Healthy and Active Rural Areas. Promoting participation in sport and improving health and physical activity in rural areas

ended

"The project RuralSport: Healthy and Active Rural Areas"" will set a framework for an integrated transnational small-scale partnership attracting and widening access for two newcomers’ rural organizations in the field of sport and a Sport and Leisure Higher Education Institution. The objective of this project is to contribute to promoting participation in sport & physical activity, and supporting the inclusion of people with fewer opportunities in the rural partners’ organizations, due to geographical obstacles, but placing special emphasis on the most disadvantaged rural groups in these rural areas such as: handicapped people, young people and women, especially those at risk of social exclusion, migrants and the elderly. The specific objectives and activities of the project are as follows: • To collect, through seminars, focus groups, meetings, etc among partners rural stakeholders and groups of beneficiaries representing the fewer opportunities groups of the three countries regions, good practice of sports activities, for the inclusion of the rural population in sport, as a mean of social ""glue"". • To foster the exchange of experiences between entities and professionals who are working to promote Physical Activity for the entire population in rural areas, from a health perspective • To increase mobility of people working in the field of sport at transnational level • To boost sports activity events for the inclusion of the rural population The main benefits of this project are: • To contribute to inclusion and diversity in terms of sports of our rural population with fewer opportunities by encouraging them to practice sport and physical activity, promoting as well integrity and sport values • To allow small-scale rural participating organizations to gain experience in international cooperation and consolidate their capacities • To increase the visibility of good practice models in the development of sport as a tool for social inclusion in small municipalities."