Activity Square Europe – A European Information and Innovation Hub on Sport- and School Sector Cooperation – ASE

The Activity Square Europe Project established measures to motivate and empower sport organizations at different levels to become active partners for schools, in order to positively impact the levels of Health Enhancing Physical Activity of school aged children in Europe. Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union the project facilitated professional exchange between existing initiatives in the EU Member States, in order to strengthen the connection between national initiatives at the European level with the intention of strengthening current or future initiatives at the national level. The consortium was comprised of sector leaders in the development of School-Sport cooperation and included 13 organizations from 10 EU Member States; Fit Sport Austria(AT), ASKÖ – Committee for Sport and Physical Culture(AT),ASVÖ General Sports Federation Austria(AT),Sportunion(AT),Finnish Sports Confederation(FI),Swedish Sports Confederation(SE),Hungarian School Sport Federation(HU),Slagelse Municipality(DK),Slovenian Sport Office(SI) Youth Sport Trust(UK),Regional Sports Confederation for the Saarland(DE),HANZE University of Applied Sciences Groningen(NL),Foundation of Flemish School Sport(BE). The project was very successful in connecting and facilitating exchange between major stakeholders in the European eco-system of School and Sport sector cooperation. This exchange wasn’t only limited to this group with 3 annual forums providing a platform to bring the concepts discussed and tools developed to the national context. Furthermore, exchange was stimulated by On-Site visits which allowed the partners to see for themselves how initiatives and Programs are implemented in other member states whilst also learning about the wider contextual issues which influence activities in other countries. This allowed not only for a better understanding of the situation in other member states but also for the partners to reflect on their own Programs and to apply examples of good practice. In addition, an online platform was developed to sustain the momentum created by the network and expand the breadth of perspectives on the topics raised through the project with the aim of building a long lasting community. Part of the strategy to extend the network included the development of a European Sport and School Sector Cooperation Award and an Ideas Competition, which simultaneously promoted innovative approaches and acted as a contact point for stakeholders into the project and network. These measures were underpinned by the development of applicable tools, notably the creation of a Benchmarking Tool which provides quality markers for Program developers in the field of School-Sport collaboration. This is seen as a key aspect of the sustainability measures with the tool being updated in the future to reflect the changing nature of the structural, economic and societal contexts and also the contributions of a widened network. Furthermore the project also operated at a practical level, implementing and testing a number of ‘Pilot Projects’ which took ideas developed or established in one partner country and tested them in the context of other partner countries. This was a very successful aspect of the project with one of the initiatives – ‘Mini-Coaches’ a peer to peer education Program – now being rolled out in Austria. This process was successful in highlighting and reinforcing the opportunity for partners from differing member states to collaborate across borders. In summary, the project has established a highly competent and committed network, connected both by a shared vision on how to influence a key issue facing the European community in childhood inactivity, and also infrastructural tools and processes developed through the Work Program. The partnership plan not only to continue their collaboration but to expand their activities in the future, in order to ensure that the legacy of the project is fulfilled.