The VISTA Conference is a scientific conference designed to promote and advance the mission, goals, objectives, and reputation of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and provides a platform for sport scientists to meet with experts in the field of sport for athletes with a disability.
Due to a need for greater opportunities to discuss and exchange knowledge, the VISTA Conference has become an important international event for sports scientists and researchers as well as for elite sport for athletes with an impairment.
The first VISTA Conference took place in Jasper, Canada in 1993. The success of this conference led to further conferences in Germany (1999), Sweden (2003), Germany (2006, 2011, 2013), Spain (2015), Canada (2017) and The Netherlands (2019). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the 2021 VISTA Conference was held virtually and hosted by the KU Leuven, Belgium in collaboration with the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa; The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden; School of Kinesiology; Western University, Canada; University of Pittsburgh, USA; and Yonsei University, South Korea.
The objectives of the VISTA Conference are:
- To provide a forum for the exchange of current information, research, development, and expertise related to sport for people with disabilities and the Paralympic Movement.
- To enhance and promote cross-disciplinary professional interaction among scholars and practitioners such as sport science scholars, disability inclusion scholars, sport managers, officials, coaches, athletes, sport medicine practitioners, classifiers, and sport administrators