Collaboration with Bournemouth University brings CASES to life through animation

The Chartered Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (CASES) has unveiled a new animation designed to help more people understand the role of sport and exercise science and the work of CASES-accredited practitioners. The resource is the latest initiative from the CASES Outreach Panel, which was established to increase public engagement with sport and exercise science and raise awareness of the association's work.

Since its formation in 2021, the Outreach Panel has delivered a variety of activities aimed at introducing sport and exercise science to wider audiences, including school engagement programmes, a national poster competition and public lectures on contemporary issues across the discipline. The new animation builds on this work by providing a simple and engaging introduction to how CASES practitioners support athletes and contribute to performance and wellbeing.

Developed in partnership with Bournemouth University, the project brought together expertise from CASES and the university's internationally recognised animation programme. The animation was produced by students on the BA (Hons) Computer Animation and Visual Effects course as part of an industry-based project embedded within their second-year studies. Academic oversight was provided by Dr Reza Yousefzadeh, with a team of students creating the final animation. The students were Elicia Hotston, Zeynep Bayraktar, Daniel Mayger, Yutong Wang, Jiaming Li, Lele Wang, Lou Alabaster and Alan Zhang

The collaboration was led by Dr Emma Mosely MCASES, Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Bournemouth University and a member of the CASES Outreach Panel. Explaining how the project came about, she said:

"As part of the outreach board discussions we were trying to think of creative ways to showcase who and what CASES is. The aim would be to create something that was accessible to the public and was a clear and simple message. I suggested a collaboration with Bournemouth University's animation school, who are internationally recognised. I reached out to the programme leader of the animation course to see if we could create an industry-based project, and this is where the project started."

The short video will be used across CASES outreach activities, helping audiences gain a better understanding of the association, its professional community and the scientific domains represented within sport and exercise science.

Commenting on its future impact, Emma said:

"The animation is a fantastic resource that will be used at the start of CASES outreach days to introduce who we are, what we do, and the scientific domains we represent. I hope it will also reach audiences beyond these events, helping those unfamiliar with CASES to understand our purpose and engage with our key messages in an accessible and meaningful way."

The animation has already formed part of the students' assessed degree work and has been showcased within Bournemouth University as an example of successful industry collaboration. CASES also plans to use the resource across social media channels and at outreach events where a concise introduction to the association is needed.

The partnership is set to continue, with plans already underway for a second animation focused on exercise science. Together, the projects aim to highlight the breadth of disciplines represented within CASES and demonstrate how sport and exercise science positively impacts performance, health and society.

Find out about the work of Outreach Panel and watch the animation.