the event as a rare opportunity for cross‑sector dialogue on recreational sport and health‑enhancing activity, and the partnership with DGI was presented as a model for mutual learning between national systems and international practitioners. According to ISCA, the event’s opening underlined both the scale and ambition of grassroots mobilisation in Denmark and beyond.

For associations and trade bodies focused on member services, the takeaway is practical: physical literacy is being advanced through a mix of advocacy, institutional adoption, small‑scale collaborative projects and a push for stronger evidence. Bringing these elements together, as PL‑Net Denmark and partners demonstrated in Copenhagen, appears to be the most promising route to making physical literacy a central organising principle for providers seeking meaningful, measurable increases in participation and wellbeing.