Executive Summary
The State of Play 2025: Innovation in Sport for Sustainable Development provides a comprehensive analysis of how innovation has been mobilised across the sport for sustainable development (SfD) sector between 2020 and 2025, conveying how innovation is defined, practiced, and supported in diverse contexts across the world.
Against a backdrop of pandemic recovery, climate instability, and technological transformation, innovation in SfD has shifted from being seen as a peripheral add-on to a core, necessary function of effective programming. Innovation today is understood not only in terms of new technologies, but as an inclusive, participatory process rooted in co-creation, community leadership, and systems change.
Drawing on the lived experience and recommendations of 61 innovators from across 28 countries within the Olympism365 Innovation Hub, of whom include social entrepreneurs, technologists, and grassroots leaders, this publication explores the enablers and drivers of innovation, the barriers and challenges to innovation, how financing and partnerships influence the innovation process, and what conditions beyond funding are needed for innovation to succeed.
This publication synthesises these practitioner insights, along with case studies of innovation in action as well as emerging academic research on five key thematic areas: organisational culture, cross-sector collaboration, social entrepreneurship, digital technology, and evolving evaluation systems. It highlights both the enablers and constraints of innovation, offering a grounded and timely reflection on what is working, what needs to change, and how the sector can move forward with more inclusive, responsive, and equitable models of change.
Structured across six areas, the publication:
Defines innovation as it is currently understood and practiced in SfD;
Analyses global trends and developments that shaped the period 2020–2025;
Showcases case studies from the Olympism365 Innovation Hub;Captures practitioner perspectives and insights from a cross-fund global exchange;
Identifies systemic barriers and enabling conditions;
Offers practical recommendations for practitioners, funders, policymakers, and practitioners.
In doing so, State of Play 2025 seeks to advance a shared understanding of innovation as a systemic lever for social transformation, and to guide its responsible growth in the years ahead.
About the Olympism365 Innovation Hub
The Olympism365 Innovation Hub, launched by the IOC with Beyond Sport and Women Win, has played a catalytic role in enabling innovation at multiple levels, through supporting community-rooted initiatives, social enterprise models, cross-sector coalitions, and emerging technologies (Olympism365 Innovation Hub consortium leads: Women Win and Beyond Sport). By supporting diverse actors with flexible funding, convening opportunities, and shared infrastructure, the Olympism365 Innovation Hub has created a platform where innovation can be tested, refined, and scaled.