We wanted to achieve three objectives within the Erasmus+ programme. First, to introduce and practise at least 20 traditional games and sports from four partner countries: France, Poland, Turkey and Ireland, including Turkish kabaddi, hurling, schottische and regional games from Picardy and Poitou, in order to promote cooperation, respect, inclusion and European belonging. Secondly, to offer an alternative to screens in order to reduce digital exposure and support physical, cognitive and psychosocial development through active and collective activities. Finally, to ensure the inclusion of under-represented young people, those with disabilities or from disadvantaged backgrounds, with strong participation by girls, in order to reduce gender inequalities in school sports. We also wanted to test a replicable educational model integrating traditional games into the curriculum and organise intercultural exchanges between young people from partner countries to strengthen cultural dialogue and European citizenship skills.
The Action Inclusive Association applied to participate in the ‘Games United’ project because, for several years now, we have noticed that young people are addicted to screens (smartphones, video games), which limits their physical activity, their face-to-face social interactions, and their contact with cultural heritage. In priority neighbourhoods and in our Polish, Turkish and Irish partner institutions, many students from disadvantaged backgrounds or minorities spend more than 5 hours a day in front of a screen, suffer from concentration problems and have low civic engagement. We identified an urgent need to offer a fun, physical and intercultural alternative to convey values (respect for rules, fair play, cooperation, solidarity) through traditional games and sports. This project was perfectly in line with the Erasmus+ horizontal priorities of ‘Inclusion and Diversity’ and ‘Common Values, Civic Engagement’. It finally enabled our association, which already had experience in youth and adult education, to expand into the school sector (KA210) with motivated partners.