It is with a great pleasure that I have the opportunity to invite you to participate in the 2017 FISU Summer Universiade Conference which will take place at the University of Taipei in Taipei city. FISU, a federation that organises sporting events for University students worldwide, is very proud to organise educational and cultural events such as the FISU Conference. The fact that this Conference is fully integrated into the programme of the Universiade reflects the importance that my colleagues on the FISU committees and I are giving to the educational events and programmes within FISU.

Sport, particularly university sport, cuts through the differences and boundaries. It can help bring young generations and nations together. It drives cultural, social, and environmental changes for the better. With its tremendous potentials, we can broaden the horizon of sport in our lives and communities. This is why the theme selected by the University of Taipei is crucial to FISU. Indeed, with its continental and national university sport federations, FISU is working on a daily basis to increase the participation in university sport activities from the local to the global dimension. 

The aim of the FISU Conference is to gather, during three days, renowned scholars and young researchers to discuss the place sport has within the university, to exchange ideas regarding its development and the new challenges of university sport. FISU, which gathers at its Universiade more than 170 countries, aimed to create a spot for debating about sport with the highest academic authorities of the world. We are sure that this edition of the FISU Summer Conference will be the opportunity for all the participants to better understand what the values of amateur sport can bring to our communities as well as to exchange and promote the results of the scientific research on this specific topic giving competitive and leisure sport its appropriate place in the development of young students who are going to be tomorrow’s leaders. 

The FISU Conference has been a vital part of our Summer Universiade for many years. It has always played an important role in the overall success of our Summer Universiade. The Conference gives to those students who have a broad interest in the various branches of University sport the opportunity to share with us their recommendations, papers and researches.

To bring out the potentials in sport, universities have taken its own part of responsibilities and have been involved in a wide range of activities such as creating sport majors, conducting researches, and organising sport competitions.

We are proud to give the opportunity to the participants of the 29th Summer Universiade in Taipei city, not only to compete but also to listen and exchange ideas with scholars from all over the world, which makes the foundations of FISU an even stronger bridge between sport and academic communities.

I believe that, by working together, with the National University Sport Federations of Chinese Taipei, the local Organising Committee and all the components instituting FISU from the student-athletes to the Universities, we can take a small but meaning step towards the betterment of our communities.

I wish all of us a successful and fruitful FISU Conference in Taipei City.