Written evidence submitted by Professor Richard Giulianotti and Dr Verity Postlethwaite, Loughborough University to Foreign Affairs Committee inquiry ‘Soft power: a strategy for UK success?’ (SFT0005)

This written evidence focuses on the role of UNESCO Chairs as a proven and effective mechanism to enhance the UK's soft power, particularly highlighting key strategic strengths. It demonstrates how UNESCO Chairs across the UK can better align with ongoing UK governmental actions and networks linked to regional and international organizations. We have mapped this out with some illustrative examples from the Loughborough University UNESCO Chair in Sport, Physical Activity, and Education across three levels of soft power: (i) macro or high-level, (ii) meso or inter-organizational links, and (iii) micro or grassroots and community-level initiatives.

Authors

Professor Richard Giulianotti[1] – UNESCO Chair in Sport, Physical Activity and Education for Development, and Professor of Sociology, School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University. He represents the UK as Vice-Chair on UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport (CIGEPS).  His main areas of research include sport, globalization, development, peace, policy and politics, international relations, and mega-events.  

Dr Verity Postlethwaite[2] – Lecturer in Strategic Event Management, School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University. She is currently Project Lead on two research grants related to the use of international sporting and cultural events as a catalyst for social and community changes funded by Spirit of 2012 and UK Sport. Her main areas of research and innovation include events, diplomacy, development, and governance.    

Key recommendations

Leverage, Promote and Capitalise on Existing Strengths and Opportunities through UNESCO Chairs: The UK should harness its existing strengths in sport, culture, and education to enhance its soft power. Look to take on the Chair role within CIGEPS which would put the UK at the centre of shaping global sport and physical educational policy in and through the UN system.

Tailored and Intersectional Approaches Across a Range of Soft Power Assets: In areas such as sport, ensure that soft power narratives are consistent yet tailored to different audiences, and engage stakeholders from various fields, such as media and creative industries, to support and amplify more joined up soft power efforts in and across the UK.

What role do regional and international organisations play in bolstering the UK’s soft power offer?

We have experience of UNESCO Chairs programme, which is an international platform for the UK’s soft power. The UK is also an international leader within the UNESCO system with respect to higher education through the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs programme.[3]

Launched in 1992, the programme now features over 1,000 Chairs in diverse disciplines that endeavour to support UNESCO’s development work.  The UK has over 30 UNESCO Chairs who exercise expertise and leadership in diverse fields (e.g., AI, cultural heritage, disaster reduction, education, sport, sustainability); exceptionally, Loughborough University is expected to have four Chairs in place by summer 2025. The UK Chairs now meet annually and, as a collective, have become increasingly aware and vocal on their soft power potential through working with international partners (e.g., governments, businesses, NGOs, universities) - a potential that they are a long way from fully realising.  

An example of this Chair system is hosted at Loughborough University and led by Professor Richard Giulianotti, the UNESCO Chair in Sport, Physical Activity and Education for Development aims to advance knowledge, policy and practice in how sport, physical activity and education can be used in the physical, personal and social development of young people across the world.[4]

How might the UK build partnerships and alliances with these organisations to achieve its soft power goals?

Our work with the Sport Section at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters has underscored these points, and the potential for the UK to be more fully involved (and to enhance its soft power) where resource is available. The main aim of UNESCO’s Sport Section is to implement successfully its flagship global initiative – Fit for Life – over the next decade.[5] The UK is recognised by UNESCO and its partners as an international leader in sport, physical education, and physical activity.  Accordingly, the UK joined UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport (CIGEPS) – an 18-member forum that develops and drives UNESCO’s global sport and PE strategies – as Vice-Chair in late 2023. 

The UK has recognised expertise in a host of key areas that fit closely with UNESCO’s aims, such as values and mission (e.g., on promoting social inclusion, gender equality/tackling gender-based violence, disability rights, quality physical education); and, in policy implementation and measurement (e.g., through DCMS and the Government Outcomes Lab [Oxford], the UK is a global leader in Social Impact Bonds, which are UNESCO’s crucial funding/delivery framework for its Fit for Life initiative). The UK has close ties (through membership, prior partnerships, and/or key personnel) to other international stakeholders – such as the Commonwealth Secretariat, various sport federations, civil society agencies – which often provide advanced and cross-cutting expertise and shared interests with UNESCO.

Work with UNESCO points to the potential advantages of developing partnerships and alliances with international organisations that recognise soft power activity as operating at broadly three different levels. In best case scenarios, these levels will be interconnecting, and they are: 

1.          Macro and/or High-level, with international or global reach – e.g., UK officials in leadership positions and influential roles in high-level policy and diplomacy within UN agencies; UK officials engaging with the UK’s globally renowned, iconic brands (e.g., in sport, the English Premier League, world famous athletes) to reach global audiences and/or key global political stakeholders. 

2.          Meso, inter-organisational links, with national and international reach – e.g., UK agencies involved in bilateral and regional partnerships; UK delegates having leadership roles in specific international programmes; UK agencies coordinating multi-stakeholder regional initiatives 

3.          Micro, grassroots and community-level initiatives, with accumulative national and international scale – e.g., UK agencies implementing grassroots sport development programmes in multiple locations.        

In working with these international organisations, to pursue soft power, the UK will need to focus on four further points: i) to be clear on soft power objectives and intended outcomes in each activity, and on the priority partners and audiences for these activities; ii) to maximise the harnessing of areas of high existing soft power capital or strength, for example in flagship and iconic brands, and privileged access to leading organisational officials and related stakeholders; iii) to recognise how different soft power areas intersect (e.g., global sport with media, culture), to harness these interconnections for maximal effect; iv) to recognise the multi-dimensional arena of soft power, giving greater prominence to its most globally engaging aspects (e.g., sport), and ensuring that UK strategy does not fall behind the times in its areas of activity (in other words, operate significantly in soft power fields that have declining international traction).   

Examples where this type of working has been effective in relation to sport at different levels

Macro/high-level - Gender and sport

In our activities, we’ve secured the first Memorandum of Understanding with the Global Observatory for Gender Equality and Sport (GO).[6] Recognising the urgent need for collective action, the GO was established to advance gender equality and empower women and girls in all their diversity in and through physical education, physical activity, and sport. In our research, the connection between women and sport is one of the UK’s strongest sporting soft power assets at a macro-level. We found that in the UK national federations and state bodies are working in a more synchronized manner to help UK women obtain roles in international sport settings.

To date, the UK currently has four women who lead international sporting federations (Zena Wooldridge, World Squash Federation President 2020 to present; Liz Nicholl, International Netball Federation President 2019 to present; Dame Louise Martin, Commonwealth Games Federation President 2015 to 2023; Kate Caithness, World Curling Federation President 2010 to 2022). In the biographies and press releases for these roles, the women are credited as the 'first female president of an Olympic Winter Sports Federation' or the 'first female to hold the office in the history of the Commonwealth Sports Movement'. The efforts and diplomatic activities of enabling women to bid for and gain these roles demonstrate a direct, gendered sports diplomacy effort from the UK.[7]

Macro/high-level – Physical Education

Over the summer of 2024, the world’s attention was undoubtedly on the sport action at the Paris Olympics. But for those of us in global sport policy and diplomacy, the focus was also on key events surrounding the Games. The most significant sport policy event was the ‘Change the Game’ Sport conference, hosted by UNESCO in Paris on 23-24 July. I had the privilege of attending on behalf of the UNESCO Chair at Loughborough University, and in wider support of the UK Delegation to UNESCO.

The conference examined how sport and physical education (PE) can contribute to global sustainable development; and, how UNESCO’s inspiring work in this area can be supported. Over 800 delegates attended, including ministers, government officials, sport organisations, the private sector, leading athletes, NGO officials, and other stakeholders from across the world. We co-led on a recent landmark global report on PE, co-authored by UNESCO and Loughborough University, found that PE remains chronically underfunded, most PE teachers in primary schools lack specialist training, and 1 in 3 students with disabilities have no access to PE.[8]

Meso, inter-organisational links - Wales and Sports Diplomacy

We contributed (as part of the Advisory Board) to a British Council Wales Creating a Sports Diplomacy Strategy for Wales project (2019-2020),[9] this project used baseline data (such as, a soft power barometer) alongside other more consultation based data (such as, sporting community voices or tourism feedback) to create a strategy for how Wales could better harness and measure its sporting soft power influence. This piece demonstrated how soft power and sport could be embedded into larger international strategies as amplifier, catalyst or measure of success in particular time periods. Subsequent activities have diffused through different partners and a number of universities have been in engaged with follow-on activities.

Micro, grassroots and community-level initiatives – Para sport

The Para Sport Against Stigma (PSAS) project builds on lessons from the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Phase 1 (2020-2024) was a collaborative effort between Loughborough University London, the International Paralympic Committee and the University of Malawi. The AT2030 Para Sport Against Stigma (PSAS) project embarked on a mission to address disability-related stigma in Africa by harnessing the power of Para sports to promote the adoption of assistive technology (AT). This innovative initiative took an in-depth look into broadcasting and community engagement as well as Para athlete development strategies. By focusing on the vital aspects of representation, education, and communication within Para sport, the project sought to shatter societal barriers, ultimately facilitating easier access to and the widespread adoption of assistive technology (AT).[10] This project is part of the AT2030 program, which receives funding from UK Aid and is led by the Global Disability Innovation Hub. AT2030’s primary objective is to identify effective strategies to enhance access to assistive technology.

11 Feb 2025