Sport and Dialogue against Violence and Discrimination

The project purpose was to address the problem of violence, discrimination, bullying in and around sporting events, among athletes, sport teams and their supporters. aimed to counter violent behavior through open dialogue, inclusion, tolerance and fair play in sport and to contribute to the use of sports as a diplomatic tool, one that unites nations and people, regardless of their background, ethnicity or gender.The proposal had 2 main objectives:1. Encouraging the use of grassroot sports in fostering social inclusion, gender equality, tolerance, international cooperation and equal opportunities for young people.2. Promoting sport events and actions as an international tool to support fair play, inclusion, equality and the use of open dialogue to counter violent behavior, racism and extremism in and around sport events, among competitors or supporters, through sport activities and the creation of dialogue between stakeholders.The project involved two sport club as partners: from Cerignola, Italy, ASD MSV Basket and from Spain, Club Padel Lleida.The cooperation between partners was established through the Steering Committee and the online communication that was describe at the “Quality Control during the implementation” rubric. Also, except for the Spanish partners, all others were involved in previous small collaborative partnerships together. This time, the added value brought by each partner consisted of:- its own experience gathered in Erasmus projects- previously good cooperation in other implemented projects- the capacity to disseminate the results of the project at local level in each country- the knowledge in the field of tackling violence and discrimination of the representatives from each partner involved in the project- organizing qualitative sport activities using the know-how of the sport clubs involved in the partnership- being able to realize a qualitative research with the support of all the research representatives involved in the consortiumThe research conducted during the implementation of the project can consist of a start-point for discussion related to tackle violence and discrimination in sport. Discouraging violence and discrimination needs a strong educational background, supported by science-related data and a view of the impact on society. Gender equality and tolerance are not only just some check boxes needed to be ticked when practicing sport – either grass root or professional – but are aspects that need to be integrated in managing any kind of sport activity. Therefore, the outputs of our projects are free-to-access and serve to be used by any stakeholder interested on the topic. The research realized by the partners was sent to policy makers from sport ministries, sport organizations, schools with vulnerable youth, sport universities or departments, and other organizations which might use our information further in all the countries involved in the project.