Partners:
- Moana60 Spirit of Community APS (Moana60), Vicenza – Italy
- Kentro Ekpaidevsis Kai Kainotomias Astiki Mi Kerdoskopiki Etairia (InnoVED), Volos – Greece
- Institute for Youth Initiatives and innovations (IYII), Varna – Bulgaria
- Association Europeenne Pour la Democratie Locale (ALDA), Strasbourg – France
Duration: 14 months (01.11.2023-31.01.2025)
Budget: 60.000 EUR
Funded: ERASMUS-SPORT-2023
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Project summary:
The overall objective of the SIMPLE project is to achieve is aimed at building a nexus between sport, social inclusion and environmental protection through physical activity, sustainable practices and a connection with local nature. In particular, the project aims to achieve the following specific objectives:
- To promote equal access to sport and recreational activities for people with disabilities as a tool to prevent discrimination and enhance equal opportunities and well-being, tackling specific barriers based on lack of accessibility and inclusion in sport for people with disabilities.
- To promote the involvement of young people in sports from an early age to create life-long habits that positively impact their health and well-being.
- To raise the awareness of citizens about their impact on the environment, engaging them with sustainable sports activities.
- To increase the capacity of the grassroots sport sector, social organizations and public authorities to promote inclusion through sport and increase equal participation in sport for youth and people with disabilities.
Project activities:
The partner organisations will carry out research activities as preparatory work for the co-design of activities . They will explore the link between the sports activities they conduct and the local natural environment to become aware of the connections between the space and activity. Whether it is sailing, surfing, climbing, or running, among many other options, the relationship between water/land and the impact of participants conducting the sport will be analysed to promote eco-friendly practices. The desk research stage will also consider the difficulties at the local level to implement accessible sport activities in open and public spaces.
Selection of participants based on the context analysis (T2.1), the partners’ experience and already pre-established contacts in the targeted local community. Partners will have to identify the most appropriate participants based on the objectives of the project, including young people under 15 y.o interested in learning more about the environment and volunteering in sport activities focused on creating accessible opportunities for persons with disabilities that wish to engage in sustainable sporting activities and develop an understanding and respect for the environment. Each partner is expected to select 20 participants for each target group.
Design of safety measures and inclusive strategies relevant to each sporting activity proposed by considering different impairments (visual, auditive, physical), considering the possible obstacles persons with disabilities may encounter in relation to the sporting activities that will contribute to establishing relationships and understanding between participants, based on shared experiences, empathy, transparency and the ability to adapt sporting practices to the different needs and abilities of the participants. Based on the selection of the participants, partners will identify any obstacles for participants to engage in sport and physical activities and engage with them to create relevant measures that enable them to actively participate.
Design of activities based on the background work developed. During this stage, partners will develop activities that connect the restoration, connection and understanding of nature, with the inclusive practices that allow persons with disabilities to participate in sporting activities, guaranteeing the interaction between the targeted youth and people with disabilities and creating a sense of community and inclusion.
Preparation of report with recommendations to implement at the local level: how to incorporate sport as a community building tool, making sport inclusive, and thus, aiding in the well-being of citizens. After the parallel work, partners will apply the recommendations they identified to co-design the events that will be implemented taking into consideration the limitations at the local level identified during T2.1.
Sporting activities based on the background work will aim at establishing a nexus for participants between inclusion, nature and sport. They will use non-formal environmental education and citizen science as an approach to engage participants to interact with nature and learn how to minimise their impact on the environment through sustainable sport practices. Additionally, they will approach the engagement of youth and people with disabilities in sport to learning methods that focus on the participant and their experience of the sport and their environment, developing skills in a new sport, values regarding their impact on climate, as well as empathy in ensuring spaces that are inclusive and accessible for all.
Activities may include, but are not solely reduced to:
– apnea, diving and snorkelling activities while admiring the seabed and participating in citizen science activities combining scientific research and participation.
– Walks and hikes on local trails to experience natural landscapes such as mountains, rivers and nature paths.
Preparation of local sport events in 3 countries (Italy, Greece, Bulgaria).
Pilot events will be developed to engage public and open spaces and assist in the SO4 by collaborating with local authorities and organisations that are not part of this project to further disseminate the results of the project after its end. These events will have the goal of reinforcing the habit of exercising sport among families and their children, and extend the initiative to other sport associations in the area that might replicate the project results at the local level. Activities may include, but are not constricted to: sport initiatives in urban spaces; tournaments focused on different age groups; “community days”, focused on the cleaning of local spaces and waste recollection while practicing physical activity, such as plogging, the action of jogging while picking up trash.
Target group:
The SIMPLE project intends to impact the following target groups through its activities:
- Young people under 15 y.o.
- People with disabilities, including vision Impairments, deafness or hard of hearing, mental health conditions, intellectual disability, acquired brain injury, autism spectrum disorder, physical disability.
