You have the evidence. You know the tensions between the official European Sport Model and the reality on the ground. Now the question is: who can help you act on it?

No organisation changes a system alone. Whether you sit inside the traditional sport pyramid or outside it, effective advocacy requires allies (stakeholders you can work with, build alliances with, and share resources with) , and allies come from unexpected places. The RESM research across 14 organisations in 8 countries reveals that the most successful organisations build partnerships that cross the boundaries of the sport sector.

You will fill it in as you progress through Tools 4, 5 and 6. The handbook is where you record your allies, draft your first messages, and build your advocacy plan. Keep it open alongside this tool.

How to use this tool. 

The tool works best if you start with at least a rough sense of what you want to change. If your advocacy direction is still emerging, that is fine: continue here, and Tool 4 will help you discover allies whose perspectives may sharpen your aim. You will formalise a clear SMART objective later in Tool 6.

If you already have a clear advocacy aim in mind, feel free to jump to Tool 6 to formalise your objective first, then come back here to identify the allies for that specific goal. There is no single right path through this toolkit: use it in the order that serves your work.

 Your journey through Tool 4:

•  Topic 4.1: explore the full landscape of potential allies (the RESM stakeholders ecosystem)
• Topic 4.2: translate that landscape into your own stakeholder map
• Topic 4.3: use starter questions to build your network and identify priority allies
• Topic 4.4: choose the right timing for your outreach
• Topic 4.5: see the whole approach through a composite case