Local Authorities commitment for increasing sport practices among children

The SPORT.S project is a small collaborative partnership funded by the Erasmus+ program that involves 4 organizations from Italy, Spain, and Portugal to analyze the issues of sports promotion, the implementation of innovative sports policies, and the collaboration between public and private structures in promoting the practice of sports, especially among young people, in the territories of the partnership. From the perspective of project impact on a wide territory, the organizations have carried out a work of active involvement of different representatives, taking advantage of the available national and European network.Specifically, the project involved Unione degli Assessorati (leading organization) that coordinated the project activities and promoted the activities in the Sicilian municipalities of Montelepre (Palermo), Villafranca Sicula (Palermo), Racalmuto (Agrigento), Santa Caterina Villarmosa (Caltanissetta), Bompietro (Palermo) through councillors and those responsible for local youth and sports policies; Ayuntamiento de Cuenca (partner) took part in the activities involving representatives of the sports and youth sector of the municipality of Cuenca and representing the Spanish region of Castilla la Mancha; Cim do Ave (partner), a union of Portuguese municipalities, which involved administrators of the sports sector from the municipalities of Cabeceiras Basto, Mondim de Basto, Famalicão, Guimarães, Vizela, and Fafe. Finally, the sports association Conca d'Oro (Palermo), took part in the activities with instructors and experts in the sports field.The project included the realization of 3 Transnational Project Meetings, two realized in presence in Palermo (Italy) on June 18 and 19, 2019 entitled "Local political programming in sport: how to create a stable platform between citizens and authorities in this field? The responsibility of the City Councils in the promotion of base Sports", and in Guimarães on October 29-30 2019 entitled ''Best practices about experiences on Sports Activities outside school settings thanks to the input of Local Councils''. Due to the changes related to Covid-19, the third Transnational Project Meeting scheduled in the period between February and March 2020 has been postponed and, due to force majeure, structured as an Online meeting held on October 8, 2020, entitled "Financial possibilities to support sports activities for children inside and outside school settings".The purpose of the project was to promote, through TPMs, research, and communication work carried out, different levels of promotion of youth sports practice, inside and outside the school setting:- At a public level, starting by involving local administrators, councillors for sports and culture, as well as youth policies, we have created a network of administrators who have collaborated and discussed better approaches to active involvement in sports. - At the private level, through the sports associations, visiting sports facilities and involving local representatives to understand perspectives and ideas considering the Covid-19 pandemic that has disrupted the practice of sports in several countries including Spain and Italy, finally defining new priorities for local governments to strengthen sports practice and coaching within schools. The project has strengthened the collaboration between public institutions, stakeholders in sports and active citizenship, thinking about a "sport for all", promoting physical activity and counteracting the sedentary lifestyle that the new generations suffer according to data from the regions analysed. The comparison of the data in the sports field and the exchange of ideas have encouraged in the participating organizations and municipalities, the possibility of implementing new projects.