On 13^th May 2026, 17 representatives of organised sport in Bosnia and Herzegovina came together in Sarajevo, in the headquarter of the Olympic Committee of Bosnia and Herzegovina  — representatives from national federations through to local clubs and civil society actors. They demonstrated powerfully what organised sport is capable of when it commits to not just naming democratic values, but giving them real meaning together. As part of the European project VALUE COMPASS, they laid the Bosnia and Herzegovina contribution to the VALUE FRAMEWORK — the European reference point that will help sports organisations across the EU integrate democratic values into their structures. The quality of the first workshop results owes much to the remarkable depth of experience the participants brought with them. A heartfelt thank you to everyone involved for their outstanding commitment! 

Workshop Results 

Goal of the workshop was defining a shared understanding of democratic values ​​in sport through a stakeholder workshop process that supports mutual exchange and understanding of appropriate values ​​in sport. 

One day, workshop in Sarajevo was divided in two segments: First segment of the programme was: joint introduction, presentation of the agenda, conceptual exploration of values, discussion of the relationship between sport and democracy.

Second segment of workshop created a road map with collected values which was defined in a group work.

The result is compelling: 10 democratic values with clear definitions in the Bosnian and Herzegovinian sport context. Alongside values such as fairness and respect, values with direct democratic relevance — such as justice, equality and respect — were discussed and defined in the context of a sport in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

A first glimpse into ten of these definitions, which will be further developed in collaboration with the University of Bielefeld before feeding into the VALUE COMPASS tool, VALUE FRAMEWORK and VALUE GUIDE: 

Team work — the capability of being able to successfully work/navigate in a group

Integrity — having strong, unbeatable ethical and moral principles

Equality — having the same opportunities/standards as your colleagues

Inclusion- giving everybody the opportunity to participate in sport no matter the psychological or physiological ability

Justice- legal principle which guarantees fairness/equal treatment and other norms guaranteed by the Law and Declaration of the Human rights

Solidarity- describe the will and ability to support team members and/or minorities against outer influences or threats by following commonly arranged rules.

Transparency – grant equal access to information, tools and means to the everyone inside the organisation.

Future strategy/orientation – capacity to look over the horizon in order to detect and develop potential chances, having a concrete achievement including the reflection on possible instruments and budget.

Independence- ability to function without influence of other people and other factors.

Respect- immediate, general demand in following given subjective and objective rules inside any sports community. Its defines ability to treat opponents in a way we wanted to be treated.

Why Democratic Values in Sport — and Why Now? 

Democratic values can actively rebuild democratic habits by modelling participation, accountability, fair play, inclusion and non-discrimination, and by providing safe, mixed spaces for dialogue and common identity. Sports organizations therefore carry a responsibility to adopt transparent governance, protect free expression and equal access, invest in grassroots outreach, and partner with civil society and schools to turn stadiums and gyms into arenas for democratic learning and reconciliation.

What Comes Next? B&H's national workshop is one step in a pan-European process. The results will be further developed in close collaboration with the University of Bielefeld. National workshops in the other partner countries — Ukraine, Poland, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Estonia — will follow in the coming months, each with the same goal: building a nationally rooted foundation of democratic values in sport. The insights gathered across all partner countries will then feed into a shared European workshop, whose results will form the basis of the VALUE FRAMEWORK and the digital VALUE COMPASS tool — to be made available free of charge and in multiple languages to sport organisations across Europe. 

About VALUE COMPASS  

VALUE COMPASS is a collaborative partnership project co-funded by the European Union as part of the Erasmus+ Sports Programme. The project runs from January 2026 to December 2027 and aims to promote a common understanding of democratic values in sport and to promote their implementation across Europe. It is directed to National Olympic Committees, national and regional sports federations, local sports clubs and their volunteers throughout Europe. The project results are designed for scalability and transferability beyond partner countries and provide a model for value-based organisational development that is applicable to sports organisations of all sizes and nations. Especially for clubs, the final core products of the project can help to not only formulate attitude, but to make it tangible in everyday life – in training, volunteering, participation and respectful cooperation. 

Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.