Paper short abstract:

This paper draws extensively on a multi-site research project to discuss sustainability within the Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) sector. We discuss the historical emergence, diverse meanings, and challenging political contexts for sustainability within SDP.

Paper long abstract:

This paper draws extensively on findings from an ongoing multi-site research project to discuss critically the issue of sustainability with respect to the Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) sector. We outline the emergence of the SDP sector since the early 1990s, and the growing relevance of sustainability issues for SDP projects and initiatives. We examine the power relations and networks within SDP, and consider the subsequent diverse meanings of sustainability for the different stakeholders within the sector. We explore how sustainable development is pursued in particular through strategies of adaptation and network-building by stakeholders. We locate the SDP sustainability agenda within both the wider political context of global North-South relations, and the complex and often difficult links between everyday SDP work and structural inequalities and divisions.