DISPLAY

Move.T+ designed DISPLAY – Sport Vs. Disability and Exclusion in cooperation with ChF, ISAB, STEP and Just do It, after local discussions with youngsters who want to tackle disability, social exclusion and lack of opportunities through sport, promoting inclusion and youth empowerment to impact society at all levels, backing mutual understanding, tolerance and opportunities for all. We aim at new solutions through partners’ and participants’ perspectives, informal and non-formal education tools and peer-learning.

In a world facing unparalleled multicultural challenges and an urgent need to instil common fundamental values particularly to the hard to reach young people, preventing individualism, discrimination, intolerance and violent radicalisation, people with disabilities, youngsters with fewer opportunities and young migrants and refugees are experiencing a challenging transition into adult life in community. As a highly appealing activity, able to bring everyone together regardless of age, gender or social origin, sport can play an essential role to provide youngsters with the more social and community-creating aspects of sport activities and informal dynamics.

A Youth Exchange with 20 young people from a fewer-opportunities background and 5 experienced team leaders, coming from Portugal, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary was designed to address key topics as social inclusion of young people, promotion of diversity and intercultural dialogue, tolerance and respect, and sense of initiative of young people, equipping them with competences and methods needed for transferring the common fundamental values of our society to young people, inspiring an active European citizenship. Specifically, the partners agree on the following aims:

• To make use of sport to reach out to marginalised young people, youngsters from underprivileged backgrounds and people with disabilities or fewer opportunities.
• To actively promote social inclusion of youngsters, promoting diversity, intercultural dialogue, and common values of freedom while inspiring positive impacts on health and well-being.
• To empower youth through sport as a strategic tool to nurture tolerance and respect of human rights, inciting active civic participation against violence, discrimination and social exclusion.
• To raise social awareness about disability and transfer the common fundamental values of our society, educating young people to champion a more cohesive European society.

During the YE, participants will develop transferable skills and promote personal growth, while discovering new cultures through peer learning and sharing, reinforcing the importance of solidarity, equality, multiculturalism, team spirit, tolerance and fair-play. The main activities include workshops, role-playing, visits, debates and sport activities that will give participants specific tools and soft skills. The core thread is an Olympic-styled adapted activity (Prolympic Games), between multinational teams.

Activities are specifically directed to young people with fewer opportunities or disabilities, who will have an active role as co-organisers of some activities and main players for the post-mobility follow up and dissemination actions. Creative moments with a role-playing component, such as debates, awareness events, theatre flash dynamics and group’s presentations are designed to enhance participants’ communication and public-speaking skills and instil a proactive mindset.

Despite a high percentage of youth involvement in all Member States and the recognition of sport’s important role to enhance the health and well-being, attendance at sport and youth clubs has declined, indicating a withdrawal of many young people from socially inclusive activities. In this sense, we envision a positive impact on EU Youth Indicators such as the share of young people active in a sport club, youth club or cultural organisation, contributing to the youth priorities, policies and strategies designed to prevent and reverse the marginalisation and exclusion of individuals and groups. We are dedicated to empower young people and youth organisations to take an active role in peace‐building and conflict transformation, fostering intercultural dialogue, mutual understanding and international cooperation.

As tangible outputs, participants will create a video-book with instructions of the activities implemented and develop a set of social entrepreneurial projects to disseminate the approach implemented during the project as a model to actively contribute to solve the social exclusion problem, benefiting local communities and institutions, influencing political authorities and decision-makers at local, regional, national and European level.

Building on President J.C. Juncker’s words, we want to reinforce Europe’s role as an anchor of stability in a changing world, finding solutions to reverse isolationism, inequality and national egotism, standing for openness, social equality and solidarity.