In the project WELLcome – Wellbeing and integration through sports, innovative and effective models were developed in the sports sector to integrate and engage refugees in society with the help of sports. Within the project, Finlands Svenska Idrott (FSI) and Humak University of Applied Science (Humak), together with sports associations and reception centers in Finland, developed sports opportunities for children and young people with an immigrant and refugee background.
The two-year WELLcome project was carried out between 2022 and 2024.
The project’s Objectives
- To support young refugees (age 7-16) to take part and engage in the local sport clubs in Finland and to thereby support their integration into the Finnish society.
- Create new and impactful business models for the integration of refugees and immigrants in Finland with the help of sports
- To raise awareness and knowhow in social including and integration of refugees amongst board members, staff members and trainers in sport clubs in Finland.
- To spread the model and best practices developed in the project to all the member sport clubs of FSI and to the general public and important stakeholders in Finland and in Europe.
ÅIFK, which is a bilingual sports club in Turku with over 600 athletes in its activities in football, handball, and athletics, functioned as a pilot sports association in the project.
The project’s operating models were distributed nationally in Finland to all sports associations that belonged to Finlands Svenska Idrott and, according to good practice, they were also distributed internationally.
The project was funded by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EECEA) with the Pilot Projects and Preparatory Actions (PPPAs) program and the Ministry of Education and Culture (UKM). The total approved sum for the project was 290 000 euros.
Materials
Diversity in Sports – Videos
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Media Articles (in Swedish)
Liten skara från Pansio flyktingförläggning trotsade regnet och tog sig till fotbollsplanen – finlandssvensk organisation hoppas kunna främja integration genom idrott
Flyktingar ska välkomnas med hjälp av idrott – ÅIFK:s verksamhetsledare: ”Idrotten ger en positiv upplevelse utan ord”
Diversity in sports -videos
Projectteam
Tarja Krum
Projektledare
Finlands Svenska Idrott
tarja.krum(a)idrott.fi
Iida Laitila
Projektkoordinator
Finlands Svenska Idrott
iida.laitila(a)idrott.fi
Janina Sjöstrand
Projektledare
Humak
janina.sjostrand(a)humak.fi
Anna-Maija Riutta
Expert
Humak
anna.maija.riutta(a)humak.fi
