ENGSO
- Jan 1, 2017
- 3 min read

ASPIRE - Activity, Sport and Play for the Inclusion of Refugees in Europe

Strengthening coaching with the objective to raise equality - SCORE 2015-2016

ASPIRE is an international collaborative project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, that seeks to find out how to best support migrants and refugees, building on the wide popularity of sports and other forms of physical activity.

ASPIRE could serve as a pioneer in long-term perspective, offering a positive, evidence-based response to the many problems of inclusion related to the current migrant and refugee crises, during and after the settlement of migrants and refugees, when it comes to facilitate the access of refugees to social services.

Description of the project

In the light of the well-known migrant and refugee crisis, in the course of which more than a million migrants and refugees crossed into Europe only in 2015, ASPIRE could serve as a pioneer in long-term perspective, offering a solution for inclusion during and after the settlement of refugees, when it comes to facilitate the access of refugees to social services.

ASPIRE has the main aim to offer suitable participation opportunities for refugees in and through sport, physical activity and play. This aim can be best achieved by the development and implementation of a training module that is based on underpinning evidence and enhances the skills and competences of facilitators in sport organisations how to adapt existing coaching activities to the specific context of refugees and migrants. The training module promotes the psychosocial support of refugees and intercultural dialogue between refugees and host communities. It also compiles innovative cross-sectorial approaches for sports organisations to make sport more accessible.

The implementation occurs through the organisation of training sessions for national or regional sport umbrella organisations in 9 European countries with a wide geographical coverage. The project also provides guidance how to organise training sessions. Continuous awareness-raising and dissemination activities are integral part of the project, for which project partners’ networks are used to create a strong link with the grassroots level.

List of beneficiaries

European Non-Governmental Sports Organisation (ENGSO)/ Coordinator
International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE)
European Observatoire of Sport and Employment (EOSE)
Caritas Academy – Caritas Styria (Austria)
Minor-Ndako (Belgium)
Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Culture and Sport (Greece)
Sports Flanders Agency of Belgium
Council of Europe (CoE)
Bulgarian Union for Physical Culture and Sport (BUPCS)
Catalan Union of Sports Federations (UFEC, Spain)
Finnish Sport Olympic Committee (FOC)
German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB)
Olympic Committee of Serbia (NOC of Serbia)
Swedish Sports Confederation (RF)
European Lotteries (EL)/ Supporting body

Duration

01.01.2017-30.06.2019, 30 months

Main objective

ASPIRE will focus on social inclusion in relation to people who are in risk of exclusion, especially refugees.

Main Aim

ASPIRE has the main aim of offering suitable participation opportunities for refugees in and through sport by the provision of training and coaching for facilitators across Europe.

Specific Objectives

This will be reached through the following specific objectives:

Increasing the knowledge and evidence-base of working with vulnerable people, especially refugees, the organisational challenges and needs, and identifying good practice examples
Supporting sport organisations to offer suitable participation opportunities for refugees with the help of innovative educational approaches
Enhancing skills and competences of facilitators especially in the area of psychosocial support and intercultural sensitiveness
Enhancing intercultural dialogue between refugees and host communities
Raising awareness of the added value of sport in promoting the social inclusion of refugees.

Main activities

Therefore the following main activities are planned: