Partnership Project Meetings

In the period 21-24 March 2024 we organised the project kick-off meeting and study visit in Limassol hosted by the Cypriot partner "Blue Cherry Academy for Youth and Adults.

During Day 1 of the meeting together with all partners from "Youth and Civil Initiatives in the Rose Valley", Blue Cherry Academy for Youth and Adults , Delta Youth in Action , Asociatia Mod of Life , Sportancija Jarmina we :

- presented the project aims, expected results discussing and agreeing with partners the envisaged project activities, the DEOR plan and timeline.

-each partner presented best environmental and sport practices from previous projects they have implemented;

-gave a real green example of putting all plastic bottles we collected during day one in the special fish-shaped bottle containers along the Limassol coastal line.

-explored the outdoor fitness facilities along the Limassol coast line, built by the Rotary Club of Limassol;

-donated one of the "Go Green In Sport" transportable trash bins to the Aris Football Club which is not only the greenest sport club in Limassol in terms of colour but also in terms of efforts to improve the environmental awareness of their sport club members and fans.

-visited the Pambos Taekwon Do Club where we learned about this martial art, watched a demonstration and also gave them one if our project trash bins to continue educating their young members.

During Day 2 of our project kick-off meeting and study visit in Cyprus we:

-had a partnership building rowing activity together with the "Raging Mouflons" and the "Pink Mouflons" Sport Clubs donating them also from our "Go Green in Sport" transportable bins and rubbish collecting nets so they can keep clean the dam where they train.

-did a partnership bike ride along the Limassol coastal lane promoting the project and green means of transport.

-discussed with partners activities for European Move Week 2024;

-went through the draft version of the "Go Green in Sport" Tool kit we are preparing to help sport clubs go more green.

In the period 6-9 June 2024 we organised the project study visit in Leptokarya, Greece hosted by the Greek partner "Delta Youth" NGO.

During the first working day of the meeting in Greece:

-each partner presented the green sport events they organised for European Move Week 2024 sharing best practices and partnerships we established with local sport clubs and key stakeholders;

-partners from Greece, Croatia and Romania received the project bins to give to sport clubs from their local communities encouraging them to collect and give for recycling the plastic water bottles which are still in big use among sport club members and fans at their sport events.

-we visited Olympus Mountains National Park  Information Center learning about the history and biodiversity of the park.

-organised a group hiking along the Enipea river ecopath at the foot of Olympus Mountains promoting green sport and walking among nature as a healthy way of exercising.

The second day of our study visit in Greece coincided with World Oceans Day (8th June) so we:

-organised a beach clean-up activity giving real example to tourists how they should keep the beach and sports fields clean of rubbish (as there was a beach volleyball pitch on the spot); We found different kind of rubbish-mostly plastic bottles and cups, metal fizzy drink cans, cigarette buts, old flip-flops, paper tissues.

-celebrated World Oceans Day raising awareness on the importance of keeping beaches, seas and oceans clean of rubbish( especially plastic which endangers the marine life and biodiversity).

-played some partnership-bonding beach games and beach volleyball with the project T-shirts giving bigger visibility of the project and the funding programme.

-presented the final version of the “Go Green in Sport” Toolkit for sport organisations and sport clubs, which can be freely downloaded from the project website and discussed and planed next project steps.

In the period 4-7 July 2024 we held the project study visit in  Jarmina, Croatia hosted by the Croatian sport club  DSR "Sportancija".

During the first working day we:

- had a meeting at the Jarmina Town Hall promoting the project to the mayor's office and learning about the village's history, traditions and sport activities.We were impressed how well local administration is cooperating with local NGOs and sport clubs supporting their projects and initiatives.

-visited the "Otocki Vir" natural conservation centre offering hiking, canoeing and kayaking sport activities in the pieceful green natural park.We had team building canoeing activity there.

-explored the sport fishing opportunities offered by the "Crvenperka" sport fishing club.

- learned about the ancient traditions and lifestyle by visiting a museum-house established by a local cultural foundation aiming to preserve culture and traditions.

-planted trees around the new sport field of Jarmina giving good example to local people who had come to attend the football tournament organised by our Croatian partner Sportancija Jarmina

-attended the football tournament of Jarmina Village organised for the Sport Day of Jarmina.We were surprised to find that every big street of Jarmina has a team and they gather to play one against the other, organising sport tournaments as social events for the village.

-gave one of the project transportable bins to the sport hall by the new sport field so they can promote recycling among their fans also during all their future sport events.

On the second working day we:

- continued exploring the sport opportunities in the small rural area of Jarmina visiting a new street fitness ground, planting trees around it.

-visited another football pitch managed by FC "Borinci" learning about the football club history, success stories and challenges by their club member who is also the chairperson of the Local Council of Jarmina.He told us about the sport programmes of the municipality and the support they give to local sport clubs.

-organised environmental awareness-raising activities for the children in the club making them collect rubbish which we spread around the field and put it in the special separate waste collection bins;

-as the study visit was planned around "No plastic bag day" we organised creativity workshop for the local children giving them textile bags encouraging them to use less plastic bags.

-learned how to play bocce from the Jarmina Bocce sport club;

-explored the beach volleyball and swimming opportunities offered by the local lake.

-were pleased to find out that all the sport fields we visited during our two-day visit were clean of rubbish with separate waste collection bins.

-saw Croatian people love sport and football in general, sharing the EURO 2024 passion together in the evenings watching the semi-finals on big TV screens in the town square.