Equal Play: promoting acceptance between migrants / refugees and nationals through sport

ongoing

Europe needs more integrated and cohesive societies that allow citizens to be actively involved in democratic life. Sport and education must be the channels of disseminating common European values, social integration, and enhancing intercultural understanding and feeling of belonging to a community. Refugees, migrants, nationals, and diversified groups need to be trained and included in society. In order to identify a solution to this problem teachers and sport facilitators need to expand and widen the required competencies and learning opportunities by creating a special integration programme through sport. The overall objective of our 'Equal Play' (formerly Breaking Barriers) initiative is to empower educators and sporting organisations with tools and means to manage the social integration of migrants and refugees in society and the mechanisms by which nationals can embrace those who are from elsewhere for reasons of economy, politics or sociability. Our research findings and implications will support teachers, sport coaches, and NGOs working in the field of sport to understand and acknowledge the value of sport as a means of healthy living and social integration and how to include migrants and refugees with obvious problems of integration. The objectives of this project are (1) to include migrants and refugees in society by the use of sport through study and research on how sport can make the individual healthy and how it applies to those groups as a whole and to the locals with whom they share sport, and (2) to educate sports coaches, leaders and sports NGOs on the constructive influence of sport as a change agent and integrator.