The JOY

Strengthening inclusion and joy in sports clubs in Europe

Project duration

15.1.2024. – 14.1.2027

Source of funding

Erasmus+ Sport Cooperation Partnership

Total funding

400 000 €

Sports are known to promote social inclusion, develop children’s social skills and enhance learning outcomes. Likewise, the benefits of physical activity and involvement in different sports are generally recognized as contributory factors to well-being and health. Physical activity is the most common hobby among children, but the opportunities for sports are not equal, meaning that some children are being left out. Additionally, joy, enthusiasm, physical factors, advanced and variable motor skills are features of qualified physical activity and contribute to the achievement of Europe 2020 strategy priorities.

The JOY – Strengthening inclusion and joy in sports clubs in Europe, project aims

• to promote inclusion, enthusiasm and joy in sports for children in Europe by developing coaches- to-children and children-to-children tools to encourage social inclusion and equal opportunities in sports.
• to encourage participation in sports and increased physical activity by deploying art-based tools to combat bullying, racism, discrimination and intolerance in sports, whilst being inclusive for disabled, minorities or lower socially economic background children. This way the project furthers social inclusion and equal opportunities in sports.

To ensure that these tools are used beyond the project consortium, the project will also encompass policy components, including encouraging municipalities to introduce inclusion promotion standards. JOY will have 30 pilots, reaching 450 children directly via the sport clubs involved. One Educational Pack will be developed, available in 6 languages (English, Estonian, Finnish, Polish, Portuguese and Turkish) which will be further disseminated outside the consortium, allowing even more children to be reached. To further achieve impact, an accompanying white paper will be produced (same 6 languages) to engage policy-makers and project outputs will be presented at external conferences and 5 dissemination events with 250 attendees.