PRESS PROJECT
The project is funded under the Erasmus+ Sport Small Collaborative Partnerships Programme and aims at fostering better social inclusion of rural youth through sport as well as promoting European Sport initiatives such as "MOVE WEEK" , European Week of Sport and European Fitness Day in the partnering countries of Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Cyprus and Lithuania.
The project abbreviation stands for "Promoting Rural Youth Engagement through Sport and Social Inclusion” describing in brief the project aims and objectives. Under the project the partners will present the situation of rural sport opportunities in their local communities, share best practices of sport events for better social inclusion of rural youth, organize sport events for MOVE WEEK 2022 and European Sport Week 2022 involving rural youth and will further strengthen the partnership.
The project is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed during the project and on its deliverables are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EACEA as granting authority. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
Erasmus+ is the EU's programme to support education, training, youth and sport. With an estimated budget of €26.2 billion for 2021, it provides opportunities for over 4 million participants to study, train, gain experience, and volunteer abroad.
The Programme has three main Key Actions:
Key Action 1: Learning mobility of individuals-aiming to encourage the mobility of students, staff, trainees, apprentices, youth workers and young people.
Key Action 2: Cooperation among organisations and institutions - where the cooperation among organisations and institutions is expected to result in the development, transfer and/or implementation of innovative practices at organisational, local, regional, national or European levels.
Key Action 3: Support for policy reform - Opportunities under this Key Action contribute to supporting the overall EU policy agenda, the Education and Training 2020 cooperation framework, and the Youth Strategy.
The 2021-2027 programme places a strong focus on social inclusion, the green and digital transitions, and promoting young people’s participation in democratic life.
Erasmus+ actions in the field of sport promote participation in sport, physical activity, and voluntary activities.They are designed to tackle societal and sport-related challenges. Under the sport section organisations can implement Small-scale cooperation projects, Cooperation Partnership projects, Not-for-profit European sport events and Capacity Building in the field of sport.
Cooperation Partnerships are designed for organisations to develop and implement joint activities to promote (among others) sport and physical activity, as well as deal with threats to the integrity of sport (such as doping or match-fixing), promote dual careers for athletes, improve good governance, and foster tolerance and social inclusion.
Small-scale Partnerships are or grassroots organisations, less experienced organisations and newcomers to the Programme. Small-Scale Partnerships have simpler administration, smaller grants and shorter duration than Cooperation Partnerships and can be funded with lumpsums of 30 000 EUR or 60 000 EUR.
Not-for-profit European Sport Events are designed to encourage sporting activity, implement EU strategies for social inclusion through sport, foster volunteering in sport, fight against discrimination and encourage the participation in sport and physical activity.
Capacity Building in the field of sport are international cooperation projects based on multilateral partnerships between organisations active in the field of sport in EU Member States and third countries associated to the Programme (previously called Programme countries) and the Western Balkans. They aim to support sport activities and policies in as a vehicle to promote values as well as an educational tool to promote the personal and social development of individuals and build more cohesive communities.
In addition to offering grants for learning mobility and sport activities, Erasmus+ also supports teaching, research, networking and policy debate on EU topics with the Jean Monnet Sub-programme of Erasmus+
More information about the Erasmus+ opportunities for individuals and organisations can be found on the designated webpage of the programme at: https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/
PROJECT PARTNERS
"Youth ad Civil Initiatives in the Rose Valley" is the project coordinator from the town of Karlovo, Bulgaria. The NGO has over 15 years of experience in European partnership projects. The organisation has been working in the field of rural youth empowerment since its establishment in 2007 implementing local, national and international projects. Since 2016 the NGO is a MOVE Agent implementing mass sport activities for the people in the Municipality of Karlovo. They have organised events for European Move Week, European Week of Sport, European Flashmob and Fitness Days in collaboration with local schools, sport and dance clubs.
In 2021 the NGO coordinated successfully the "STARS of Women" SSCP project fostering better social inclusion of women in sport, partnering with the Romanian, Polish, Cypriot and Egyptian partners.
The “Conrad” Students Sport Club has been offering sport activities for the young people of Gdańsk, Poland for over 13 years. The club offers judo, handball, basketball, football, athletics, uni-hockey, table tennis, volleyball and summer biathlon. The range of activities offered by the club is constantly growing over the years as well as the gained experience of the club’s members and key staff. The recipients are children, adolescents and students aged 4-24 years old who come from all around the district of Gdańsk. Around 400 people regularly attend classes offered by the club with a percentage of about 40 women/girls to 60% men/boys. The club is working with units of local government and private economic operators in the popularization of sport, promoting healthy and active lifestyles among children, adolescents and adults.
The Sport Club partnered also in the 2021 SSCP "STARS of Women".
The Romanian partner is the Association “Mod of Life” who have been taking part in the sport life of Mehedinti County since their NGO’s establishment. The Association, together with the Romanian Basketball Federation, Mehedinti County Sports Departament and CS Heart Drobeta Turnu Severin were part of the organizing committee for some of tehbiggest sport events inthe region such as:
ALL STAR GAME, BALKAN SPORT FOR ALL GAMES,BALKAN BASKETBALL GAMES FOR JUNIORS, FINAL TOURNAMENT OF NATIONAL BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP U-16,CARPATI TROPHY for Senior women national Handball teams ROMANIAN FOOTBALL FIRST LEAGUE. The president of Mod of Life was president of CS Turnu Severin, the only team from this area that played in the Romanian football league in the entire history of football;
The organisation has the staff and facilities to organize and host local, national and international sport events considering the fact that Drobeta Turnu Severin has a Sports Hall (1800 places), 3 football Stadiums, 6 tennis courts and many other sports facilities.
The NGO partnered also in the 2021 SSCP "STARS of Women".
The “Blue Cherry” Association from Cyprus is an organisation from Limassol working for youth and adults’ empowerment, skills and knowledge transfer. They have been partnering with the local municipality and Rotary Club to design and implement the Limassol coastal lane where street fitness facilities, bike alleys, table tennis, skateboard and other street sports fields have been arranged for the citizens and tourists of Limasol. This is a perfect example of local partnership for promotion of sport in spare time and that is why we plan to have the final project meeting there. The organisation is taking part in the Cyprus National Health Programme for promotion of healthy lifestyle and sport for all.
They took part in the 2021 SSCP "Stars of Women" as well hosting a Partnership bike ride along the Limmassol coastal lane as well as a dragon boat partnership rowing.
We have also included the "Silales r. Laukuvos Norberto Veliaus Gimnazija" high school from Laukuva, Lithuania as they work with children and young people from the villages of Laukuva, Zadeikiai and Bilionia counties. Moreover, they work with disadvantaged young people having 150 students from families receiving social assistance, 74 students raised by one mother and 17 children under guardianship. Thus, on the one hand, we will give a chance for better social inclusion of these rural and disadvantaged young people, while, on the other hand learn from the high school best practices in sport. They have had several Erasmus+ projects on the topic of sport and we have partnered with them before on our project “Bridge between generations”