Partner search: Preparatory Action in the field of Sport 2010

The Leisure and Recreation Department, City of Umeå, together with its local partners, are looking for partners to the project "Access to Sport", which will be submitted to the call Preparatory Action in the field of Sport 2010, in the area of "Promotion of Social Inclusion in and through Sport". Application deadline: 31.08.2010

If you are interested, please email your contact details, a brief description of your organisation and your interest in this issue, to the following address: petra.rantatalo@umea.se.

Summary

With this project we wish to highlight the possibilities of social inclusion through sports. Based on research about Swedish children and parents experiences of sport and its benefits, we know that not all children/parents experience that they are welcome to take part in sport activities. It is also evident that there are few immigrants that find their way to certain sport activities. Many sport organisations are aware of that they have few members with foreign background, but they lack both knowledge and methods to get immigrant children to take part of their activities. We also have examples of the opposite; sport organisations that have succeeded to embrace children and young people from different cultures, and hence contribute to a more inclusive society.

We have worked with several projects during the last years, as to address this issue. For example has the City of Umeå taken the initiative to start a project with the purpose to make the associational life in Umeå more open and accessible for third-country nationals, with contribution from the European Fund for Integration.

Through this call the City of Umeå are looking for European partners that together with us and our local partners would like to establish a strong network, with the purpose to identify methods and exchange best practices regarding social inclusion and integration through sports. Main activities will include a European survey, workshops for exchange of knowledge and methods, and a European training event for sport clubs and others. Further we would like to develop an action plan for future cooperation and projects.

Examples of questions we wish to address:

• What methods do we have for working with integration through sports?
• How can sport clubs improve their ability to meet the needs of integration in society?
• What is the role of municipalities and sports administrations?
• What is the problems/hindrance for participation (in different European countries)?
• What further knowledge is needed (research)?

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Leisure and Recreation Services Department (Umeå Fritid) is responsible for:

• Sports facilities in Umeå (football fields, arenas, ski slopes etc.)
• Support to non-profit organizations, sports associations and voluntary organizations.
• Youth centers

Sustainable Sports

The project proposal is based on a long-term strategy for Sport Administration and Management in Umeå, called Sustainable Sports. This strategy is developed in cooperation between the City of Umeå, Umeå University, SISU Idrottsutbildarna (Educational organisation, NGO) and sport clubs in Umeå. The overall objective for Sustainable Sports is to support the implementation of activities and projects that promote the following three core values: Everyone's right to participate; Everyone's right to be respected; Everyone's right to good health and welfare.

Each organisation is actively working to increase the number of children and young people in the sports clubs. All partners are committed to the idea that all children and adolescents should have the opportunity to take part in sport activities regardless of conditions and needs. We want to properly reconcile the sport development with physical, mental and social development while conveying good values to our children and young people. Hence, we live up to the Swedish Sports Federation's idea of "Everyones right to participate" and the UN Children Rights Convention.