Move the Mind: Empowerment for well-being through Sport

The Move the Mind project addresses mental consequences of crises, such as the COVID pandemic, with the main aim of harnessing the positive mental aspects of physical activity and sport for overcoming and adapting to challenging situations, and thus contributing to the well-being of people. A unique combination of partners – with an Eastern inner science institution from Denmark, a recreation education HEI from Hungary, the International Council for coaching excellence based in the UK, a social impact business from Germany, and two regional sports organizations with grassroots level outreach to around 900,000 sport club members from the Netherlands and Spain – ensures the implementation of an innovative Move the Mind approach. Move the Mind begins with the creation of a knowledge network of 20-30 experts, which increases understanding of the context of movement and mindfulness. This feeds into the development of a Continuing Professional Development course for sports participation coaches, which is piloted through 3 training sessions. It leads to improved competence of 60-75 multipliers, who then have the capacity to empower participants in organized sport to use sport as a tool for improving healthy minds and psychosocial well-being. A European impact and sustainability workshop supports the international sport community to mainstream the project’s results and to promote physical activity-based policy interventions related to mental health. The project maximizes end-user outreach through the development and implementation of a virtual education platform that includes coach education online resources and an empowerment program for adults who are impacted by crises and mental well-being. It informs about the contribution and added value of sport “from cope to hope”, and about how sport can support overcoming challenging situations and improve mental health and well-being.