EFDN STEM Football and Education Programme

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location The Netherlands, United-Kingdom, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Poland
Start date 12/01/2021
End date 11/30/2022
Cost of the project €279,495
Foundation funding €200,000
Project identifier 20200793
Partners European Football for Development Network
Categories Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

The importance of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) education is becoming more apparent every day. Demand for STEM jobs tripled between 2000 and 2010, and it has continued to grow exponentially over the past decade due to developments in technology and artificial intelligence.

The EFDN STEM Football and Education Programme aims to provide STEM learning opportunities for children from disadvantaged areas through football-based activities. It seeks to enhance their self-confidence and teach them skills that will improve their future employability.

Some of the project partners have experience delivering similar projects in their local communities and will be able to use this to good effect.

Project content

This ten-week, football-based educational enrichment programme for children aged 9 to 12 will be delivered by football club foundations in collaboration with local schools and supported by local and international companies. It aims to use football as a tool to inspire and educate the participants about STEM. The project partners will achieve this by pairing strategic STEM-based activities with essential gameplay and current topics. The target group will learn how to program, code and understand technological devices. External partners will provide educational robots to assist the delivery of the programme and to add an element of fun to the learning experience.

Objectives

  • Improve the digital skills of digitally excluded groups (including migrants and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds) through partnerships between schools, business and non-formal sectors, including public libraries
  • Reach a minimum of 4,800 participants aged 9 to 12 from disadvantaged backgrounds
  • Disseminate the project to over 100 clubs, leagues and FAs across the European continent
  • Produce an effective and user-friendly practitioner’s guide and methodology
  • Positively impact education policies across the partner countries

Project activities

  • Five international project meetings for project managers and coaches to share best practices and establish a practitioner’s guide
  • Three 10-week programmes delivered to schools in disadvantaged areas: these will include inclusive educational and practical workshops alongside football-based activities to educate participants about the importance of STEM
  • One mid-term dissemination event and one final international dissemination event

Expected results

  • Awareness raised of the importance of inclusive education
  • Individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds will have been given opportunities to access high quality, innovative education
  • STEM learning opportunities provided to those who do not usually participate in them
  • Engagement of other organisations in the development of their own football-based STEM education programmes
  • Higher educational standards to benefit the future European labour market
  • Better equal opportunities in employment

Partner

RISE – Beyond Goals 2

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Greece, Athens, Thessaloníki
Start date 03/01/2021
End date 08/31/2022
Cost of the project €121,050
Foundation funding €99,260
Project identifier 20200333
Partners ActionAid Hellas
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Two out of five children in Greece live in low-income households at risk of poverty and social exclusion. The situation is exacerbated by the migration crisis, with 50,000 refugee and migrant children in Greece. These children face numerous challenges, including domestic violence, high levels of school dropout and high levels of stress and depression. They also lack basic resources, educational support, and creative and life-skills education, resulting in fewer opportunities and social exclusion.   

Project content

Beyond Goals 2 is the second phase of ActionAid Hellas’ RISE programme aimed at deepening and scaling up its impact. The programme is led by international football player Dimitris Papadopoulos, who was inspired to create a football-based programme that would provide marginalised children with life values and skills affording them a better life with dignity and greater opportunities to develop themselves and their communities.  

Objectives

RISE's mission is to empower disadvantaged children by providing them with skills and access to opportunities in order to build their resilience and thus the resilience of their communities. This second phase aims to deepen and mainstream RISE’s impact by:  

  • developing football and youth club activities in Athens to address youth disengagement, social exclusion and community-building issues; 
  • providing targeted dissemination/capacity building to sports, education and CSO professionals across Greece. 

Project activities

  • Foodball3 training and matches: Access to sports and motivation through positive role models (professional athletes and peers) for marginalised youth
  • National football3 tournament
  • Psychosocial and educational support services
  • Youth civic engagement activities (local youth action groups, capacity building and youth-led civic initiatives)
  • Community-building activities bringing onboard families
  • RISE model transfer workshops (physical and digital)

Expected results

  • 50 disadvantaged children aged 12–17 will participate in football activities, receive support and be actively engaged in youth club activities in the long term 
  • 15 children aged 14–17 will build leadership skills and act as youth mediators for their peers 
  • Five youth-led local initiatives 
  • Ten schools and 200 representatives from sports clubs, CSOs and schools across Greece will receive information, training and support in implementing the RISE model 
  • At least 1,250 children will benefit indirectly from transfer of the RISE model 

Partner

Team GOALS

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Haiti
Start date 01/01/2022
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €221,326
Foundation funding €15,935
Project identifier 20210108
Partners Global Outreach and Love of Soccer
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

The GOALS organisation uses football to engage young Haitians in programmes focused on education, health and the environment to improve their quality of life. Through leadership development and social change initiatives, GOALS is creating stronger, healthier communities in areas where no other non-profit or government services exist. People in these severely deprived areas have no electricity or running water and 80% of the players’ parents are unemployed.

Project content

Team GOALS is a sport-for-development programme focused on football, education and community service. It is designed to develop leadership skills, spark change, and promote equality. The emphasis is on teaching life skills such as literacy, health literacy, conflict resolution and gender equality. It takes a holistic approach and actively engages each of the participants. Through their love of playing the game, they learn how to be engaged members of their community.

Objectives

Team GOALS aims to improve physical and mental health as well as the environment. Each objective relates to GOALS’ overall mission to create healthier and more stable communities in the long term, so that every child in rural Haiti can realise their potential and follow their dreams. By using football as a platform for development, GOALS reaches children who are left behind by conventional educational systems.

Project activities

  • Football: daily practice using specialised curricula (CAC and SFW games) to teach inclusion, conflict resolution and gender equality; friendly matches; and rural outreach.
  • Health education: disease prevention; sex education; and proper hygiene.
  • Climate action: tree planting; recycling; and community gardens.
  • Leadership training: youth leaders identifying community issues and solutions.
  • Education: literacy programme and high school scholarships.
  • Community service: volunteerism.

Expected results

  • Improved physical and mental health of GOALS participants.
  • 92% of participants will have played sports for the first time.
  • 77% of underweight children reached the normal weight range.
  • Annual pregnancy rate in GOALS areas under 1% compared to a 7% country average.
  • 35 literacy class graduates, 25 scholarship recipients and average test scores up from 13% to 71%.
  • 300 trees and three community gardens planted.
  • 400 youth aged 8 to 18 will have increased their self-confidence, health literacy and awareness of social issues through purposeful play.
  • Six youth-led community improvement projects.

Partner

Open Fun Football Schools in Syria

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Syria
Start date 01/01/2021
End date 06/30/2021
Cost of the project €200,000
Foundation funding €200,000
Project identifier 20200868
Partners Cross Culture (CCPA)
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Syria is still one of the worst humanitarian crises in human history, with 6.1 million internally displaced people, including 2.5 million children.

Many families have started to return to their homes and are trying to get back to a ‘normal’ life. However, organised sports activities are still rarely accessible to children.

Project content

The Open Fun Football School initiative has proved to be an excellent tool to mobilise local communities and volunteer coaches in some of the most politically uncertain and conflict-sensitive areas across the world.

CCPA will use the Open Fun Football School (OFFS) initiative as a tool to enhance peace education, safeguarding and resilience among children and teenagers throughout Syria.

Objectives

The overall objective of Open Fun Football Schools in Syria is to enhance resilience and encourage a culture of peace and non-violence, gender equality, child protection, an appreciation of cultural and social diversity and of culture’s overall contribution to sustainable development.

    1. Mobilise a network of young Syrian leaders and coaches and build their capacity to independently organise Open Fun Football Schools and other community-based fun football activities
    2. Organising Open Fun Football Schools and other fun football activities for children aged 6-12
    3. Anchoring the network in sustainable and community-based clubs that organise day-to-day Open Fun Football School activities throughout Syria

Project activities

Open Fun Football Schools will focus on following areas : Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hamah, Latakia, Tartus

  1. Introduction to the CCPA child-centred and community-based approach for eight Open Fun Football School leaders/trainers-of-trainers who will receive training in theory and practice.
  2. 60 hours of Open Fun Football School coaching seminars for 96 coaches to teach them the approach. The seminars will be led by the eight leaders/trainers-of-trainers under the supervision of the CCPA and its associated partners from CCPA Lebanon, CCPA Jordan and CCPA Iraq.
  3. 30 hours of seminars run by the eight leaders for 96 young coaching assistants aged 14–18 to teach them the approach.
  4. Eight six-day Open Fun Football Schools organised by the leaders in cooperation with the trained coaches and coaching assistants for 1,600 children aged 6–12.
  5. One-day fun football festivals organised by the leaders in cooperation with the trained coaches and coaching assistants for a total of 1,600 children (show-ups) aged 6–12.
  6. Three-day seminar for 60 Open Fun Football School leaders and coaches so they can set up football clubs.
  7. Regular fun football training sessions organised by the Open Fun Football School leaders in cooperation with the trained coaches and coaching assistants for a total of 1,000 children.

Expected results

8 Open Fun Football School leaders /trainers-of-trainers

96 Open Fun Football School coaches

96 coaching assistants aged 14–18

  • gender balance: minimum 30% females
  • social balance: minimum 50% refugees/internally displaced persons/socially disadvantaged individuals

3 capacity-building seminars

3,200 children aged 6-12 years in 8 Open Fun Football Schools and Festivals

1 club-formation seminar

60 clubs set up

Partner

Kick the Ball, Save Our Wildlife

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Kenya
Start date 12/01/2020
End date 05/01/2021
Cost of the project €15,054
Foundation funding €13,054
Project identifier 20200447
Partners Water4Wildlife
Categories Access to Sport - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

The Maasai Mara ecosystem is one of the largest wildlife conservation areas in East Africa and is home to several conservancies that make a significant contribution to Kenya's tourism revenue. The Lemek conservancy is home to many marginalised children with a passion for sports. Most local public schools are attended by underprivileged children and lack basic social amenities. There are no football pitches but there is plenty of land on which to build one. Water4Wildlife Maasai Mara identified a public primary school as the ideal location to build a modern sports ground to serve children from the various conservancies. By playing football, 300 children aged 4–16 will be able to build new friendships, nurture their talents and learn teamwork skills. Through learning about wildlife conservation, it is hoped they will grow up to be future conservationists.

Project content

Water4Wildlife teaches the children about the various dangers facing wildlife and the threat of extinction. They are also taught about the dangers of poaching and eating game meat, and reassured that they can report it to the rangers in safety. During football tournaments, the game rangers will have a chance to kick a ball with the schoolchildren and talk about the importance of wildlife conservation.

Football games are also organised at local hotels and lodges between the visitors and the children. This gives the children the opportunity to meet the visitors, share their dreams and gain an understanding of why the visitors come to the Maasai Mara to see wildlife.

The project will build the local community's first football pitch at a public primary school. Better recreational and community sports opportunities for the children will not only improve their health and help them to acquire a variety of skills, but also help to break the cycle of idleness, vice and child labour.

Objectives

  • Construct a football pitch that will connect all the children from various conservancies in the Maasai Mara ecosystem.
  • Promote sports and community development in the young population.
  • Use sports as an avenue for wildlife conservation from an early age.

Project activities

  • Creating public awareness about wildlife and children’s sports.
  • Conducting site clearance and an environmental survey.
  • Constructing the pitch and procuring sports equipment.
  • Launching the project at the annual inter-conservancy sports competition.
  • Continuous monitoring of the project for the first three years before handing over to the local conservancy communities.

Expected results

  • 300 girls and boys will have access to the sports field.
  • A safe environment for children.
  • Improved relationships between communities and with tourists.
  • Improved wildlife conservation due to greater awareness.
  • Children will be more integrated thanks to better social skills, greater self-confidence, teamworking skills and stronger friendships.
  • Children will be taught discipline through sports.
  • Children will apply the dedication and hard work acquired through sports to their studies to achieve greater academic success.

Partner

SCORE

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Ivory Coast, Abidjan, Bouaké and Man
Start date 01/01/2021
End date 06/30/2022
Cost of the project €131,578
Foundation funding €86,197
Project identifier 2019969
Partners La Balle aux Prisonniers (LaBAP)
Categories Access to Sport - Employability - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Ivory Coast’s efforts to reintegrate young offenders into the community have been largely unsuccessful. After observing young people locked up all day in the juvenile detention centres with nothing to do, LaBAP approached the authorities about setting up activities that meet international standards aimed at helping the detainees prepare for reintegration.

The SCORE project targets young people, especially girls, in the Abidjan, Bouaké and Man juvenile detention centres. The detainees, mostly boys, are aged between 12 and 17 and have usually been sentenced to 3–6 months, although some end up being detained for longer or have been given longer sentences. The turnover of detainees is high, with the population changing almost daily – every 18 months, at least 220 minors pass through the three centres.

Project content

LaBAP’s programmes are inspired by the fundamental principles of sport and recognise sport as a driver of social change, education and development. It provides young offenders with an escape from daily life in detention and promotes cooperation, solidarity, tolerance, understanding, social inclusion and health. Combined with other activities, such as vocational and literacy training, sport is a first step towards their reintegration.

Objectives

  • Help juveniles to reintegrate socially and professionally through training and support.
  • Create social cohesion between juveniles in detention and society through sport.

Project activities

  • Developing sports programmes for juveniles in detention (weekly football training and introductory sessions).
  • Sports events with outside teams.
  • Celebration and media coverage of human rights days.
  • Providing materials and logistical support to the centres’ literacy programmes.
  • Practical training in income-generating activities.

Expected results

  • 324 weekly football training sessions and 18 introductory sessions giving juveniles in detention a place of freedom where the harmful effects of detention can be counteracted.
  • Three detention centres will have a suitable area and the equipment needed for playing sports.
  • Events will provide opportunities for socialisation and for society to change the way it views young offenders: 12 events with outside teams providing interaction with 120 external players and 3 gala matches.
  • All detainees will have access to high-quality, inclusive education and lifelong learning opportunities and 20 detainees will be registered for exams.
  • 6 tables and 120 benches/chairs will be provided or restored and each centre will receive a literacy kit.
  • Male and female detainees will acquire skills to help them reintegrate into the workforce: training 20 juveniles in patisserie and 60 juveniles in rabbit farming in Abidjan and Bouaké, 15 juveniles in fish farming in Abidjan, and 30 juveniles in poultry farming in Man.

Partner

Finding My Potential

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location England, Liverpool
Start date 03/01/2021
End date 07/31/2022
Cost of the project €62,618
Foundation funding €49,440
Project identifier 20201366
Partners Liverpool School Sports Partnership (LSSP) Foundation
Categories Access to Sport - Employability - Personal development

Context

Liverpool is the fourth most deprived area in England and has unfortunately remained stubbornly so for some time. The unemployment rate for young people is 10.8% and only 51.4% of young people achieve five C grades and above in their secondary education. This is coupled with the fact that young people seem to be shouldering the brunt of the impact of COVID-19 on the job market, with those who struggle academically likely to fall further behind.  Young people in Liverpool need to be given every opportunity to succeed.

Project content

Sport has the power to fully engage young people. Through engagement in this project, they will gain both specific knowledge, skills and qualifications and soft skills such as integrity, responsibility, planning and leadership to help them thrive in adulthood. By achieving a coaching and officiating qualification, followed by valuable work experience in a supportive environment, they will not only develop their confidence but also gain access to employment opportunities in their local community. The project will provide equality of opportunity regardless of circumstances.

Objectives

  • Increase the confidence and self-efficacy of 160 young people aged 14–21 years and develop their employability and leadership skills by providing training and accredited qualifications to enable them to coach and lead sport and physical activity sessions in the local community.
  • Provide a mentor/LSSP coordinator to support the young people in coordinating, planning and delivering a six-week community sports programme (‘nurture clubs’).
  • Ensure a minimum of 96 nurture clubs are delivered to 500 inactive young people aged 8–12 years to help them become more active and improve their health and wellbeing.

Project activities

  • Team building: This will focus on developing an understanding of different forms of communication; what makes a good team; conflict resolution; and working together.
  • Youth Sport Trust Active in Mind training course: This will be delivered by an athlete mentor and the young people will gain an understanding of the CARE (creativity, aspiration, resilience and empathy) model of leadership.
  • National Governing Body (NGB) qualifications: The young people will select a suitable NGB award to achieve.
  • Nurture clubs: The nurture groups, composed of pupils who are struggling to integrate in school, will receive a minimum of six sessions and be rewarded with a certificate for full attendance.
  • First aid and safeguarding.

Expected results

  • 160 young people trained.
  • 500 nurture club attendees.
  • A minimum of 96 community sessions delivered.

Partner

Smiles for Children – Disability and the COVID-19 health crisis

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Switzerland, Rolle
Start date 01/01/2021
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €150,000
Foundation funding €50,000
Project identifier 20200121
Partners Just for Smiles
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities

Context

There are over 150,000 children with disabilities in Switzerland. The COVID-19 pandemic has isolated them at home. To help them reintegrate and readjust, Just for Smiles plans to expand its sailing programme to reach more beneficiaries.

Project content

Children are enrolled in a sailing activity to suit their preferences, abilities and needs in terms of motor skills and sensation. They spend a half day laughing and feeling the thrill of being on the lake. This adapted sports activity is particularly useful in the treatment of neurological conditions such as spinal injury, head injury and stroke.

Objectives

The aim of the project is to give children with disabilities the greatest possible access to sailing and wellbeing. Just for Smiles seeks to have a lasting impact on the participants and their independence.

Project activities

The sailing trips take place in the warmer months, consisting of two two-hour trips per day.

Expected results

2,400 children will go on a sailing trip from Rolle harbour.

Partner

Fairplay4life

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Portugal, Lisbon and Spain, Barcelona
Start date 01/01/2021
End date 12/31/2021
Cost of the project €31,625
Foundation funding €31,625
Project identifier 20200516
Partners Ayuda en Acción
Categories Access to Sport - Personal development

Context

Most families in the neighbourhoods of Camarate (Portugal) and Sant Ildefons (Spain) are at a social, cultural and economic disadvantage, and many children have an unhealthy lifestyle and poor eating habits. Fast processed food, incomplete breakfasts and little physical activity are commonplace.

Practical training in healthy habits among the youngest is the best prevention and the most effective and efficient way to contribute to a better world for these children and young people. Research suggests that teenagers, their parents, and teachers alike feel that technology can be a good ally in encouraging healthy habits. The use of technology is effective in helping them to improve and maintain their self-esteem in a fun way and using their own communication codes (mainly audiovisual), based on a holistic and integrated perception of health.

Project content

Fairplay4life is focused on helping teenagers in vulnerable situations lead a healthier lifestyle. Four steps to improve teenagers’ quality of life through healthy lifestyle habits:

  • increase their physical and intellectual performance,
  • achieve and maintain a healthy weight,
  • adopt sustainable consumption habits and
  • reduce food waste.

Face-to-face or virtual workshops will be held at six schools and a health monitoring app will support the process.

Objectives

The project seeks to pilot a methodology for face-to-face and virtual intervention that will help to ensure children and teens at risk of social exclusion have a healthy diet by increasing their knowledge, self-esteem and self-awareness. The idea behind the activities developed is to give them the skills they need to keep up these habits, including teamwork and sport.

Project activities

A total of ten workshops will be held at six schools in Camarate (Portugal) and Sant Ildefons (Spain) providing theoretical and practical training in healthy habits and sports. Groups of 20 children will attend four sessions. A health monitoring app will be adapted to support the workshop with related content and challenges. The game elements of the app will help the participants put what they have learned into practice in their family environment.

Expected results

A methodology for promoting healthy lifestyle habits will be developed. A total of 200 children and teenagers (in six schools in Portugal and Spain) will benefit from the workshops and health monitoring app. If successful, the workshop may be scaled up to 90 centres.

Partner

Youth in Action

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland
Start date 12/12/2020
End date 12/01/2021
Cost of the project €100,000
Foundation funding €50,000
Project identifier 20200593
Partners Rio Ferdinand Foundation
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Employability - Personal development

Context

Black, Asian and minority communities across the island of Ireland (both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland) face racism, prejudice and inequality. Young people from minority communities are more likely to live in poverty than their peers, often in insecure housing (including reception centres), and face added language barriers. Families and communities are housed across borders (Britain, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland), and face increasing racism – in Northern Ireland alone, 40% of reported hate crime was race related.

Project content

The project’s mission is to tackle racism in Ireland and promote community cohesion and the integration of ethnic minority and migrant communities through sports and education.

 

Objectives

The programme aims to promote inclusion and friendship and tackle racism and prejudice on the island of Ireland, by working with young people, ethnic minority representative groups and refugees and asylum seekers housed in local communities. Young people will be given the opportunity to share experiences, cultural values and interests. Education programmes will use football and football culture as a pathway to explore the themes of race and racism.

Project activities

  • Delivering sports and educational activities that give people shared experiences and engage them in dialogue on solutions to racism, xenophobia and prejudice.
  • Delivering inclusive sports activities that create community cohesion.
  • Delivering education programmes that explore the themes of race, racism and prejudice
  • Training community role models and actors to deliver social action projects
  • Capacity building of ethnic minority and refugee groups to deliver services and engage with government agencies and civic society
  • Building a network of local community actors and organisations that will embed the approach in communities
  • Sharing best practices and building an ongoing support network across Ireland and the UK.

Expected results

  • Improved awareness of racism and racist behaviour.
  • Improved cohesion and integration of ethnic minority and refugee groups into communities.
  • Trained actors from across the community delivering social action projects and a shared methodology throughout the island of Ireland.
  • Greater skills in ethnic minority led organisations to deliver services and engage with civic society.
  • A support network across Ireland to advocate and lead on this agenda on a local and regional scale.

Partner

Football versus Discrimination

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Republic of Ireland
Start date 12/01/2020
End date 03/31/2023
Cost of the project €212,000
Foundation funding €110,000
Project identifier 20201607
Partners Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI)
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Recently, Ireland has been under international scrutiny for falling short of its human rights commitments to tackle racial discrimination. Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI) programmes give children from diverse ethnic minority and indigenous Irish backgrounds the opportunity to take part in physical activity, meet people from different cultures and learn about human rights and racism.

Project content

SARI coaches – both male and female and from diverse ethnic backgrounds – will visit primary schools across Ireland to deliver anti-discrimination workshops to pupils. The workshops, lasting 60–75 minutes, gather children on the sports field or in the playground to play football, boost their health and fitness and develop ball skills, while considering and challenging all forms of discrimination, including racism, sexism and homophobia. The idea is for the children to take what they have learnt on the pitch, such as teamwork, respect, commitment and cooperation, and apply it off the pitch.

Objectives

  • Increase mutual understanding between children and young people from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
  • Help combat racism and xenophobia.
  • Promote the integration of immigrants into Irish schools and society.
  • Promote the involvement of immigrants in sport, volunteering and cultural activities.
  • Promote gender equality in sport and society.
  • Educate children about Human Rights.

Project activities

  • Role playing games for the children to understand and experience how it feels to be discriminated against.
  • Fair play football designed so that the players take responsibility for their own actions: there are no referees and the players are encouraged to resolve disagreements amongst themselves through dialogue.
  • An in-class questionnaire for the children about what they have learnt and their attitudes towards all forms of discrimination.

Expected results

SARI aims to deliver the workshop to over 10,000 children across the 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland.

Partner

Sport in the Service of Peace: Playing Fair, Leading Peace

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Israel
Start date 12/01/2020
End date 11/30/2021
Cost of the project €79,500
Foundation funding €35,000
Project identifier 20200724
Partners Peres Center for Peace and Innovation
Categories Access to Sport - Personal development

Context

Ties between Arab and Jewish citizens in Israel are marred by ongoing conflict that has led to discrimination, fear, and distrust of ‘the other’ on both sides. Many of Israel’s municipalities and institutions, including schools, are uni-cultural, leaving few opportunities for integration between Jewish and Arab children that would allow them to challenge existing preconceptions and build mutual trust and the foundations for shared living. This has been exacerbated by isolation during COVID-19.

Project content

The Peres Center’s Sport in the Service of Peace: Playing Fair, Leading Peace project uses football as a peacebuilding tool. It recruits exceptional university-aged Young Leaders to participate in anti-discrimination, peace education and leadership training. These Young Leaders also develop and implement football activities for ‘twinned’ classes of Jewish and Arab schoolchildren using an award-winning sports-based peace education methodology. These activities include cross-cultural exchange, Hebrew/Arabic language learning, and joint football matches using the innovative FairPlay method where the players determine the rules of the game, referee themselves, and resolve conflicts on the pitch through facilitated dialogue. The project also provides educators with tools for promoting children’s rights and development through access to sport.

Objectives

  • Promote integration, anti-discrimination and dialogue among Jewish and Arab children and youth in Israel.
  • Train Jewish and Arab Young Leaders in leadership development, conflict management and the use of football as a tool for peace education.
  • Encourage positive changes in perceptions and the elimination of stereotypes through joint football and peace education activities for Jewish and Arab children.
  • Promote the children’s rights toolkit for educators and a nationwide network of Jewish and Arab educators using football as an educational tool.

Project activities

  • Recruitment and training of 17 outstanding Young Leaders (half Jewish, half Arab, and half male, half female) from across Israel.
  • School outreach developed and implemented by Jewish-Arab pairs of Young Leaders for classes of Jewish and Arab schoolchildren ages 8–12.
  • Provision of distance-education support for teachers in light of COVID-19 to help them provide children with safe quality online activities focused on the themes of diversity, tolerance and inclusivity.

Expected results

  • Enhancement of the personal and professional leadership skills of 17 Jewish and Arab Young Leaders, as well as their mutual understanding and trust.
  • Promotion of cooperation, trust, and understanding among 240 Jewish and Arab schoolchildren through joint football activities and peace education.
  • Integration of anti-discrimination education into the school curriculum (both online and in the classroom) in 8 participating Jewish and Arab schools across Israel.

Partners

Hapoel Katamon’s Neighbourhoods League

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Israel, Jerusalem
Start date 01/01/2021
End date 12/31/2021
Cost of the project €304,000
Foundation funding €100,000
Project identifier 20200349
Partners Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem FC
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

The poorest city in Israel, Jerusalem is a microcosm of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with hardly any positive contact between the two populations. Arab children in Jerusalem desperately need improved formal and informal education, including leisure time and proper facilities. Most Jewish children taking part in the programme also come from poor neighbourhoods. Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem FC (HKJFC) shows the marginalised Jewish and Arab children from the east and west of the city a different reality that radiates potency, professionalism, optimism, joy and hope.

Project content

The Neighbourhoods League consists of football teams in schools across Jerusalem. HKJFC strongly emphases the inclusion of all children from all backgrounds and the creation of equal opportunity for all. Any school wishing to enrol its boys' team in the Neighbourhoods League is required to set up a girls' team as well.

Objectives

  • Bring children from different religions, nationalities and backgrounds together.
    in order to break down walls and stigmas.
  • Use football to promote values such as tolerance, anti-violence, anti-racism and female empowerment.
  • Give children from underprivileged backgrounds a better education and high-quality sports activities.
  • Promote women’s football in Jerusalem.

Project activities

Learning centres in schools: The Neighbourhood League holds learning sessions each week before practice. The learning centre staff and volunteers help the children with their studies. The centre also provides social activities so the children can learn to work better as a group, become friends and overcome problems that occur during practice.

Football training: Two football practices for children aged 9–14 are held each week during the school year. Here the children can play organised football, learn skills, improve their fitness and develop their social skills. There are no try-outs: all children are welcome to take part.

Tournaments: All the girls' teams and all the boys’ teams take part in monthly tournaments in mixed teams, bringing children together from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, and religions. Games are played simultaneously and have no referees – it is up to the players to solve their arguments and differences by themselves.

Expected results

  • 750 children, 30 coaches, 20 volunteers and 10 tutors trained in conflict mitigation and management.
  • Creation of a ‘bubble’ of non-conflict that will radiate out to the community at large.
  • Enabling young people to take part in a positive and meaningful activity, regardless of their ability to pay.
  • Increased dialogue through football and education.
  • Girls in Jerusalem empowered to play football.

Partner

Youth Sports Games 2021

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Serbia
Start date 02/02/2021
End date 12/31/2021
Cost of the project €4,634,393
Foundation funding €150,000
Project identifier 20200528
Partners Association for Sport, Recreation and Education – Youth Games
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

The Youth Sports Games started in 1996 in Split, Croatia. The primary motive was to enable children to participate in organised sporting events and other free activities. The Youth Sports Games have become the largest amateur sports event for children and youth in Europe. More than 2 million children have competed in the 25 years since they began.

The games are held in three countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia. Primary and secondary-school-age children compete in ten sports disciplines free of charge, and the most successful individuals and teams get to travel to Split to participate in the international finals.

In addition to the games, the association organises regular sports and recreational activities for children to promote health, tolerance and ethical values. The association promotes a lifestyle based on understanding, friendship, solidarity and fair play as an alternative to addiction and deviant behaviour.

Project content

Sport is used as a medium to connect with the participants aged 7–18 through tournaments held in over 280 cities in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. The Youth Sports Games promote a healthy lifestyle and popularise all ten sports (football, street basketball, handball, volleyball, beach volleyball, tennis, table tennis, chess, dodgeball and athletics), as well as educating about sustainability.

Objectives

In 2020, 186,474 children competed. The objective for 2021 is to have 220,000 participants: 80,000 in Croatia, 50,000 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and 90,000 in Serbia, and for 30% of the participants to be female. The association also aims to further develop football tournaments for girls and to be a preferred choice for young girls aged 12–15 years.

Project activities

From January to August 2021, there will be local tournaments held in the three countries, followed by national finals and then the international finals in Split, Croatia. There will also be marketing activities such as promotional campaigns, digital media activities, PR activities, live TV broadcasts and a TV show in each country.

Expected results

  • 35 girls football tournaments with a total of 11,000 participants in the three countries and young girl players aged 12–15 recruited.
  • Youth Sports Games football tournaments with a total of 110,000 participants in the three countries.
  • Youth Sports Games tournaments in the nine other sports (street basketball, handball, volleyball, beach volleyball, tennis, table tennis, chess, dodgeball and athletics) with a total of 110,000 participants in the three countries.

 

Partner

Football for Unity

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Denmark; Germany; Hungary; Italy; Ireland; Netherlands, United Kingdom
Start date 01/01/2020
End date 08/31/2021
Cost of the project €669,092
Foundation funding €69,100
Project identifier EURO2020_1
Partners European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund; streetfootballworld gGmbH; European Football for Development Network
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Personal development - Sponsors

Context

Factors such as cultural differences, language barriers and social stigmas can make it difficult for third-country nationals (migrants from non-EU countries) to integrate into their new European societies.

Over the past decade, the potential of sport has become increasingly recognised by the EU, with the Council of the European Union observing that “sport is a powerful social tool in many areas such as addressing increasing migrant populations, combating social exclusion or increasing solidarity between generations”. Sporting values, such as teamwork, respect, diversity, equality of opportunity and fair play, are equally European values.

UEFA EURO 2020 is the ideal opportunity to educate the European public about the social inclusion of third-country nationals. It is an occasion to celebrate unity in diversity, break down barriers to social inclusion, transform lives and inspire communities. Co-funded by the European Commission’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and coordinated by streetfootballworld, the Football for Unity project will utilise the tournament to promote a positive image of migration and help create strong incentives that will lead to a more constructive discourse on migration within European host communities.

Project content

Football for Unity will enable pan-European collaboration, cross-border exchange and peer-to-peer learning to help unite and develop the capacities of relevant European stakeholders, eager to improve their sport-based social inclusion programmes to produce more positive outcomes for third-country nationals in their local communities.

The aim is to unite and capacitate local stakeholder groups to plan, organise and implement their own local legacy sport programmes and impactful events in the context of UEFA EURO 2020. The project will bring together young third-country nationals and young Europeans in seven European capital cities in a series of local football-based programmes, youth forums, integration activities and football for inclusion tournaments (utilising methodologies such as football3) that will demonstrate football’s unique ability to promote equality and social inclusion. The young participants will be able to interact, learn from one another, acquire life skills and become agents of change and community building.

Objectives

  • Use UEFA EURO 2020 to bring football as a powerful tool for the social inclusion of third-country nationals to the attention of the wider European public
  • Build the capacity of local stakeholder groups to collaboratively organise seven awareness-raising festivals (five larger festivals and two smaller festivals) during UEFA EURO 2020 in seven strategic locations:
    1. Netherlands, Amsterdam with Johan Cruyff Foundation
    2. Germany, Munich with KICKFAIR
    3. Hungary, Budapest with Oltalom Sports Association
    4. Ireland, Dublin with Sports Against Racism Ireland
    5. United Kingdom, London with Street Child United
    6. Italy, Rome with Liberi Nantes ASD
    7. Denmark, Copenhagen with FC Nordsjælland
  • Sustainably improve the social inclusion outcomes of young third-country nationals in UEFA EURO 2020 host cities via opportunities for active participation, exchange and non-formal learning
  • Ensure maximum impact and sustainability of the multi-stakeholder collaborative approach beyond UEFA EURO 2020

Project activities

Local stakeholder groups will be created in each of the seven UEFA EURO 2020 host cities to organise the festivals. Each group will be comprised of local partners, such as civil society organisations, public authorities, football industry actors and local social inclusion experts.

The groups will organise legacy sports programmes with low barriers to entry to ensure sports activities aimed at the social inclusion of young third-country nationals continue after the UEFA EURO 2020 awareness-raising festivals.

They will also create action plans to ensure joint integration activities continue so that third-country nationals are actively given the opportunity to participate in society.

They will create an action plan for the continuation and sustainability of the multi-stakeholder cooperation and continue to implement integration activities, actively supporting their participation in society and aiding community building on the local level.

Expected results

  • Festivals will raise awareness about social inclusion of third-country nationals in seven EURO 2020 host countries
  • Local stakeholder groups (comprised of civil society organisations, public authorities, football industry actors, local experts on the topic of social inclusion) develop and implement joint activities at a local or regional level
  • Third-country nationals will take part in integration activities through which they will acquire life skills (communication, conflict resolution, leadership and intercultural knowledge) and become promoters of European values on and off the pitch
  • Local stakeholder groups will develop and implement joint activities and create action plans for utilising football as a tool for social inclusion

Partners

Empate for Argentina

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Córdoba, Argentina
Start date 02/01/2021
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €60,000
Foundation funding €54,000
Project identifier 20200136
Partners Fundación Empate
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

Fundación Empate is an Argentinean NGO that provides free, non-profit spaces and activities for people with Down syndrome to promote their holistic development and social growth. Since 2016, the foundation has offered activities such as football, tennis, music, art and job training workshops.

The activities promote encounters between people with and without different types of disability. The aim is to foster inclusion in all social, cultural and sports contexts, with an emphasis on psychomotor and cognitive development. In this continuous learning environment, people with Down syndrome develop in terms of sports, culture and play, helping them to improve their quality of life and find their place in society. The goal is for them to learn about themselves to better understand the world around them.

Project content

Across Argentina there is a shortage of places where people with Down syndrome can learn to play sports, have fun and develop. Empate for Argentina seeks to fill this gap by offering quality inclusive sports spaces with fewer barriers. To help achieve this, Fundación Empate is developing a scheme of free social franchises to share its experience, methodology, guidelines and success with other locations.

 

Objectives

  • Improve the health of the participants
  • Develop learning skills through sports practice
  • Promote personal and social recognition through sports activities as a framework for social inclusion
  • Encourage socialisation so participants can establish new bonds and create friendships
  • Promote self-esteem, individual growth, self-control, courtesy, social skills, respect and cooperation with others
  • Encourage recreational and sports meetings with other schools and institutions
  • Generate exchanges with society to facilitate the active participation of all those who wish to collaborate

Project activities

  • Developing a franchise model in three Argentinian provinces (Buenos Aires, Tucumán and Mendoza)
  • Developing training programmes to share the knowledge and experience gained by Fundación Empate over the last four years
  • Identifying three institutions to become franchises
  • Supporting and mentoring the franchises in the first few years of development
  • Gathering experiences to provide feedback and improve the methodology so that the franchise can be expanded to more provinces in the future

Expected results

  • Reach 500 people with Down syndrome (110 in Cordoba and 100 per province)
  • Develop free quality sport spaces for people with Down Syndrome
  • Promote the values ​​of Fundación Empate in the three social franchises: respect, empathy, equality and equity, commitment and confidence
  • Develop tools to facilitate the integration of people with Down syndrome into different social environments, such as school, local community, family and work

Partner