CEREPS Summit 2026 in Münster focused on Children and Youth Sport Initiatives
From June 29 to July 1, 2026, the Willibald Gebhardt Institute hosted the CEREPS Summit 2026 at the Franz-Hitze-Haus in Münster, Germany. This event, organized in cooperation with CEREPS—a European research network in the field of physical education and school sports—provided the WGI and the Institute of Sport and Exercise Science at the University of Münster with an excellent opportunity to share their work on an international stage and expand their professional networks. For the Institute of Sports Science, the “Physical Education and Teaching Research” department, led by Nils Neuber (who is also vice president of the WGI), was closely involved in the planning and programming of the conference.
Numerous guests from across Europe and the German sports science community, particularly from North Rhine-Westphalia, attended the summit’s anniversary celebration—Münster 2026 was the tenth time the conference has been held. In total, more than 60 researchers, practitioners, multipliers, educators, and policymakers attended the conference on the topic of children’s and youth sports in schools and sport clubs. Among them were Gerwin-Lutz Reinink and Tobias Bomhard from the State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia, as well as Tobias Knoch, a board member of the North Rhine-Westphalia State Sports Federation; Andreas Sornig from the Münster District Government; and Jens Wortmann, Chairman of Sportjugend NRW.
The three keynote speakers set the main thematic focus. In the opening presentation, Bernhard Kalicki from the German Youth Institute highlighted the potential of physical activity, play, and sports for the healthy development of children and adolescents. Amika Singh’s (Mulier Institute, Netherlands) keynote focused on the transfer of scientific knowledge into practice regarding “Active Schools.” The focus of Kristy Howells’ (Canterbury Christ Church University, UK) keynote was on deriving concrete practical insights for early childhood education from the CHIME framework (Children’s Health, Inclusion, Movement, and Education). Jacob Kornbeck, who was elected as new CEREPS President during the summit, delivered a highly acclaimed presentation on “The Origins and Evolution of the HEPA Paradigm in the European Context (2000–2025).” Kornbeck was elected CEREPS President at the CEREPS General Assembly, which took place as part of the summit, succeeding Roland Naul.
In additional workshops and symposia, topics such as physical activity, play, and sports in an all-day school context, inclusive teacher training, physical literacy, and the content of competency-based youth coach training in both European and national contexts—using the German Basketball Federation as an example—were presented and discussed. Early-career researchers also had the opportunity to present their work as part of an Early Career Award.
“All in all, it was a very successful conference that provided many opportunities for research transfer. We received very positive feedback from the many regional, German, and European stakeholders,” said WGI President Heinz Aschebrock, summing up the event.