Youth, Sport, Action! is an initiative of the British Council which is giving young people from the UK and ten other countries a unique chance to work together on projects of common interest.

Each project has its own individual set of objectives decided by the participating groups and relevant to their countries and communities. All the projects celebrate universal sporting values such as equal opportunity, inclusiveness, participation, team spirit and fair play. The overall aim of Youth Sport Action! is to enable young people in the participating countries to understand and share these values, to give them confidence to put these into practice in their communities, and to extend their personal horizons through international contacts.

ABOUT THE PROJECTS

			SEE “YOUTH, SPORT, ACTION !” TRAINING EVENT 19-21 FEBRUARY 2008 - TIRANA, ALBANIA This project aims to sustain and re-inforce the cross-regional/UK networks that the previous phase of the YSA project helped create and to capture and deepen their cross cultural learning through a regional training workshop for YSA group leaders and UK partners on Sport and Intercultural Dialogue, developing their role as advocates and facilitators for taking forward the YSA project in their countries. Participants will be representatives of local NGOs and equivalent bodies in leading positions from each country and UK partner as well as youth activists who are involved in activities focusing on citizenship, social inclusion, leadership, sport and education. Countries involved: Albania, Greece, Israel, Macedonia, Turkey, UK CONTACT PERSON:Aida Berxholi, Albania
			Adventure Triathlon for Nature Protection (www http://www.zazemiata.org/youthadventure – “Mjaft!” Movement (Albania), “Za Zemiata” Environmental Association (Bulgaria), Go Away and Learn (Rotherham UK) Young people work to show how outdoor education and sports can actively help preserve their natural heritage, in particular National Parks. The project aims to encourage young people to access areas of natural beauty and to promote this approach to the authorities in each country.
			Sea of Friends (http://www.seaoffriends.org/)  – Education Centre for Youth (Azerbaijan), Israel Youth Award (Israel), Bolton Youth Service (UK) The project’s focus is to look at ways to use water sports as a means of overcoming barriers of language, culture and religion, as well as using water sporting events as a tool for raising awareness on environmental issues.
			Youth Participation – Youth Information Agency (Bosnia & Herzegovina), Sefton Youth Service (UK) The project aims to enable young people to gain self-confidence & broaden experience; specifically to develop lobbying skills which will empower them to articulate youth interests in local communities and to raise awareness of decision makers and wider public youth needs in the area of sport.
			Sport as Art – Youth Secretariat (Greece), Brouhaha International (Liverpool UK) The two groups will work on themes of equality, respecting the different, personal excellence, the meaning of participation and sports and materialise them by using contemporary art forms. Through photography, digital arts and multimedia the young people will express their aspirations for the future and position the Olympic ideals as a means towards improving individuals and societies. The project will result in production of a DVD.
			Values Quest( http://www.britishcouncil.org/macedonia-society-ysa-values-quest.htm) – Blue Sky Network (Macedonia), Sefton Youth Service (UK) The aim is to develop and accredit young people’s competences through sport based activity. In Macedonia this will involve organising both national and local activities through the Blue Sky network’s local clubs.
			Be Your Own Hero! – “Oricum” (Romania) and Salford Youth Service (UK) The project aims to engage young people to participate in sport activities, organised in their own neighbourhood, and so to counter negative views of sport and general lack of interest (in Romania) by showing young people that sport can be fun and entertaining. The project also strives to use sport as a social inclusion and educational method.
			It’s Your Turn – “Hajde Da” (Serbia), Knowsley Youth and Play Service (UK) The project will adapt already existing games for children and youth with disabilities, and also develop new games, sport tools, etc. Invented and/or adopted games will be evaluated by young people with disabilities and showcased in a community event. The final product will be educational material containing innovative sports, tools and/or inclusive non-competitive games.
			Promoting Olympic Ideals (http://www.britishcouncil.org/macedonia-society-ysa-values-quest.htm) – Community Volunteers Foundation (Turkey), Oldham Youth Service (UK) The project aims to change the common view of sporting events as merely superiority competitions, and to draw young people’s attention to the unifying role of the Olympic ideals. The project will reach a wider youth community through art works created by young people, in an interactive festival of exhibitions, performances and workshops. After the festival, the artwork produced in Turkey will be brought to the UK in order to be shared with a community of a different culture.

HOW THE PROJECTS ARE BEING IMPLEMENTED

All the themes of the projects have been developed by young people from the UK and overseas partner organisations, and are based on issues which they themselves have identified as important in their communities. Following an initial contact-making event in Bolton in September 2006, partners organised planning visits to each others’ countries, through which the original concepts were modified and turned into action plans.

The project partners are responsible for implementing the projects and achieving the objectives which they themselves have set. The British Council is providing financial and administrative support, and organising two large scale events which will bring together all the projects. It will also evaluate and report the outcomes of the initiative as a whole.

MAIN EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

While each project has its own individual objectives and activities, the following are common to all:

			Youth, Sport, Action! teambuilding and promotion event for young people from all participating countries in Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia – April 2007.
			Outward youth exchange visits by UK groups to their overseas partners (between April and July 2007)
			Inward youth exchange visits by overseas groups to their UK partners (August 2007)
			Celebration event in Manchester (link with pdf), at which all groups will share their achievements and experiences and present these to an invited audience. (September 2007)
			A film training programme for a team of young people (one from each partner organisation) resulting in production of a promotional DVD in September 2007.
			A common evaluation methodology.

SUSTAINABILITY

Youth Sport Action! is a short term pilot initiative. If successful it may provide the model for a more extensive series of links between youth groups in the UK and partners in different parts of the world. In any event, the relationships developed between the groups involved in this initiative are expected to be long-lasting ones, and the groups will be encouraged to maintain contact and develop further activities in future. All the projects will result in products or methodologies which will be widely shared and promoted and which have longer term relevance and use.

For more information contact Aida Berxholi