Playlab Incubator. Sport and refugees
In 2018, Play International is launching an incubator for individuals and organisations that use sport as a tool to increase the inclusion of refugees – supporting the development of six concrete solutions reaching 1000 individuals. The key objective is to identify and support half a dozen individuals or organisations that are innovating in this field with emerging projects. Through an intensive week-long workshop and tailored in-field support, the short-term goal is to increase their impact – reach more people, be more sustainable or increase effectiveness.
The learning and experience gained from the organisations will inform an open and transparent reflection on what works well in this field, what is good practice and common pitfalls to avoid – all published in a report.
Sport can be a powerful medium for social cohesion and bringing about change.
PLAY International uses sport as a psychosocial tool for prevention, social inclusion and reconstruction. In Burundi for instance, PLAY International worked alongside UNDP in rural villages where tensions existed between local and returnee populations. Experienced animators organised daily social-sporting activities for 4,000 returnee children. As a result, prejudices and discriminatory behaviour have reduced.
There are many other programmes for refugees that demonstrate the potential of sport for social inclusion, conflict resolution, education and health promotion.
This incubator will allow us to identify emerging initiatives and accelerate their impact in order to implement concrete, relevant and collective responses. It will also create a catalyst for new models that can be adapted for other contexts.
We need to act and develop solutions together because social innovation is a collective sport.
Key dates:
March – Launch call for proposals | Sofia, Bulgaria
May – Selected projects announced
July – 10 days of exchange and learning workshops, providing selected projects opportunities to develop the necessary skills to implement high quality projects, independently and sustainably | Paris, France
August to November – Technical support and stories from the field
December – final conference and launch of report identifing good practice, lessons learnt and providing recommendations – focussing on the innovations at the heart of each project | Paris, France
Funded by:
European Commission
In partnership with:
Paris 2024
UP Mouvement
sportanddev.org
Sport and Citizenship
- Read this article on the PLAY International website
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