Nominee: Active Zone Outdoor

OVERVIEW

Mountains are calling for YOUth is a project organised by a member club of the Cyprus Mountaineering, Climbing and Orienteering Federation (CMCOF) and aims at enhancing and fostering the participation of youth in mountain sports and activities through the engagement of youth with decision-makers in structured dialogues. Among raising awareness about the variety of mountain sports activities, the project is looking to promote inclusion and develop safety awareness.

Vision, goals and objectives

Acknowledging the disconnection of youth with mountains and Mountain Sports and Activities (MSA), as identified in a survey with youth conducted by Active Zone Outdoor, the KA3 project “Mountains are calling for YOUth” aims at enhancing and fostering the participation of youth with such kind of sports and activities through the engagement of youth with decision-makers in structured dialogues. Mountains are calling for YOUth addresses the following objectives:

• Explore the positive impact of MSA for the physical and mental health of youth;
• Raise awareness about the variety of MSA;
• Create more inclusive MSA for youth emphasizing on increasing the participation of women and girls given on women and girls;
• Develop safety awareness to allow youth to exploit MSA while minimizing the risks of injuries;
• Identify the traits and the profile of role models and trainers in MSA;
• Enhance democratic participation of youth through their participation in four dialogues with policy makers while raising awareness about the EU Youth Strategy and the significance of KA3 projects in enhancing the participation of young people in democratic life.

Expected implementation and outcomes

The project will engage a total of 375 participants including young people aged between 13 and 30, 225 of which will physically participate in the four dialogues of the project and 150 will participate in the online consultation survey for the purposes of the project. The group will be composed of but not be limited to youth workers, youth and outdoor leaders, school and university students, young professionals with sports science university education, physical education teachers, mountain sports athletes and coaches, youth active in society, sports and outdoor activities as well as decision makers and experts in four thematic dialogues related to MSA. The first dialogue will identify measures to make MSA more accessible to youth acknowledging the various difficulties (e.g. equipment, MSA are mainly located in remote areas) that discourage youth from actively getting involved in MSA.

Bearing in mind the significantly low engagement of females in MSA in Cyprus, the objective of the second dialogue, which will be organized with the support of the NGOs Cyprus Girls Can and Thkio logia, is to initially explore the reasons which preserve this situation and further elaborate on possible measures which could improve it.

The third dialogue is connected to the development of safety rules in MSA and risk assessment ability, identifying the principles related to safety, focusing on measures of how to create safe MSA experiences and also producing a Safety Guide to be distributed to organisations, clubs, groups operating MSA.

The final dialogue will explore the traits of role models, leaders and trainers in MSA acknowledging their important role in motivating youth to be active in sports. The dialogues will be facilitated with the methodology of the Structured Dialogue and will be organized in remote, mountainous areas and National Parks.

Please note that the content published in this article is courtesy of the Award nominee. The UIAA has made minor revisions to the original submission.

OVERVIEW

Mountains are calling for YOUth is a project organised by a member club of the Cyprus Mountaineering, Climbing and Orienteering Federation (CMCOF) and aims at enhancing and fostering the participation of youth in mountain sports and activities through the engagement of youth with decision-makers in structured dialogues. Among raising awareness about the variety of mountain sports activities, the project is looking to promote inclusion and develop safety awareness.

Vision, goals and objectives

Acknowledging the disconnection of youth with mountains and Mountain Sports and Activities (MSA), as identified in a survey with youth conducted by Active Zone Outdoor, the KA3 project “Mountains are calling for YOUth” aims at enhancing and fostering the participation of youth with such kind of sports and activities through the engagement of youth with decision-makers in structured dialogues. Mountains are calling for YOUth addresses the following objectives:

• Explore the positive impact of MSA for the physical and mental health of youth;
• Raise awareness about the variety of MSA;
• Create more inclusive MSA for youth emphasizing on increasing the participation of women and girls given on women and girls;
• Develop safety awareness to allow youth to exploit MSA while minimizing the risks of injuries;
• Identify the traits and the profile of role models and trainers in MSA;
• Enhance democratic participation of youth through their participation in four dialogues with policy makers while raising awareness about the EU Youth Strategy and the significance of KA3 projects in enhancing the participation of young people in democratic life.

Expected implementation and outcomes

The project will engage a total of 375 participants including young people aged between 13 and 30, 225 of which will physically participate in the four dialogues of the project and 150 will participate in the online consultation survey for the purposes of the project. The group will be composed of but not be limited to youth workers, youth and outdoor leaders, school and university students, young professionals with sports science university education, physical education teachers, mountain sports athletes and coaches, youth active in society, sports and outdoor activities as well as decision makers and experts in four thematic dialogues related to MSA. The first dialogue will identify measures to make MSA more accessible to youth acknowledging the various difficulties (e.g. equipment, MSA are mainly located in remote areas) that discourage youth from actively getting involved in MSA.

Bearing in mind the significantly low engagement of females in MSA in Cyprus, the objective of the second dialogue, which will be organized with the support of the NGOs Cyprus Girls Can and Thkio logia, is to initially explore the reasons which preserve this situation and further elaborate on possible measures which could improve it.

The third dialogue is connected to the development of safety rules in MSA and risk assessment ability, identifying the principles related to safety, focusing on measures of how to create safe MSA experiences and also producing a Safety Guide to be distributed to organisations, clubs, groups operating MSA.

The final dialogue will explore the traits of role models, leaders and trainers in MSA acknowledging their important role in motivating youth to be active in sports. The dialogues will be facilitated with the methodology of the Structured Dialogue and will be organized in remote, mountainous areas and National Parks.

Please note that the content published in this article is courtesy of the Award nominee. The UIAA has made minor revisions to the original submission.