SARU - SPORT AMBASSADORS IN RURAL AREAS

Transnational project meeting in Italy - Spoleto

The third transnational project meeting, hosted by the Italian project partner Umbria Training Center, in collaboration with Luca Ministrini and La SpoletoNorcia Mtb Club, took place in Spoleto from 3 to 6 September. Main topics of the meeting were Training Materials, Workshops, Evaluation and Dissemination, develop ideas together and agree on the necessary activities at the end of the project.

Partners met sport rural ambassadors of two mapped areas who told them what are the difficulties they have to challenge and the goals they want to achieve to improve their territory.

Together with a sport ambassador, the partners got on their e-bikes and travelled the SpoletoNorcia route (an old railway track), so that they could both admire the landscapes and the surrounding nature, and analyze the route and the work done to make it passable.

The route is the central part of the annual cycling event promoted by SpoletoNorcia, which took place during the days of the meeting. Thus the partners were able to participate in the sporting event and to promote the SARU project in a dedicated space in which representatives of sports associations, mayors, politicians, local stakeholders and of course volunteers were present and had the chance to share ideas and proposal for the coming years under Erasmus+ 2021-2027.

The bravest also took part in the cycling race, continuing a cycling exchange started in the first meeting in Slovakia

Dissemination activities

As responsible for the dissemination of the project, Umbria Training Center is committed to promoting and sharing the project objectives and products, the results following the online and face-to-face meetings.

The dissemination took place through the production of leaflets and newsletters that reported the progress of the project in stages, the management of the project FB page and the activities on the social media of the partners, as well as the dissemination of the project at a local level, for example through press releases.

Action Plan

EAS SEGAS Cyclades, the Greek partner of the project, has been working on making an Action Plan template, on which all partners will rely to make their own action plan. Among the rural areas which were consulted in the project, two have been selected for assisting them to make an action plan on how to organize a future nature sport event and its most important element: the track. The Greek partner has chosen to work with the islands of Kimolos and Anafi, as they turned out to be the most suitable areas of implementation of the Pilot Action Plans for the promotion of rural sports. More specifically, Ms. Aspasia Ventouri from Kimolos island, and Ms. Martha Ferfyri from Anafi Island are the sport ambassadors who will be making the action plan with EAS SEGAS Cyclades. Having attended the SARU Workshop and based on the SARU Training Material, the potential Sport Ambassadors are designing a future outdoor sport event in their area with the help of EAS SEGAS CYCLADES. A meeting took place for the launching of the production of the Action Plans and several online meetings are on the agenda in order to finalize them.

SARU workshop

In October 15th, EAS SEGAS Cyclades successfully organized the SARU workshop at the island of Sifnos. It was a blended event as, due to insularity and the Covid-19 pandemic, not all interested stakeholders were able to travel and be present in person, so they had the option to attend the event online. At first, the content and goals of the project were presented to all the participants of the workshop. The participants consisted of technical and administrative staff members of sport clubs, social organizations, volunteers, and members of of local authorities. The technical manager of the National Athletics Federation, Markos Kaloudis, also attended the event. The attendees expressed great interest in promoting outdoor sport in rural areas and particularly islands and we could not be happier with the workshop's outcome!

Meeting in Greece

The second transnational project meeting of the project took place between 22-25 June in Greece. After a long period of online meetings finally the project partners met in person

Topics of the meeting included:
- Mapping of rural areas
- Sport Ambassadors
- Dissemination updating
- Evaluation

We also had the chance to meet the mayors of Milos and Kymonos island as well as the sport ambassadors of Kymonos and Analfi.

Thanks to ΕΑΣ ΣΕΓΑΣ Κυκλάδων for hosting us in such a very beautiful island

SARU project on Greek radio

Our Greek partner in project SARU had a radio interview about the project objectives and how they will be realized within the Cyclades island in Greece.

The Vice President of EAS SEGAS CYCLADES talked on a sports web-radio programme about ERASMUS+ SPORT projects.

Sports Ambassadors for Rural Areas (SARU) gains wide recognition and applause as it marks an incentive for local sustainable growth through the organization of sports and active leisure events.

Sports can contribute to healthier lifestyles, job creation, community-building and so much more! Cyclades islands provide the ideal setting for outdoor sports and leisure activities almost all year round with their mild Mediterranean climate! SARU is an excellent starting point!

The article in Greek: https://www.mileikanea.gr/athlitismos...

Project meeting in Slovakia

The partners of the project finally met face to face in Svit (Poprad) in Slovakia on 6-9 August. The meeting was very fruitful containing the discussion of project steps and results so far and also practical orientations. As Horal Marathon was organized at the time of our meeting, we observed the race. We visited the track and were explained how the venue was chosen, had a look at a refreshment point, cheered participants. We also visited some cultural heritage sites to understand better the potentials of sport life in rural areas.
Thanks Horal for hosting us!

Mapping phase and a visit in Hungary

In the mapping phase of the project partners addressed stakeholders in rural areas to see if potantial cooperation could be set to help enrich outdoor sport life there within the project. Take a look at our video which reports about the Hungarian team’s visit to Kiskunság area.

Videó

Newsletters on the project are available in all languages.

1st newsletter - English, Hungarian, Slovak, Italian, Greek
2nd newsletter - English, Hungarian, Slovak, Italian, Greek
3rd newsletter - English, Hungarian, Slovak, Italian, Greek
4th newsletter - English, Hungarian, Slovak, Italian, Greek

Call for action material

Read our program description and join us in our team of sport event organizers. Would you like to make a change in your area in sport and build a community?
In the call of action material you can get to know how you can motivate your community to start organizing sport events and boost related social life and tourism.