EU-Project „North East ParaSport Exchange“ (ParaX)

EU Project „North-East Parasport Exchange“ (ParaX) started successfully with a Kick off Meeting at German Sports University Cologne. The first meeting on 20 and 21 February brought together all projects partners of the envisaged exchange programme having the aim to improve the situation and collaboration of the Paralympic movement in the Baltic and Scandinavian region. The project has been selected following the European Commission call for proposals in the framework of the Preparatory Actions ‘European Partnership on Sports’ (EAC/S03/2013) and is supported by the European Union.

As a first step all partners came to an agreement on the organisational and financial framework of the project. In addition the situation of the National Paralympic Committees in the Baltic and Scandinavian region was analyzed. The analysis showed that there is a special need to develop the recruitment of participants, to create better conditions for coaches and better competition opportunities, to represent Parasport in the media in a better way and to improve sponsoring and fundraising activities as well as organisation and management structures. These needs will be specified and implemented in a concrete working programme in the forthcoming Needs Assessment Seminar which will take place in Vienna on 20 and 21 May 2014.

Participants of the Kick Off Meeting at German Sports University Cologne were John Petersson (EPC), Niels Christiansen (NPC Denmark), Tiina Kivisaari (NPC Finland), Johan Strid (NPC Sweden), Margus Hernits (NPC Estonia), Zane Skujina (NPC Latvia), Rugile Valkauskaite-Kurceviciene (NPC Lithuania), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vilma Cingiene (Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania), Matthias Gütt (SPIN Sport Innovation, Germany), Dr. Dirk Steinbach (SPIN Sport Innovation, Germany), Dr. Christoph Bertling (German Sport University Cologne, Germany) and Dr. Mark Ludwig (German Sport University Cologne, Germany). 

The Needs Assessment Seminar of EU Project „North-East Parasport Exchange“ (ParaX) was the important second step towards the planned mobility scheme for the Paralympic sector in order to facilitate the development of Parasport in Europe. As part of the Needs Assessment Seminar on 20 and 21 May at the EPC (European Paralympic Committee) headquarters in Vienna the project participants concretely planned two exchange weeks in November 2014 and April 2015. They will take place in Denmark, Sweden and Finland and will be hosted by the local National Paralympic Committees.  

The mobility programme of the project “North-East Parasport Exchange” brought together Scandinavian and Baltic National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) working to develop Parasport in North-East Europe. During the first Exchange Week of the programme - organised by NPC Denmark based in Copenhagen – staff and volunteers from Baltic and Scandinavian NPCs exchanged ideas on a broad range of topics, in particular increasing participation rates and improving conditions for coaches. During the exchange from 12 to 17 November 2014 in Copenhagen (Denmark) and Malmö (Sweden) all participants were introduced to a wide range of projects, institutions and experts in order to see and understand how Parasport is structured whilst gaining an insight into strategic approaches used to develop Parasport in Denmark. Highlights of the exchange programme were a visit to one of Europe´s largest sports clubs for people with an impairment in Malmö, a visit to the Helene Elsass Center (a leading research and therapy center focusing on sport for people with cerebral palsy) and the visit to local sport facilities to observe training sessions, in and around Copenhagen. Furthermore, staff and volunteers from the NPCs (representing Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) had the opportunity to learn more about different strategies in specific sports - RaceRunning and Wheelchair Rugby – which had been used to attract new participants and to recruit and develop coaches for Parasports. 

During the second Exchange Week of the programme - organised by NPC Sweden based in Stockholm and NPC Finland based in Helsinki – staff and volunteers from Baltic and Scandinavian NPCs exchanged ideas on a broad range of topics, in particular improving communication and fundraising as well as sports and coaches development. During the exchange from 15 to 19 April 2015 in Stockholm (Sweden) and Helsinki (Finland) all participants were introduced to a wide range of projects, institutions and experts. Staff and volunteers from the NPCs (representing Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) had the opportunity to learn more about different approaches to lobbying, public relations, media and social media as well as strategies used to develop coaches and single sports. One highlight of the exchange programme was a visit to the Kisakallio Sports Institute in the northwest of Helsinki. “This second mobility programme again offered great possibilities to learn and develop from each other’s experiences", said Matthias Guett, Managing Director of the sport development consultancy SPIN Sport Innovation. “We are very happy to see that there are already some concrete activities starting between the Scandinavian and Baltic countries that are based on this EU project cooperation.” 

During three Follow-Up-Workshops held in Tallinn (Estonia), Riga (Latvia) and Vilnius (Lithuania), staff and volunteers from the Baltic NPCs developed concrete action plans based on the ideas developed in the Project’s exchange programme. “The workshops helped to ensure that skills and experience gained in the mobility programme were transferred into concrete action plans and regular working processes”, said Project Manager Dr. Mark Ludwig (German Sport University). As a result of the workshops led by EPC President John Petersson and hosted by each of the Baltic Paralympic Committees from 18 to 23 June 2015, the NPCs decided to start actions on different topics. In particular the NPCs will take next steps in improving good governance and organisation, strengthening sponsor and media relations, and building up better training and working conditions for athletes and coaches. They also decided to organise a training camp for Wheelchair Curling athletes and coaches to enable an exchange of international experience in the Baltic and Scandinavian countries. “The Follow-Up-Workshops were an important step to guarantee the sustainability of the project, we are happy to see that the project was successful in bringing together the NPCs of the Baltic and Scandinavian states, and helped to start networking processes and concrete actions”, said Matthias Guett, Managing Director of the sport development consultancy SPIN Sport Innovation. “From an international and European perspective, we are very happy with this project as it helped a lot to connect different countries and regions in the EU”, said EPC President John Petersson.