High youth unemployment is a European-wide phenomenon with a regional average of 16.1% in the European Union. Sport is an important sector of the Swedish economy. According to an EU Study on the Contribution of Sport to Economic Growth & Employment, sport contributed €2.4 Milion to the Swedish economy whilst supporting 73,266 jobs, or in other words 1.4% of Swedish’s total workforce.

At NORDIC EUROPEAN MOBILITY, we believe that sport is a key tool for developing important social and personal values in youth, such as team spirit, inclusion, discipline, perseverance and fair play. We have experienced how sport can also enhance knowledge, motivation and skills that will be used throughout a person’s lifetime. Convinced that Sport is the world’s most spoken language, presenting incredible potential to impact youth and society in general, NORDIC EUROPEAN MOBILITY has created an innovative project based on three consecutive elements: Sport (corresponding to Ready); Success (corresponding to Steady); Start! (corresponding to Go).

The S(po)tart Hub, as its name suggests, aims at providing a Start Hub, where youth workers will learn to Successfully implement Sport. They will receive a hands on experience on how to use sport as an educational tool for youth and social development. The project places a significant emphasis on the inclusion of marginalized young people with fewer opportunities, who demonstrate great potential and interest in becoming community youth workers. Our belief is that no one can understand the needs of young people from deprived rural and urban areas better than someone their age, who has similar background. The S-Hub aims to train and equip youth workers and youth leaders who are working directly with disadvantaged young people in underprivileged rural and urban areas with essential tools, methods and skills on how to use the ETS methodology to provide sustainable development in their regions. We will gather youth workers willing to gain skills and develop necessary attitudes for successfully implementing sport as an educational tool for active citizenship and social sustainability.

While designing our S-Hub, we have identified the following objectives:
– To develop skills for youth on how to use sport as an educational tool;
– To empower youth participants to bring out the potential of young people and peers whom they work with;
– To develop a sustainable youth network across the 9 participating countries;
– To explore, compare and exchange best practices on how NGOs can increase soft skills among youth through sport;
– To develop and test new Education Through Sport tools;
– To enhance intercultural competencies among participants by providing them opportunities to learn in culturally diverse environments and to see things form different perspectives and points of view.

We have identified and will further address the following issues and needs:
– Lack of knowledge on how to use sport as an educational tool
– Lack of appropriate ETS tools for youth workers
– Lack of learning and networking events addressing youth development through sport
– Lack of communication among youth organisations, especially working in the field of youth development through sport
– Need to develop youth workers’ skills in intercultural environments
– Need to have more ETS tools to be used by youth on a daily basis at work
– Need to develop sustainable partnerships among youth workers who use ETS

Our project’s objective is to build the capacity of 36 youth workers from 9 countries in two activities: (1) a seminar and (2) a training course, taking place respectively in Puerto de la Cruz and Istanbul. The first activity will aim to set a common understanding of ETS among all participants by, for and through sport. Activity 1 will provide a perfect opportunity for preparation and introduction to Activity 2, where participants, as experienced youth workers, will develop ETS tools, test them and plan their practical usage. During the first activity, we will set a common understanding in all participants regarding education BY, FOR and THROUGH Sport. Activity 1 will be a perfect preparation and base for the higher-level complexity of Activity 2, where the participants, as experienced youth workers, will develop ETS Tools, test them and plan their practical usage. The originality of the S-Hub lays within its unique purpose – to serve as an inspiration and an eye-opener on the immense possibilities the inclusion of the sport in youth-related activities offers. We will present testimonials, we will analyse strategies and we will learn the true meaning of success through sport. A multi-activity project involving two interrelated and interconnected mobility initiatives, the S-Hub offers a steady networking platform for future partnerships, but also – for true friendships.

ACTIVITY 1 Seminar
Venue: Puerto de la Cruz (Spain)
Dates: 10-15 October 2019

ACTIVITY 2 – Training Course
Venue: Istanbul (Turkey)
Dates: 12-17 May 2020

Participants’ profile – Specific Criteria:
– youth workers and leaders aged 18+ and involved in a partner organization, with competence in working with young people, preferably with disadvantaged youth categories;
– youth workers motivated to improve their personal and professional competences as social operators specialized in promoting tolerance and awareness about youth issues and challenges among youngsters through innovative ETS and new NFE tools;
– youth workers are motivated to become positive ambassadors and promoters of the added values of the diversity in fighting against prejudice and intolerance;
– youth workers willing to share their knowledge, skills and experience with the other participants and act as multipliers in their communities.

The partner consortium aims to be as inclusive as possible, and we will involve in total 18 youth workers who are currently facing certain difficulties. From Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Spain) and Perfugas (MVNGO) we will involve two youth workers per organisation facing geographical obstacles who live in small cities and are therefore limited in access to the capital cities of their countries. They also face economic difficulties through financial obstacles because transportation services in these countries are expensive for youth workers, who are often working on a voluntary basis. For all participants with fewer opportunities, NORDIC EUROPEAN MOBILITY has specifically designed an original mentorship program. The idea consists in assigning a mentor to each disadvantaged candidate (mentee), who will be an experienced youth leader with a solid background in youth mobility projects. By doing so, our goal is to facilitate the mentee’s participation, to provide them with individual professional guidance, to create stable friendships and to allow potential work opportunities.

Projects results
– Project Logo
– Project Website
– Video interviews of 5 participants of each activity published in Youtube and Facebook
– A 3-4-minute video outlining each project activity published in Youtube and Facebook
– Education Pack with all outcomes of the project, photos, photocopies of all flip chart papers, project plans, and professional materials uploaded in DropBox
– Digital Tool Book with ETS tools, best practices of the participants, reports from the follow-up activities and future project ideas planned to be applied under Erasmus+

Impact on the participants:
As a direct impact we expect more openness in the attitudes of participating youth that will help them to understand their status of living and thinking in a more complex way, and how they can improve their opportunities. We also anticipate the following impact on participants:
– Improved competencies, linked to their professional youth work: By using sport as an educational tool the project aims to create an active and creative platform for the sustainable development of participants, participating organizations, the direct young people they work with and their local societies. (Measuring indicators: data from questionnaires, self-assessment scales, intellectual input during group discussions and case studies.)
– Broader understanding of sport as an educational tool and sport as a provider of youth development (Measuring indicators: quality of self-use of Youthpass both as product and process and Q&A test on Youthpass and Key Competencies; Quality of the presentations prepared by participants on these topics during the workshops.)
– Greater understanding and responsiveness to social, linguistic and cultural diversity; (Measuring indicators: self-assessment scales, Youthpass reflection)
– Increased support for and promotion of mobility activities for learners;
– Increased opportunities for professional and career development: We aim to raise a group of youth workers living and working in small areas as catalyst for change.
– Improved foreign language competencies.
– Increased motivation and satisfaction in their daily work.
– Participants will learn how to be receptive to new ideas and other ways of thinking.
The participants will be able to meet with the local communities in which the training takes place, build new relationships, and develop intercultural skills. It will foster their tolerance, and they will become more accepting of minority and majority groups.
Another impact we to achieve is in encouraging the participants to bring these lessons back home to their respective communities.

Impact on participating organisations:
As youth workers will represent their partner organisations, all members will directly benefit from the dissemination of participants’ newly acquired skills and confidence. This will increase the capacity of their NGO’s and communities in providing opportunities for young people in the area of socio-economic development. Partners will expand their networks and strengthen their already existing relationships. All participants will be youth workers who are actively working in the youth field.

Impact on local and regional level:
As some of the participants are based in remote areas, their respective communities will automatically benefit from their dissemination. All the participants are members of their local communities and they will be encouraged and supported to share experiences and learning outcomes. It will challenge them to discuss topics that concern their communities, to find common solutions and form collaborations. The partner consortium will provide the local community with a group of youth workers with new skills, knowledge, attitudes and confidence. We will help participants identify common values, exchange views among each other, discover other cultures and thus build a stronger Europe. To be qualified as a European citizen, one must be actively involved in European activities. The project aims at making participants feel even prouder of who they are. It will also nurture their passion to contribute for a united Europe. They will be made aware of the fact that everyone plays an important role for the overall well-being of their societies. The project will include intercultural participation which will aim to enhance the understanding between different cultures, tolerance, positive awareness of other cultures and the prevention of potential prejudices or ways of exclusion.

Impact on a European and international level:
The project will include intercultural participation which will enhance the understanding between
different cultures, tolerance, positive awareness of other cultures and the prevention of potential prejudices or ways of exclusion. Non-discrimination will be crucial throughout the sessions. The participants will be representatives of their organisations and during the project they will establish new partnerships and create a sustainable international youth network.