We choose the topic of Promote education in and through sport with special focus on skills development as our project will promote and believe that participating in outdoor activities in nature have a great benefits as increased confidence, enjoyment and challenge, improved health and fitness, opportunity to socialise also develop skills as, social skills, team building skills, problem solving skills, communication skills.
The Physical activity strategy for the WHO European Region 2016-2025 was developed to help achieve existing voluntary global targets set out in the WHO ‘Global action plan for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases 2013-2020’. In line with priorities set out in the global action plan, the EU strategy calls for the strengthening of surveillance systems and for MS to work towards consolidating, adjusting and extending existing national and international systems for the surveillance of Physical activity with adequate levels of disaggregation.
Physical activity and sport are also enablers towards achieving a number of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in addition to SDG 3 related to health and well-being. Monitoring population PA and sport participation will be important in designing effective policies and interventions for the prevention of NCDs, to improve the sustainability and safety of our cities and communities and for promoting peace and development. In this sense, this project presents a close relationship with European and global policies and strategies developed to promote PA and sport participation, as determinant factors to improve health and well-being throughout the EU.
Physical inactivity is the fourth leading risk factor for death globally and is responsible for 6% of deaths worldwide and for 5–10% in the European.
Scientific evidence shows major beneficial effects of physical activity on health. Physical activity reduces the risk of most chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, overweight and obesity, type 2 diabetes and several cancers. Furthermore, physical activity improves musculoskeletal health and psychological well-being. Despite the evidence and knowledge about the links between physical activity and health, however, many Europeans are inactive or insufficiently active. The 2006 Eurobarometer survey on health and food showed that people spend on average more than six hours a day sitting, while the 2010 Eurobarometer survey on sport and physical activity showed that 34% of the respondents reported that they seldom or never do any physical exercise or engage in sport.
Thus, engaging in sport is one of the ways of being physically active and the sports movement has a great influence on the level of health- enhancing physical activity in the general population. It has been shown that individuals who do sport are more likely to meet the recommendations for physical activity related to health than those who are not active in sport.
The combination of physical activity and being in nature is recognized as providing a range of significant benefits.
This benefits and social impacts associated with outdoor sports which have been clustered for the project in to five broad categories: physical health, mental health and wellbeing, education and lifelong learning, active citizenship and anti-social behavior, as well as additional benefits. The review furthermore revealed gaps in the evidence base which are especially notable in the long-term effects that outdoor sports can have on personal and social development.
Furthermore, in the 2017 Eurobarometer survey (European Commission, 2018) the main motivations for participation in sport or physical activity are improved health (54%) and fitness (47%). Thus, monitoring may also be an efficient strategy to promote participation in physical activity and sport, as it is strictly related to health (more than physical activity) and provides individual perspective on one’s evolution.
This project ultimately aims to encourage participation in sport and physical activity in nature, especially by supporting the implementation of European Union (EU) policy documents in the field of sport and other relevant policy areas such as recommendations, guidelines, policy strategies, and the implementation of the Council Recommendation on health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA).
Objective of the project:
- To create a sustainable network of organizations specialized in the usage outdoor sports in nature.
- To share, develop and create a collection of good practices related to the outdoor sport in contact with the nature.
- To exchange and share ideas and good practice in the different partner countries related to benefits of outdoor sports in nature.
- To promote and increase the power of outdoor sport in nature as an educational tool for skills development at local, national and international level.
- To create a handbook with the benefits and skills get practicing outdoor sports in nature in the five broad categories: physical health, mental health and wellbeing, education and lifelong learning, active citizenship and anti-social behavior.
