OPPORTUNITY: fostering social inclusion and gender equality in formal and nonformal educational contexts through applying traditional sports and games

Background The Opportunity project is dedicated to harnessing the potential of Traditional Sports and Games (TSG) as a tool to drive social change. With a focus on individuals with intellectual disabilities and promoting gender equality in TSG, the aim of the project is to foster a more inclusive and fair society, by creating a practical and innovative methodology to be implemented and tested in six different European scenarios. Objectives The project created three main opportunities for organisations and professionals to apply TSG as a tool for social inclusion and gender equality through learning about the inclusive character of TSG and its methodology via the Handbook, the MOOC and the online community of practice. Additionally, the project applied an inclusive methodology and analysed the impact of TSG Pilot Inclusive and Gender Equality Actions using the app developed in the project, translated into 8 languages. Implementation The project was implemented by 9 entities (Universities and associations) from 8 EU countries & 1 Mediterranean country (Tunisia) within 36 months. The project Activities were structured in 3 Phases. The Preparation phase led to development of the Opportunity Pilot Programme that was implemented & evaluated in parallel during the Implementation Phase. During the Dissemination Phase the partners developed the reports, conclusions and recommendations on promoting the TSG as a tool for social inclu Achievements The Partnership developed, implemented & evaluated a holistic intervention methodology for fostering social inclusion of people with disabilities and promoting gender equality through the practice of TSG. The Programme allowed to prepare sport professionals and organisations to train on the proposed methodology and gain through the MOOC. A total number of 915 sports professionals and undergraduate students fully trained and certificated in the MOOC and 2177 registrations to the MOOC.