Hebe Schaillée

Hebe Schaillée is an Assistant Professor (0.1 ZAP defisc) and postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Movement and Sport Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium. She graduated in 2008 at the VUB with a Master’s in Physical Education (Sport Management track). In 2009, she earned a teacher’s certificate while simultaneously working as a researcher at the VUB. In 2016, Hebe was awarded a PhD for her research entitled ‘More than just a game? The potential of sport programmes to foster positive youth development among disadvantaged girls’, in Physical Education and Movement Sciences at the VUB.  

Her research contributes to the role of sport in promoting social inclusion of young people in vulnerable positions and advancing gender equality. Her research focus originated with her PhD research and has subsequently been consolidated and expanded through her postdoctoral research (2016-2020) on the SBO project entitled ‘Community sport for AT-risk youth: Innovative strategies for promoting development, health and social CoHesion (CATCH).  

She is currently the project manager of the ASP2030 project entitled ‘BXL Martial Arts Lab’. This multidisciplinary community-engaged research and learning platform aims to establish and build relationships between martial arts clubs in Brussels and different research groups affiliated to the Vrije Universiteit and the Université Libre de Bruxelles. This platform also aims to co-create and disseminate knowledge by collaborating with the UNIVER.CITY project team and the Risk Martial Arts Platform.  

Adding to this research and project management experience, she is also involved as an investigator on the following ERASMUS+ funded projects:  

• The GETZ project (2018-2020), coordinated by the University Of Worcester aims to educate generation Z via a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to become change agents and leaders in sport who can breakdown stereotypes and barriers for future generations; 

• The EDUPACT  project (2018-2020), coordinated by the  University of Vienna aims to improve the quality of pre-service and in-service sport education, in order to prepare PE teachers and coaches to work with inclusive intercultural education through physical activity and sport; 

• The SPPF project (2020-2022), coordinated by the Rode Antraciet (non-governmental organisation) aims to identify areas for advancing active citizenship within the prison system, by offering insights into the good practices an learning areas in five European countries (i.e., Belgium, Croatia, Italy, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom).  

Her research has resulted in publications in highly respected international peer reviewed journals. Examples include the Journal of Sport Management, Aggression and Violent Behavior, International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, International Review for the Sociology of Sport and Social Inclusion. She has co-edited a special issue of Sport in Society entitled ‘Community sport and social inclusion: International Perspectives’ (2019). She is currently co-editing a Routledge Book. The book entitled ‘Community Sport and Social Inclusion: Enhancing strategies for promoting personal development, health and social cohesion’ is under contract, and scheduled for publication in 2021.  

Her commitment to international research collaboration is reflected in almost all her research endeavours, including the invited presentations given at (inter)national conferences and the various research exchange activities (e.g., a two-part knowledge transfer exchange event in collaboration with Solent University and Bournemouth University) that she organised in recent years. This passion extends to creating exchange opportunities between researchers, practitioners and end users.