Our primary objective was to increase social acceptance and integration of special needs students by 20% through innovative outdoor sports activities in natural environments alongside typically developing peers. We aimed to enhance students' physical and mental health, develop communication and social skills, and create sustainable inclusive practices for school curricula. The project sought to strengthen interpersonal communication among all students, ensuring social and emotional empowerment for disadvantaged learners. Drawing on research by O. Neumann showing athletes exhibit greater perseverance, adaptability, and social readiness, and studies by Dykens, Rosner, and Butterbaugh (1998) demonstrating increased psychological well-being through sports participation, we aimed to provide meaningful opportunities for friendship building, creative expression, and self-identity development. Additionally, we intended to enhance teachers' professional competencies through international collaboration and diverse pedagogical approaches, ultimately creating comprehensive lesson plans and sustainable practices benefiting the broader educational community while promoting equality and preventing exclusion
We applied for this project to address critical inclusion challenges affecting 102 special needs students across our partner organizations (42 in Portugal, 18 in Bulgaria, and 42 in Turkey). Comprehensive analyses and surveys revealed significant deficits: 72% of special needs students play alone, 54% demonstrate inadequate communication skills, and only 22% actively participate in sports activities. Specific institutional needs included: the separate nature of special education classes in Turkey leading to social isolation; insufficient participation rates in sports clubs in Bulgaria resulting in observed bullying incidents; and digital methods in Portugal that were not appropriately tailored to special needs students' developmental levels. Despite implementing various sporting activities such as football tournaments and table tennis competitions within individual schools, desired improvement levels were not achieved. Physical and economic limitations, lack of natural environments, and insufficient extracurricular activities further necessitated external support to create truly inclusive educational environments.