December 2025 with ISG: young leaders, good governance, and data-driven accountability
December at ISG was a month of closing important processes while opening new paths for growth. On the one hand, we concluded ACTION+ one of ISG’s largest initiatives to standardize good governance in European sport. On the other, we focused strongly on the future: supporting young leaders, volunteering, and social initiatives that create real change in local communities. December was also a time to strengthen the role of evidence and expertise in the debate on Polish football: we launched a series of publications based on the CSR Report of PKO BP Ekstraklasa 2024/2025, showing that accountability in sport can be measured, compared, and developed—not “by feel,” but through indicators and proven good practices.
ACTION+ concluded — a European change that will last for years
The most important highlight of the month was the official closure of ACTION+, continuing ISG’s work on implementing good governance principles in sports federations. In December we summarized outcomes that do not end with the project’s final date—because they were designed as tools for continued use and scaling.
A key result of ACTION+ is the creation of an international network of 14 National Implementation Facilitators—experts who not only understand good governance standards, but can translate them into concrete changes inside sports organizations. This model shifts the focus from “declarations” to “implementation”: from gap analysis, through designing reform plans, to hands-on support in putting them into practice.
As part of the project, we:
- identified federations’ real needs (interviews, analyses, consultations),
- developed a training programme,
- delivered workshops in 7 countries,
- implemented mentoring with 14 federations, showing how to move from theory to action,
- produced the National Facilitators Handbook, enabling the model to continue and grow after the project ends.
It was a strong year-end statement: governance not as an “idea,” but as a set of skills, tools, and people capable of driving reforms in real sport structures.
Young leaders and solidarity projects — sport as a tool for social change
December also brought strong activity focused on developing young talent and the social energy of sport.
Youth for Sport and Society Leadership Programme — we shared recruitment for a programme aimed at young leaders, where sport becomes a vehicle for creating first community-based social projects. It offers practical training, leadership development, and a real pathway: from an idea to action in local communities.
In parallel, we invited student communities and grassroots initiative groups to a webinar on solidarity projects under the European Solidarity Corps. We explained how these projects work, what can be delivered through them, how to write a strong application, and how this experience builds competencies such as planning, team management, delivering complex task sequences, and accountability for results.
A key message ran through all these efforts: without young leaders who understand responsibility and good governance, lasting change in sport—locally or system-wide—is not possible.
Volunteering as the backbone of the sport ecosystem
Around International Volunteer Day, we emphasized volunteering as the “infrastructure” of European sport—from local clubs to international projects. This is an important and substantive point: volunteering is not an add-on to sport, but a mechanism that makes many initiatives possible in the first place.
From a governance perspective, it is also about standards: volunteering requires good management (roles, responsibility, communication, safety), and if sport wants to remain credible, it must be able to build an environment that values and protects social engagement.
Social innovation and inspiration from Europe: Sports4All Innovation Summit (Antwerp)
At the beginning of the month, #TeamISG attended the Sports4All Innovation Summit 2025 in Antwerp—a major event that demonstrated how rapidly social innovation in sport is developing across Europe.
Key takeaways from ISG’s perspective:
- innovations are increasingly designed as responses to inequalities in access to sport,
- the presence of public institutions and dialogue between innovators and decision-makers is crucial (policy, funding, scaling),
- methods are becoming more mature: social impact measurement, theory of change, scaling strategies,
- AI is returning as an important context for sport transformation—not only in elite sport, but also in management and participant engagement.
This is an important inspiration for Poland: many solutions can be transferred locally—if we have the courage to build a true ecosystem of cooperation and funding for innovation.
CSR in Ekstraklasa: from publishing the report to education and public debate
December was also a month in which we consistently “worked” with the findings of the CSR Report of PKO BP Ekstraklasa 2024/2025—not only as a publication, but as a change-making tool.
In a series of posts, we explained why we analyze CSR in sport: clubs are social institutions and organizations of public trust; they influence education, health, organizational culture, youth safety, the environment, and governance standards. We also stressed that the report creates a benchmark for clubs, sponsors, local governments, and media.
An important part of December communication was clarifying the results:
- 39% represents the league-wide average level of fulfillment/compliance with the assessed CSR indicators—an average derived from a study based on a set of indicators (in the report: 120+) covering society, environment, governance, and—for the first time—financial responsibility.
- we also highlighted the wide spread of results (leaders vs. clubs at the bottom), showing that the league’s development is uneven.
We also showcased concrete examples: good practices (e.g., social programmes, accessibility, whistleblowing mechanisms, health promotion, sustainable transport), as well as “quiet” systemic changes in clubs—publishing regulations and procedures, and increasing transparency.
A significant step was also cooperation with the media (Weszło! as media patron), which helped take accountability beyond the expert “bubble” and bring it into a broader conversation about the future of Polish football.
Sport policies and funding: preparations for Erasmus+ Sport 2026 and the Sport Strategy 2040
In December, the theme of “sport as public policy” also resonated strongly.
- ISG participated in the Erasmus+ Sport Info Day 2026 in Brussels, returning with up-to-date knowledge on EU priorities (sport and health, innovation, sustainability, the European Model of Sport) and application rules for the 2026 calls (including changes to forms and lump-sum financing).
- In parallel, we attended a Ministry of Sport and Tourism conference on European sport initiatives, where it became clear that work is ongoing both on Poland’s sport strategy and on a strategic document by the European Commission.
Our communication also included the consultation process for the Polish Sport Development Strategy 2040—important because it concerns not only elite sport, but also public health, physical activity, and social capital. We emphasized that a participatory strategy-building process is a test of good governance: transparency, stakeholder inclusion, and evidence-based policy.
Summary
December 2025 at ISG was a month where three threads came together into a coherent story about the future of sport:
- Governance that can be implemented — ACTION+ left behind a network of experts and tools for real federation reforms.
- People who carry change — young leaders, solidarity projects, and volunteering as the foundation of the sport ecosystem.
- Accountability that is measured, not declared — the Ekstraklasa CSR report and its growing role in public debate, with an increasing focus on standards, transparency, and stability (including financial stability).
It’s a good moment to say it clearly: if sport is to remain a shared public good, it must be able to reform institutions, develop people, and be accountable for its impact—at the same time. In December, that’s exactly what we did.
