The project aimed to promote the exchange of practices, the integration of skills, and the strengthening of networking among organizations active in youth work and youth education through outdoor sports. The goal was to develop more effective educational practices capable of promoting outdoor sports as tools for empowering key skills useful for the social and professional inclusion of disadvantaged young people: emotional and relational, digital, and green skills. The project also promoted the educational mobility of young people and operators in the fields of youth policy and education through sport, supporting continuous learning, networking, and capacity building for social inclusion and strengthening collaboration between NGOs, sports clubs, and public bodies. Outdoor sports such as mountain biking, trekking, and rowing were promoted not only as physical activities but also as educational tools to promote healthy lifestyles, strengthen self-esteem, and develop skills useful for inclusion. Main objectives: to raise awareness of inclusion and outdoor sports; to strengthen the skills of young people and operators; to promote access to sports associations for newcomers.
Through this project, we aimed to address the need to enhance our ability to leverage outdoor education and outdoor sports to promote the inclusion and participation of young people with whom our organizations work—specifically, young people facing three main forms of disadvantage (related to geographic isolation, socioeconomic status, or disability). Both our region—characterized by its location between lake and mountains and thus within a significant natural setting—and Belgium, also situated in a major natural area, allowed the young people to experience and appreciate the importance of outdoor sports. The goal was also to create a network with sports associations in both regions to discuss and explore the concept of social sport and inclusion through outdoor sports. Finally, we also wanted to compare and learn from each other’s best practices on this topic, as implemented by the two project partners.