Integration of Newly Arrived Migrants through Organised Sport - From European policy to local Sports Club Practice
▶Summary
Background Voluntary sport clubs (VSCs) play a crucial role in integrating immigrants into society and contributing to public welfare. However, only a small number of VSCs directly participate in targeted integration practices for migrants and refugees. Understanding how national or regional integration policies can reach local levels and identifying practical concepts and examples of good practice is essential for VSCs to become more integrative and migrant friendly. Objectives INAMOS is a research and awareness project focusing on VSCs' integration practices. It aims to increase the number of voluntary clubs willing to implement targeted integration measures, understanding how national or regional integration policies can impact local practices. The goal is to transfer regional, national, or European integration policies successfully into local sports club practice, and to apply this knowledge through low-threshold information and learning opportunities. Implementation This project was implemented from 2020 to 2022, with an extension toward April 2023. Through the whole time period data from sports programmes, sports clubs officials and members have been collected by means of desktop research, single interviews or focus group interviews. The project group met regularly - mostly in online meetings due to covid - to recalibrate methods, analyse data, and prepare the material for the different stages of the dissemination. Achievements Our results show that the EU states vary in their approach to use programmes for sport-based integration policies. We can also conclude that sports clubs who participate in integration programmes often provided integration work before and those who do not provide integrative effort lack the resources to do so. Sports clubs should address with their activities the migrants' motives, experiences and needs. They should also create opportunities to meet and communicate by activities besides sports.