Green Deal and Sustainability

Green deal and sustainability of the Erasmus + project entitled EU Sport Values Diplomacy, which is co-funded from the European Union, is notably linked to the project work plan and project core outcomes. This part aims to provide a comprehensive overview of efforts towards sustainability and the impact on the environment and society achieved by involved organisations.

The project EU Sport Values Diplomacy was digital, green, and innovative in sport sector. It placed a strong focus on the green and digital transitions. The project platform called SPORT VALUES CHANNEL just underlined these project aspects. Sustainability and green dimension were part of each project activity. Sustainability guaranteed a pledge of stakeholders to keep project outcomes financed after its initial funding from the Erasmus+ programme.

Sustainability of the project went hand in hand with green aspects. It represented one of basic project elements. The project was designed in an eco-friendly way and incorporated green practices in different project phases. The project consortium was very much focused on the sustainable aspects, especially reducing of the partners' and channel's environmental footprint, including carbon emissions, water usage, waste generation, etc. Each project meeting, including national and transnational ones dealt with raise awareness in the field. In addition, there were several measures taken to reduce environmental impacts, such as energy-efficient practices, waste management, and water conservation. Combination of online meetings with the meetings on-site reduced unnecessary travels and demonstrated project´s green and digital dimension.

Environmental impact of the project might be proved by various examples, including paperless agenda and administration striving to be environment friendly. Green aspects were evident in project operational field as well. For instance, local transport during transnational project meetings was assured by electro mobiles, public transport and bicycles. All project activities strived to be as green as possible while using eco-textiles and fair-trade approach for all the gadgets and eco administrative materials, mentioning just a few of them.

In addition, transnational project meetings were organised mainly in outside environment with several aims. One of them was to reduce electricity consumption and carbon footprint. Moreover, it allowed active approach for participants, including physical activities on the fresh air. Outdoor project activities eliminated a threat of virus infections too that was notably important in this Covid-19 pandemic time. Finally, outside activities took into account also all the pandemic restrictions concerned.

To wrap it up, sustainability and green dimension was part of each project activity, ecological affairs were integral parts of everyday life of the project members and EU Green deal was transformed into practical dimension through number of actions.

In light of the above mentioned, the project consortium of the project entitled EU Sport Values Diplomacy worked out a collective pledge, committing to the further sustainability actions, notably environmental impact of sports activities in favour of the planet.

The pledge was well perceived and accepted by all the members of respective organisations, which were involved in the project. The full wording of the pledge is following.

SUSTANABILITY AND CONTINUATION

The part on sustainability and continuation describes the follow-up of the project after the EU funding ends. It deals with information how the project impact would be ensured and sustained. It offers solutions on parts of the project that should be continued and maintained as well as how this would be achieved.

This part names sustainability activities, resources necessary to continue the project and how the results would be used in the future. Moreover, it mentions synergies and complementarities with other EU funded activities on which the project capitalised in the past as well as it can build on the project results in the future.

Follow-up of the project

The project consortium ensured sustainability of the project after the EU grant has been used up by several actions. The starting points of the project were significant, since the partners possessed a common need and desire to develop the young people's physical activities by means of the project goals. It means experience and knowhow received from various partners, which were adaptable into practical activities, since it was part of the everyday activities in the organisations. The fact that the cooperation has been initiated and the project has been taken into use, created a solid basis for the continuation and further development of the children’s and young people’s physical activities. This might guarantee the contribution of a physically active lifestyle even at an adult age.

In order to assure sustainability, long-term impact and continuation the project consortium, Evaluation Manager and Sustainability Manager worked in close cooperation and were in charge of documents preparation linked to evaluation and sustainability. Each entity was responsible for their proper evaluation and sustainability of each phase of the project and sent a summary to the project coordinator. Based on those documents, Evaluation Manager alongside with Sustainability Manager prepared the evaluation and sustainability summary. In addition, after each transnational project meeting, Evaluation Manager was in charge of preparing information on the progress of activities. It stemmed from questionnaires with feedbacks from the participants. It served for the next steps in preparation of the future activities.

The monitoring and evaluation started at the very beginning of the project, which guaranteed that the results were achieved in the most economical way and on time. The evaluation and sustainability of the project implementation was agreed by the Management Board. It covered the whole project-period, between and after transnational project meetings. The participants wrote an assessment of what they learned and feedback on the impact of their work within and outside their organisations.

The Management Board reviewed the feedback summary after each transnational project meeting. The project team guided follow-up actions based on feedback, evaluated the implementation of the goals, gave instructions to partner organisations and informed about the progress of the project. Partner organisations adopted new ways of working during the project, which remained part of the school's and sport clubs' activity. As an example, we would like to highlight a possibility of expressing opinions on sport values through the project flyers as well as through the interactive digital project platform entitled SPORT VALUES CHANNEL. The project outcomes on these aspects belong to the most valuable parts of project legacy.

After the project, the partners participated in a qualitative questionnaire on how the project succeeded. The impact of project on participants emphasized especially relationship between sport clubs and the schools and at the same time with external coaches and PE teachers in order to support social inclusion through sport values. This is for instance fully in line with current strategies in the field of sport in the Slovak Republic, notably focusing on synergies of sports coaches working in the school environment.

Sustainability activities

Sustainability activities are linked to the digital platform SPORT VALUES CHANNEL that is the core outcome of the project. It will serve to all target groups defined within the project also after the project timeline, as the project coordinator will keep it functional. Contribution of the platform SPORT VALUES CHANNEL to the priorities of the call in the field of sport is in increased awareness of the role of sport in promoting social inclusion, equal opportunities and a healthy lifestyle. It provides a deliberate, evidenced based and practical mechanism in integrating sport with social inclusion.

In this regard, several stakeholders of entities involved in the project consortium pledged to support the project activities and finance or support follow-up of the project. Notably, the Slovak Modern Pentathlon Association committed to fund the project outcome after the lifetime of the project and thus keep the digital platform SPORT VALUES CHANNEL functional in order to assure sustainability of the whole project in the future. As a result of this generous gesture, sustainability of the project in the future might reach long-term nationwide promotion of the project objectives within Bulgaria and Slovakia. It will have an effect also on increased number of general public, especially children and young generation, in proposed programme thanks to its permanent online accessibility as well as increased number of members of the participating organisations involved into physical activities with learning aspects in the framework of this project.

Sustainability activities provide a possibility to participate for disadvantaged groups and wider promotion of benefits of sports and healthy lifestyles. Keeping digital platform SPORT VALUES CHANNEL functional after the project lifetime, enlarged project outcome within the international environment outside the EU within the most significant stakeholders of this project. In this way, the project consortium assumes a promotion of the Erasmus + Programme and European values within the EU and beyond towards the EU third countries. Finally, it would make EU sport policies more visible in the future, notably in non-governmental sport and education areas through the project core outcome.

Synergies and complementarities with other activities

The project was designed in a way that synergies and complementarities with other activities were core elements not only during its lifetime but also in a future. It fostered synergy with, and between, local, regional, national and international policies to promote sport and physical activity and to address sport-related challenges such as establishing stronger links between education and sport, its social and ethical values and its contribution to aspects of social inclusion. Moreover, synergic effect was reached by different backgrounds and types of institutions, which created the project consortium.

Using synergy of previous efforts was a basic project philosophy and resulted from previous activities within Erasmus+ of the Slovak partner institution, such as transnational projects called Coubertin Academy – Social Inclusion through Sport Values or Run – Swim – Learn! In the spirit of Coubertin. They were evidence base and inspiration from Slovakia for the next steps. Bulgarian events concerned also several previous initiatives, such as Varna – European City of Sport 2019, urban innovative actions related to sustainable use of land by turning it into sport and leisure open-air facility. Of particular importance was also BIONEST, the Bulgarian project, which supported the social inclusion and professional integration of the vulnerable group of unemployed and inactive women over the age of 54, by creating a new social enterprise in the structure of the BIONETWORK for applied art articles and creating new jobs for the vulnerable target group.

Relevant to the complementarity to other activities carried out by other organisations is also a fact, that the involved entities closely cooperated with the EU third countries, that had a huge impact on the EU added value and brought an essential added value to the project. It allowed to widespread project activities beyond borders of the European Union, recalling on Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions entitled “Developing the European Dimension in Sport, 2011.

From the worldwide perspective, the potential impact was linked to the construct of joy that can be both from individual sense making embodiment and through institutionalisation endeavours. We were mindful that both these needed specific outcomes and both, along with the promotion of wellbeing benefit to the ‘population happiness index’ that UNESCO promotes. It also concerned cooperation with third countries and international organisations. In this way, the project contributed to the Lisbon Treaty calls on the Union and the Member State to foster cooperation with third countries and the competent international organisations in the field of sport.

Building on those aspects in the future was thus natural process for the project work. Amplification factor was that project key actors within the project from Bulgaria and Slovakia were behind preparation of the two EU presidencies documents on sport values and sport diplomacy. Overcoming limited good practise in integral approach was the highest challenge of the project, which is worth developing also in the future. It contributed to the creation and development of transnational networks and to fostering synergies with, and between, local, regional, national and international policies.