GRASSROOTS SPORT DIPLOMACY

Duration: 24 months: 1^st January 2018 - 31^st December 2019.

Location: The project has an international and European scope

Applicant/Coordinator: ISCA-International Sport and Culture Association

Partners:

• Uisp - Unione Italiana Sport per Tutti, Italy
• State Secretariat of Sports, Hungary
• Portuguese Institute for Sport and Youth
• European Observatory of Sport and Employment (EOSE)
• Think Tank Sport and Citizenship
• The French Institute for International and Strategic Studies (IRIS)
• National Olympic Committee and Sport Confederation of Denmark
• Unio Barcelonina d'Associacions Esportives (Ubae), Catalonia, Spain
• SESC, social service of commerce, Brazil

Funding body:  EU Erasmus+ 2017 programme, Collaborative Partnerships in the field of Sport.

SUMMARY:
The extent of grassroots sport in European societies highlights the strength of European values and the civic spirit of EU citizens. Promoting grassroots sport at international level allows to increase its role and therefore its position in national political agendas. The diplomatic potential of grassroots sport is an instrument that is increasingly used by national governments, constantly committed to creating new international relations. International relations can also serve grassroots sport, including the sharing of good practices and trends.

This is the concept behind the Grassroots Sport Diplomacy project, which aims to foster grassroots sports participation becoming a topic of relevance in the political relations between governments and nations.

OBJECTIVES:
The overall objective of the project is to develop the necessary foundation for a qualified and systematic role of grassroots sport in international relations, to ultimately enhance grassroots sports participation.

The project orbits around the question of what is the role of sport and civil society in international relations and provides for the implementation of activities and actions aimed at allowing grassroots sport to take on an important role in the political agendas of the various governments (at all levels).

Grassroots Sport Diplomacy is a concept that can play an important role in fostering the recognition of the value of grassroots sport and its role in developing relations with: the European Union and other European bodies; national governments and national government agencies; National NGOs and other stakeholders in grassroots sport field. The project will target all three stakeholder groups in the belief that, as part of public diplomacy, the component of civil society - including grassroots sport - is essential to its credibility and success.

PROJECT ACTIONS AND UISP ROLE:
On the basis of the consolidated UISP experience in the international arena and especially in building opportunities for dialogue among peoples through initiatives and events, we want to contribute to the development of an effective description of what diplomacy exercised by grassroots sport, its potential in promoting dialogue, international relations, and specifically between the European Union and the rest of the world.

The main actions are:

• Organization in Italy of the 4th international meeting scheduled for April 2019
• Production, in collaboration with UBAE, of Intellectual Output  on 7 Pilot Actions. In other words, the work will be to elaborate the contents and suggest the guidelines to describe what can be a Diplomatic action of the grassroots sport and then - in collaboration with the other partners at various levels - identify the 7 pilot actions and accompany the subjects that will be chosen for their realization. The actions envisaged are: Action Weeks (FARE Network), Mondiali Antirazzisti - Antiracist World Cup and Vivicittà in Lebanon (Uisp).

For more information: progettazione@uisp.it

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