Project Partners
Asociația Umanistă Română
Social Hub Association
European Culture and Sport Organization (ECOS)
European Platform for Sport Innovation (EPSI)
P.A.K. Olympiada
Association for Development, Education and Labour Slovakia (ADEL Slovakia)
Faculty of Sport, University “Union – Nikola Tesla” Belgrade
The project needs
In Europe, at present, there are four major needs related to improving physical and mental health through sports activities:
1
halting the decline in sports participation
2
developing relevant initiatives at the parental level to promote health improvement through physical activity
3
focusing efforts on countries with high rates of inactivity, such as the countries in Southeast Europe
4
integrating new technologies into strategies for promoting physical activities for health improvement
To address these existing needs, the PROGRESS project focuses on promoting outdoor physical activities between parents and children in Southeast Europe through the integration of new technologies in sports activities and gamification.
Objectives
Developing a research study based on best practices related to educational activities that promote participation in outdoor sports activities.
Conducting research among sports teachers, coaches, instructors, and parents to discover their opinions and ideas regarding improving parent-child interactions and, potentially, promoting outdoor physical activities.
Developing evidence-based learning tools and tangible examples for sports teachers, coaches, instructors, and parents.
Testing the effectiveness and ease of use of educational resources designed to assist sports teachers, coaches, instructors, and parents in promoting outdoor physical activities.
Creating and developing a mobile application that incorporates a gamified structure to encourage people to engage in outdoor physical activities. The app will provide necessary information and rewards for participating in outdoor physical activities.
How will we achieve our objectives?
The PROGRESS consortium will take a step-by-step approach to the matter. Firstly, identifying initiatives and examples of relevant infrastructure in each of the partners’ communities. This approach is meant to identify the current realities we are confronted with and will be closely followed by surveys and interviews with parents, PE teachers and trainers. The results of each country report will be compared and compiled into the PROGRESS Research Report.
Secondly, using the freshly gathered knowledge from the research stage, the consortium moves forwards towards actually impacting the European community. A mobile application is designed by the project team. The application will make physical activities between parents and children more accessible, enticing and rewarding. From tips and tricks, to an experience points-based incentive system, physical exercises and activities for parents and children to all the latest details related to PROGRESS, the mobile application will offer the complete Promoting Green Strategies in Sport experience.
Thirdly, the research, dialogue with stakeholders and beneficiaries from the communities and the application will culminate with the organisation of local events by all partners. These local events will encourage parents and children from each community to come together and spend the day together in a sports and development friendly environment. The competitive nature of sports and of such events present the perfect opportunity for children to pick up an interest in practising sports and a just as good of an opportunity for parents to improve their bonds with their children. These events will also be the opportunity for those who have gathered the most experience points in the mobile application to pick up their rewards!
Finally, all of the efforts to better know the needs and preferences of the communities lead to the formulation of an EU policy on outdoor physical activities for parents and children. Sustained dialogue with parents and children, multiple stages of research and data gathering, as well as the environment of the mobile application and physical events are meant to assure that the approach taken by the team in drafting the EU policy will be all-encompassing enough to better the possibility and willingness to practise sports activities for parents and children alike throughout Europe.
