We love to travel very much, because we live in such a big world where we are so small and we are surrounded by so much beauty that our hearts jump with joy and our eyes sparkle with every border we cross. Moreover, we had the honor of being two of the 28 participants who had the opportunity to enrich their cultural horizons in Spain.

    Social Innovation through sport is a Youth Exchange project supported by the Erasmus+ programme, which includes participants and organizations from Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy and Spain. The place was in Orio, Spain. 

Our host was Cohope:

     Cohope is a Spanish organization which promotes and connects social impact between people, organizations and territories. Cohope leads different projects which bring people together from different parts of the world, in order to generate a positive footprint in the region where it takes place, It’s inhabitants and participants. The integration of knowledge related to social entrepreneurship is the engine of change and evolution towards a society strengthened by the collaboration, connection and learning that collective experiences provide. They create proposals which, holistically, promote the common good through the resolution of obstacles and the development of good practices

     This project Social Innovation through sport was very important for our development as colleagues, friends and inclusive persons because it promotes health, physical activity and the exchange of ideas, culture and knowledge.

     Also, we developed our thinking as “small freelancers” that can social innovate sport for everyone, even for poor people throught our actions in order to bring them to “life” and let them see all the benefits behind it. So it is not only an individual impact, but a collective and multiplying one.

    We had a lot of role-playing activities, case study analysis, evaluation of the situation in the community, simulation games, problem solving, etc. We focused on dialogue, sharing good practices, experiential learning, comparing situations in each country, among others.

     We really encouraged tolerance and acceptance among participants without judging each person’s background and context. With other words, we developed more open and tolerant

mentalities with others.

     In conclusion we combined sport with social innovation to provide new tools to promote sport and a more inclusive society, with active, collaborative learning and real experiences so young people are the ones who encourage the change at the organizations of tomorrow, in a more conscious, participatory and empathetic way. The final destination is to promote sport to be used later in our own communities and solve social problems through sports.

     We hope to continue your work by learning to do and practice what we learned from you.

Thank you Erasmus! Thank you Cohope! Thank you DGT!

Editors: Baniță Marian Mihai
            Diana Cristina