Active Development - connecting sport activities with soft skills development of youth

"<< Background >>Our application for the ""ACTIVE DEVELOPMENT"" project arose from a recognised need for soft skills development among youth, particularly those facing challenges like disabilities and economic and geographical obstacles. Motivated by observing youth gathered around partnering organisations and research indicating the pivotal role of soft skills in job market success, we aimed to bridge this gap through tailored sport/movement activities. This project was developed to create innovative method which combines soft skills with sport and which can be used by partners during daily activities, but also could be disseminated further to other youth organisations. The decision to pursue this project was grounded in findings from the experience of organisations and was supported by desk research ( eg.Future of Jobs Raport 2023 ) , emphasizing the universal importance of soft skills including time management, empathy, and communication etc. are crucial in the job market in all professions.<< Objectives >>By implementing ""ACTIVE DEVELOPMENT"" we wanted to increase the awareness of youth about soft skills and initiate the process of developing them. The objective of the project was to increase the level of soft skills among youth, empower them as well as increase quality in youth work by providing youth leaders with new, innovative methods. Sub objectives of the project were to: a) contribute to the better understanding of the link between sport/movement and soft skills among the youth leaders b) contribute to the better integration of youth from various background (different cultural background, geographical obstacles, economical and geographical obstacles, inclusion of disabled youth, inclusion of LGBTQ+ community etc.) c) foster the inclusion and employability of young people with fewer opportunities by increasing their soft skills level e) support youth leaders in access to new educational methods The partners were also aiming at developing the new, innovative cross sectoral learning method, which can be now disseminated to different youth organisations, schools, sport clubs all over Europe. << Implementation >> ""ACTIVE DEVELOPMENT,"" had various activities carried out over a span of 22 months, focusing on creating sustainable intellectual outputs in Poland, Norway, and Portugal.Month 1: Administrative setup, inaugural international meeting arrangements, ticket purchases, and agenda approval.Month 2: International meeting in Poland, discussing project details, timeline, adaptations, KPIs, and task division.Months 2-4: Collaborative work on Intellectual Output (IO1) during the research phase, involving regular communication via phone, Google met, and email.Month 5: Second international meeting in Portugal to review research progress, make adjustments, and plan further tasks for IO #1.Months 6-10: Continued work on IO #1 (E-GUIDE for youth organizations) with necessary adaptations, finalized during the third meeting in Norway (M3).Months 11-12: Task division for IO #2 initiated over a google met meeting, commencing research for IO #2.Months 13-14: Fourth international meeting in Portugal to collect and provide feedback on IO #2 (activity cards) and test the game cards. Partners work on final improvements for pilot project testing (A5).Months 15-16: Continued work on IO #2, development of test pilot projects in partner countries, and in Portugal during blended mobility (C1).Months 17-18: Feedback gathering after the pilot projects, working on the final version of IO #2 (20 game cards), integrating pilot project results into IO1 (E-GUIDE), online meeting to set up the final design and release version.Months 19-20: Preparation for dissemination events.Month 21-22: Dissemination events in Portugal, Poland, and Norway (E1, E2, E3).Month 22: Completion of project administration and final report.<< Results >>The project ""ACTIVE DEVELOPMENT"" has two significant results: those are intellectual outputs, which aim at disseminating knowledge and provide practical solutions: E-guide: Soft Skills Development through Sport Activities (IO1): Format: PDF, easily downloadable from partner websites available in 4 languages (English, Polish, Norwegian and Portuguese) Goal: Guide youth leaders in understanding the strong link between soft skills and sports, offering a new learning method for use with youth in their organisations or groups. Impact: a) Increased knowledge of the link between sport activities and soft skills development among youth leaders. b) Enhanced cross-sectoral collaboration among NGOs, sport clubs, and schools. c) Improved integration of youth from various backgrounds, including those with fewer opportunities. d) Supported youth leaders in accessing new educational methods. e) Elevated skills of youth through better quality learning methods and effective use of sport activities. Activity Cards (IO2): Form: Set of 20 cards with descriptions, including key soft skills, implementation of sport activity, and reflection process (English, Polish, Norwegian and Portuguese) Complementary to IO1 (E- guide) and serves as a ready-to-implement solution. Impact: a) Increased awareness of the link between sport activities and soft skills development among youth leaders. b) Enhanced soft skills in youth aged 15-18, with participants evaluating improvements through the reflection process. c) Improved collaboration between NGOs, sport clubs, and schools. d) Better integration of youth from diverse backgrounds, including those with disabilities and economic obstacles. The combination of IO1 and IO2 provides youth leaders, teachers, and NGOs with innovative, ready-to-use solutions for integrating sport activities into soft skills development. The transferability potential is high, given that the activity cards are written by partners from three different cultures (Polish, Norwegian, and Portuguese) and in four different languages. The digital form of the E-guide enhances accessibility, making it easily downloadable from anywhere in the world and increasing its impact. The expected outcomes and impacts align with the project's overarching goal of fostering soft skills development among youth and promoting collaboration across sectors and backgrounds."