EUROPEAN SPORT MODEL FOR INCLUSION

The European Sport Model for Inclusion

Our proposal is based on the thesis that both the definition of the sports system as well as the political Sport Policy must be the result of social practices. That is, it must derive from the real conditions of access and participation of persons with disabilities in sport and contextual factors.

Thus, the proposal of the InSport project for the European Model for Inclusion, provides for an organizational structure with two orders of magnitude, which are related in a dynamic and cooperative way, in order to promote, at different levels, full participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities in sport.

So, there are two dimensions for creating a European Model for Inclusion in Sport – which are organized along the following lines:

one dimension is within four Sectors that play a crucial role in stimulating participation in sports for people with disabilities: Education, Health, Municipalities and Sports Clubs.

another dimension is within the scope of the Ecological System of Sports Model, according to the three levels of structuring: Individual/ Micro level, Meso level (System and Organizational Structure of Sport) and Macro level (Policy and Sport System).

On the Sectors dimension, it should be noted that there are four sectors that we consider to be crucial in stimulating the inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities, particularly young people from birth to eighteen, which are:

Municipalities	Municipalities play an extremely important role with citizens residing and / or attending the territory, with legal powers and competences in the field of sport. These Local Authorities vary depending on the political system at the top and the political-administrative country division. The initiative is developed at the three levels, national, European and international with the purpose of environmental sustainability and mobility activity, facilitating sport & exercise in programs using bicycles (cycling) and the use of walking and running (athletics). Other Ministries such as Infrastructure, Transport, as well as Municipalities (Sport, Urbanism and Transport) and Education (Schools) play a very active role. Measures regarding accessibility and mobility in the built environment will have impact for wheelchair users, handbikes / handcycles and other forms of mobility for the disabled population. Municipalities are often the initiator of the local and regional adapted sports partnerships. Municipalities often have a coordinating role and in many cases are the financing partner of the partnership. Municipalities can play an important role in the following areas and intervention objectives: · Develop and implement awareness programs. · Provide technical, material, human and financial support to Public and Private Entities providing services and support to persons with disabilities. · Promote and develop programs to stimulate participation of people with disabilities in physical activity and sport. · Build local networks with organisations of all four sectors, to jointly stimulate and improve participation
Education	Inclusion in the Education Sector should consider both compulsory education and higher education (University and Polytechnic). Compulsory education offers the opportunity to promote motor skills, physical and sporting activities for children and young people in inclusive schools. Education (compulsory education) can play an important role in stimulating participation in sports for students with disabilities as it can: – Create awareness. – Stimulate inclusion and participation in physical education classes, for example by adapting the exercises for students with disabilities (see output 3) – Stimulate and facilitate participation in school sports. The vast majority of students with disabilities attending higher education are still young, but in most European countries, physical education is not mandatory and therefore not part of the curriculum. University sport is the only, and a good, alternative for these young students. Higher Education can play an important role in stimulating participation in sports for students with disabilities as it can: · Create awareness. · Stimulate and facilitate participation in University Sports.
Clubs	Sports Clubs, in addition to their corporate purpose and statutory competences, will have the following tasks: 1. Promote awareness actions. 2. Facilitate sports practitioners by creating conditions for access and participation in sport, e.g. by adaptation of the accommodation (if needed) or adaptation of the sport/exercises (if needed). 3. Promote and develop grassroots sports and high performance sports development programs for people with disabilities. 4. Develop initiatives to fit persons with disabilities into voluntary and participation programs as sport agents as volunteers or as professionals.
Health Sector	The Health Sector is one of the first entities to have contact with the occurrence of a disability, whether congenital, that is, since the birth or a disability that was acquired during the life cycle. We identify a plurality of healthcare providers that persons with disabilities and their families can contact, but social workers, psychologists, nurses and doctors regularly maintain contact. Competent authorities (WHO, EU and States and Governments) recognize the role and importance of sport in promoting self-esteem, therapeutic rehabilitation and social inclusion as well as promoting quality of life through regular physical and sports activity. The Health Sector can have three types of intervention: Inform, raise awareness, publicize, advise and refer persons with disabilities to entities that frame and promote the regular practice of physical and sports activity. Integrate into Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Programs the promotion of physical activity according to WHO recommendations (Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health). 3. Therapy and Sport – Integrate into Therapeutic Rehabilitation a Therapy and Sports Program consisting of different phases, from therapeutic exercises, to trying out different kinds of sport, to high performance sport.

Cooperation between the four sectors

These sectors must work together and aim at modifications articulated at different levels (individual, meso and macro), horizontally and vertically, for the ultimate change – promoting full participation.

One of the examples that promote joint work and cooperation between the various sectors is the “Sport Service Point | Create structure to cooperate”, that is a concept developed in the Netherlands, to stimulate cooperation between the different sectors. This Sport Service point concept can be adapted to awareness raising activities within the scope of “INSPORT PROJECT Sport Inclusion – Full Participation in Sport by Persons with Disabilities”. This initiative was suggested by The Knowledge Centre of Sport & Exercise form the Netherlands, one of the InSport project partnerships – so the original name “Sport Service Point-Create structure to cooperate” will be adapted for Project InSport to “InSport Service Point | Sport For Inclusion ”. The “InSport Service Point | Sport For Inclusion” is a proposal of the InSport Project that, through awareness actions, aims to contribute to the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the regular sport structures at local level, promoting cooperation between the sectors of Health, Education, Municipalities and Sports Clubs, in the Europe Region in general and, in particular, in the European Union. It consists in two main areas of intervention:

Create a fixed or mobile “InSport Service Point” in public spaces in the community or in one of the facilities/accommodations of the Health, Education, Municipalities and Sports Clubs sectors.
Generate attention for this Insport Service Point in various media, to support awareness actions. The form and contents are suitable for Information, training, dissemination and demonstration actions in the community, in public spaces and in the services of the Health, Education, Municipalities and Sports Clubs.

Thus, we propose a central structure of interconnection and articulation between the different sectors – Service Point – this structure can be led by a team of professionals from one of the sectors or a team from an external sector – whose mission is to bring together the needs and interests of persons with disabilities for sports, as well as the sectors that develop and offer the sports activities, with the aim of optimising the match between supply and demand for (adapted) sports.

By setting up an Insport Service Point, one build a local/regional network of organisations from all four sectors, that together can stimulate people with disabilities to participate in sports. By creating awareness of the importance of sports, removing barriers and guiding people towards a sports activity that fits them best, this will provide the best possible framework for regular physical activity for all.

In addition to the dimension of the “Sectors”, we will also have another dimension that is based on the Ecological System of Sports Model, according to the three levels of structuring: Individual / Micro level, Meso level and Macro level.

In terms of the coherence and consequence of the policy-sport intervention, the intervention at national level is defined, followed by vertical intervention at intermediate level and, at base or local level, according to the following structure:

Individual Level

The individual level corresponds to Sport Participation – it deals with access to and participation in sports, analyzing both facilitating aspects and barriers / barriers to participation, such as:

· Barriers to participation at Individual Level.

· Barriers to participation at Social Level.

· Barriers to participation at Environmental context.

The micro / individual level belongs to individuals, their families and communities, etc.

Meso Level

The meso level corresponds to the System and Organizational Structure of Sport.

Sport Systems and Structure for persons with disabilities – establish an organizational structure of the country’s sport, as well as the area of disability. Involvement of the following sectors: Government Sector of Sport; Government Sector of Education; Government Sector of Health; Government Sector of Municipality; Non-Governmental Sector of Sports Clubs, Associations and Sports Federation.

Macro Level

The macro level corresponds to the Policy and Sport System, where the broad guidelines in terms of sports policy are defined, namely:

· National Legislation (National Constitution; Basic Law in Sport; Basic Law in Habilitation and Social Inclusion Persons with Disabilities; Basic Law for Education, Health and Municipality Sectors)

· International disability and sport recommendations (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; European Union Sport Policy; etc.)

The Macro level belongs to member states (ministries, urban planning, environment, finance); media; etc…

In terms of the coherence and consequence of the policy-sport intervention, intervention at national level is defined, followed by vertical intervention at intermediate level and, at base or local level, according to the following structure and the following bases:

Municipalities

Education

Clubs

Health

Individual Level

· Awareness raising actions, which includes information, training, dissemination, demonstration and experimentation (see some suggestions on output 6)

· Demystify perceptions

· Addressing people’s interests and motivations

· Adapting activities (see output 3)

· Awareness raising actions

· Demystify perceptions

· Addressing People’s interests and motivations

· Adapting activities (see output 3)

· Awareness raising actions

· Demystify perceptions

· Participation of persons with disabilities as a sports agent, volunteer or professional, without management of sports organizations

· Addressing people’s interests and motivations

· Adapting activities (see output 3)

· Awareness raising actions

· Demystify perceptions

· To advise and refer persons with disabilities to physical activity and sport

· Prescribing physical activity according to WHO recommendations

Meso Level

· Awareness raising actions, which includes information, training, dissemination, demonstration and experimentation (see some suggestions in output 6)

· Technical, human, material and financial support that entities provide to citizens and to the local and private entities that support persons with disabilities

· Promote grassroots sports programs

· Inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities in programs that the respective entities promote and develop

· Awareness raising actions

· Training of professionals (see output 4)

· Inclusion and participation in physical education classes

· Promote grassroots sports programs

· Awareness raising actions

· Training of professionals (see output 4)

· Promote grassroots sports programs development Programs and High Performance

· Inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities in programs that the respective entities, promote and develop

· Awareness raising actions

· Training of professionals (see output 4)

· Creation of integrated sport responses in the Therapeutic Rehabilitation and Social Inclusion Program into and through sport

Macro Level

· Reflect on:

· National Policies and Constitutions, with:

· Introduction of specific articles about disability and sport, which should provide not only the right to participate but also the role of state in supporting inclusion.

· Law on habilitation and social inclusion of persons with disabilities.

· Basic Law on Sport, that reinforces the issue of inclusion through sports.

· Sports Policies, with the promotion and development of grassroots sport and health e High-Performance.

· Financing.

· International disability and sport recommendations and instruments, for example:

· United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

· International Charter of Physical Education.

· Physical Activity and Sport of UNESCO.

· Developing European Dimension of Sport (2011).

· Eurobarometer (2002; 2009, 2013. 2017).

· White Paper on Sport (2007).

· EU Work Plan for Sport (2011-2020).