Activities
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LOCAL NEEDS ASSESSMENT
This activity consists of understanding the realities, contexts and, hence the needs and opportunities of the different sports organisations and cities in Sport!OP!. A ‘Local Needs Assessment’ is planned in each location:
– Questionnaires for at risk children and adolescents who are already involved in sports activities, and also for those youngsters who are not yet involved but are targets who will benefit from the program.
– Interviews and focus groups with sport managers, coaches, trainers, instructors and volunteers as well as sport psychologists and other professionals whom are already working with vulnerable groups of children and adolescents. Moreover, consultations with various stakeholders in the cities, such as other organisations and associations at community level, schools, N.G.Os, municipal services etc. which will be part of the local Sport! OP! group.
MULTIPLIER SPORT EVENT
Sport!OP! project partners will organize and lead local discussions held within the the local Sport!OP! group meetings framework. Here, an action plan will be elaborated in each context and consolidated in a ‘Strategic Action Plan’. The action plan will detail the type of actions and actors/stakeholders, as well as the resources required to sustain a local community-based resilience strategy using sports as a vehicle for social inclusion of the most vulnerable and at risk children and adolescents.
During this diagnosis phase, Sport!OP! partners will attempt to engage key local stakeholders to participate in knowledge exchange, sharing and transfer. Ultimately this will lead to the development of a local strategy to promote youth resilience through sport in deprived areas.
At least 3 meetings are expected to take place in each city/country through ‘Multiplier Sport Events’. These events, held within the project framework, are key to the setup of the local key stakeholder’s networks.
PILOT PROGRAMME
After the Sport!OP! methodology has been designed and the instructors have received training, the pilot will be launched and tested during several months in six different locations (Granollers, Grigny, Ieper, Lund, Zagreb and Sarajevo). Participating organisations will organize pilot actions to work with key target groups (the most vulnerable children and adolescents).
The pilot tests begin with the early identification and selection of children and adolescents to be involved in the pilot actions (based on a transparent, non-discriminative process which places particular emphasis on the participation of girls). Sport organizations will collect children’s data on a case-by-case basis, and prepare a database. Specific sporting activities will be implemented in each area based on the designed Sport!OP! methodology. In certain cases, families and related adults will be invited to the sport sessions.
FINAL CONFERENCE
A final conference will be organized and held in Granollers in December 2022. The main aim is to disseminate the final project results. This event will be organized by the lead partners and both local/regional and international key people will be invited (representatives from sport clubs and federations, professionals working with children at risk of exclusion, other practitioners, policy makers, EU representatives, media, etc.)
This final conference will be a great opportunity to present the final ‘Strategic Action Plan’ and the ‘Policy Recommendation Report’ to a wide and diverse audience in the presence of all the project partners.
The conference is a unique platform for discussion on social inclusion policies through sports, based on the main Sport!OP! findings. It is also worth mentioning that other EU funded projects will be invited too. This will give a good opportunity to exchange know-how with interested parties and allow other social inclusion sports projects to capitalize on the experiences.