Date of label : 29/10/2024
A lively outdoor volleyball game taking place in a park or recreational area.
Summary
Maria is 70 years old and lives in a village in Portugal. She has been working for 40 years, and since her husband passed away 5 years ago, she has felt alone and depressed. A friend encouraged her to take part in the Olympics4all programme – an innovative physical activity programme aimed at seniors. Although she was scared because she had never played sport, Maria decided to take a chance. Today she trains twice a week throughout the year in adapted sports and traditional games, and participates in the annual Olympics4all competition. She works out regularly with her new friends, and together they share much more than that. Through competition and the socialisation it generates, Maria feels healthier and younger, and has regained the pleasure of living for the first time in many years.
The solutions offered by the Good Practice
Ageing is a key challenge of the 21st century, forcing local authorities to find new solutions in providing healthcare, and in combating the isolation, loneliness and exclusion that many elderly people face. This good practice grew from Vila Nova de Cerveira’s Social Plan, which identified the isolation of seniors as a main vulnerability that needs to be addressed, in line with EU values, and the World Health Organization’s Global Strategy and Action Plan for Healthy Aging.
The Olympics4All Erasmus+ project was launched in 2015 in Portugal to promote active ageing. It introduced competition as a motivating factor to increase physical activity levels in seniors. Initially planned as a single event, popularity among participants led the 10 municipalities of Alto Minho to promote weekly training sessions and finance annual competitions, based on some aspects of the Olympic Games. With the aim of replicating this good practice in other ageing territories, the IN COMMON SPORTS and IN COMMON SPORTS + Erasmus+ projects were implemented, reaching Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary and Bulgaria. By 2024, more than 1000 seniors were training weekly, with more than 30 sports competitions and midterm games organised in 6 countries. Since 2023, citizens with disabilities have joined competitions, which gives space to rethink the integration of other vulnerable groups in the future.
Building on the sustainable and integrated urban approach
Any actions that improve the quality of life of the elderly and meet their diverse needs also increase their ability to continue interacting with society, contributing to more resilient territories.
In an increasingly ageing Europe, cities and urban policies play a decisive role in creating the right conditions for sustainable, inclusive and age-friendly communities. In the absence of structured plans that ensure the conditions for active ageing, quality of life depends almost exclusively on individually held resources, in terms of economic, cultural and social capital. The risk is to deny some citizens, the poorest, the right to substantial equality of opportunity.
Olympics4all was created to combat these inequalities: increase healthy lifestyles in more vulnerable groups who have less access to proximity equipment. Additionally, in ageing territories with low population density, investing in initiatives that promote the use of public sports and leisure equipment by those who actually reside there generates a real impact. It ensures greater sustainability of the spaces available in the territory. Developing age-friendly physical environments in cities will enhance the lives of older people, contribute to sustainability, encourage socially resilient, healthy and inclusive communities, and contribute to economic prosperity across the region.
Based on participatory approach
To ensure that initiatives offer real value to the community, it is crucial that end users are included in all stages of the decision-making process. Citizens have been and continue to be the key actors in this project. In fact, it was thanks to their motivation and demonstrations in the municipalities that the Olympics4all initiative continued, culminating in a continuity commitment signed between all municipalities in Alto Minho in 2015.
The evolution of Olympics4all since 2015 has always involved the senior participants, for example in supporting the technical team to define the sports and traditional games that they felt more comfortable to play, with preferences varying between countries, and in constantly redefining and adapting the rules according to their needs. To this end, focus groups were set up, providing valuable insights into their engagement with ball games. These findings underscore the importance of tailored sports programmes that cater to the needs and preferences of older adults, allowing opportunities for socialisation and wellbeing as essential elements for successful engagement in sports.
This is a project implemented throughout the year in different municipalities across Portugal, with interim games and competitions. Periodic meetings are held with 11 participating municipalities, schools and regional sports and disability associations, and all decisions are taken by mutual agreement between the parties.
What difference has it made?
One of the biggest challenges in promoting healthy lifestyles for elderly people is the ability to involve them on an ongoing basis. The story of Olympics4all was born to face this challenge and was continued thanks to the impact it had on participants from the Alto Minho in 2015.
The huge impact reflects the added value Olympics4all brings. This includes: introducing competition as motivation for the regular practice of physical exercise among the seniors and as a factual basis for adapting sport to their needs; involving citizens as key actors in the project and co-producers of results; developing a whole sports programme; social inclusion of elderly people who have fewer opportunities; and education among peers through traditional games.
The initiative’s positive impacts were not limited to the elderly, but reached diverse spheres, increasing cooperation between voluntary associations, sport clubs and associations of elderly and disabled citizens, health agencies and others. This was essential to increase the levels of participation and dissemination. Overall, the project involved around 1600 participants and more than 120 diverse institutions outside the consortium. The project was recognised with the EU’s BE ACTIVE 2023 Across Generations Award, and elected one of the 15 best examples in the European "Mapping study on the intergenerational dimension of sport”.
Why this Good Practice should be transferred to other cities
Ageing is one of the most important challenges of our time, as is highlighted by the EU publication GREEN PAPER ON AGEING. The Territorial Agenda 2030 also stresses that ageing poses serious challenges to Europe's social protection systems and to local and regional development.
Olympics4all’s innovative approach lies in competition, in sports games adapted to be more accessible and fun for older people, and in the role of citizens as main contributors to the final result. The potential for replicating it to other territories and contexts is immense. While Olympics4all holds benefits for any ageing territory, it can also promote social inclusion and healthy lifestyles among other vulnerable groups, such as migrants for example.
The practice is particularly aligned with Sustainable Development Goals 1, 3, 10 and 11. These are based on a rights-based approach, with the central aim of leaving no one behind, and reaching the most disadvantaged first.
In an increasingly ageing society, municipalities across the EU face the urgent challenge of creating measures to promote the inclusion, health and wellbeing of elderly people.
Two main online resources are available to support the transfer of this good practice to other interested territories:
Based on the Olympics4all event, two Erasmus+ projects were set up with the aim of replicating this good practice in other ageing territories. As a result, thanks to IN COMMON SPORTS (2018-2021) and IN COMMON SPORTS + (2021-2023) the initiative was implemented with great success in Cesena (Italy), Sanxenxo (Spain), Nova Gorica (Slovenia), Aksakovo (Bulgaria), and Százhalombatta and Érd (Hungary).