Our project, within the framework of Erasmus+ Sport Collaborative Partnerships Programme aims to promote education in and through sport focusing on soft skills development in youth, aged 15-20 years old, from high schools in small towns or rural zones in participating countries. Soft skills are relevant, regardless of the career they will follow.

The participating countries with their organizations are:

Romania (Coordinator: Romanian Humanist Association (A.U.R.),

Portugal (Partner: Sójovem Association)

Greece (Partner: EAS SEGAS CYCLADES)

Italy (Partner: Organizzazione per l’Educazione allo Sport (OPES),

Bulgaria (Partner: Social HUB Association)

Objectives

1. Promote physical activity in high schools in participating countries, to young people, aged 15-20 years old, from small towns or rural areas, as a way to develop soft skills for the future.
2. Raising a positive attitude regarding the importance that sport plays in developing soft skills in youth, aged 15-20 years old, for teenagers and stakeholders in order to help match certain sports (team sports or individual sports) to certain skills they help develop (discipline, teamwork, communication, creative/critical thinking, time management, decision making, leadership, motivation, flexibility, positivity, conflict resolution, time management etc.)
3. Increasing the awareness of relevant stakeholders in participating countries regarding the importance of soft skills development in order to be involved in promoting sport for soft skills or developing and implementing new methods/strategies in the educational system that can help engage teenagers in sport as a way to develop their soft skills.

Activities that will help accomplish the project’s objectives will focus on:

– Sport events in high schools, where former or current local athletes/coaches/trainers will meet teen students and present them how sport and a healthy lifestyle can influence the development of soft skills and life skills, useful in any type of activity they might choose to dedicate themselves to or career they might pursue. The events will take place during 5 days in each participating country, in 5 different high schools – one event per high school – in or near the city where each partner NGO is based.

– A research on how physical activity is influencing the development of soft skills among teenagers who practice sport on a regular basis (in local sport clubs, high school teams). The study will be based on a form developed by the project team and given to selected teenagers to complete. There will be 200 subjects in each country (100 boys and 100 girls), of which, 100 will be physically active and 100 won’t. The research will focus on the difference between answers given by the ones who practice sport and the ones who don’t and it will address a series of conclusions and recommendations to relevant stakeholders in terms of improving soft skills development through sport. The final info material based on the research will also include a set of recommendations for public bodies (public institutions in the field of youth and sport, partner schools and other interested education facilities) to be taken into consideration for being adopted in the educational curricula or for other stakeholders (private sport clubs or non-governmental bodies) to be used in promoting soft skills through sport.

– 5 conferences, one in each participating country, to present the research results and conclusions and the experience with the events held in high schools. These conferences will include 25-30 local guests from the sports field, representatives of local institutions, media, high schools, sport clubs, athletes etc. During the conferences, recommendations based on the study will be presented, in order to determine public bodies get actively involved by developing and implementing new methods that can help engage teenagers in sport as a way to develop their personal skills.

In accordance with the main aims of the Erasmus+ Collaborative Partnerships Programme, the project aims to: – increase participation in sport and physical activity in youth, – promote grassroots sport, – raise awareness of the added value of sport and physical activity – promote synergies between sport, health, education, training, and youth – develop and reinforce networks, increase sport and youth organizations’ capacity to operate at transnational level – develop, identify, promote and exchange good practices and confront ideas and methods in different areas relating to sport and physical activity between participating organizations, athletes, trainers and other stakeholders in partner countries during transnational meetings