BP3 – EKPOL- Etairea Koinonikis Paremvasis Kai Politismou, Periferei, Valos, Greece

1.Who are we, in what environment are we functioning, what sport facilities do we have at our disposal?

EKPOL is a civil non-profit council of the Region of Thessaly, public equivalent body, which aims at successfully tackling obstacles on society issues (support vulnerable groups and promote strategies for social inclusion, cohesion and development). Additionally, EKPOL aims at implementing Projects for the cultural promotion of Thessaly Region through coordinated actions. It was established in 1996. There are 4 people working on a permanent basis for EKPOL with all other trainers working on a per hour basis.
In the field of Cultural development, EKPOL aims at supporting associations and organizations -public and private- related to culture, education, sports, health and social care in Thessaly Region as well as at reporting and studying their experience and contribution. One of its major goals is the promotion of local cultural tradition and identity of Thessaly.

EKPOL also:

-organizes sports events for public
-supports research, study, development of new restoration techniques
-promotes measures for the cultural heritage of Thessaly (moveable-immoveable, archaeological sites, museums, collections, maritime civilization- enhances contemporary cultural activity and undertakes cooperation actions (studies, researches, reports, conferences, experience exchange, use of IT about cultural activity in Thessaly) among organizations on a national and international level
-enables communication among Region of Thessaly and other areas on a regional, national and international level and implements Community Programs which inform citizens on cultural affairs
– Supports social and cultural projects, which are open to all citizens, irrespective of age, social status or physical aptitude, because lifelong access to knowledge, education and culture, the right to express an opinion and the right to participate in contemporary creativity are inalienable values.
-raises public interest on cultural activities through the organization of exhibitions and “Day for Culture” events, information through audiovisual products, to strengthen the link among European member-states and promote their development and common cultural heritage with respect to their national and international differences
-supports the use of advanced technology and communication services which enable people to access information about culture, as well as the investment on research and project implementation about activities related to tourism, sports, entertainment, mass media, and so on.EKPOL aims at successfully tackling obstacles on social issues as well as implementing projects for the cultural promotion of Region of Thessaly. It is run by a Board chaired by the President appointed by the Region Governor. Since its establishment EKPOL has implemented joint actions for equal rights in employment through the benefit of acquiring specialized information, advisory and social support, training, acquisition of work experience. It has taken initiatives to enable integration and rehabilitation of all in the job market, support their entrepreneurship, promote work related issues, collaborate with all local institutions for the employment and entrepreneurship and support public opinion against the marginalization in the job market.

Seat of our organization is Volos. Built at the innermost point of the Pagasetic Gulf and at the foot of Mount Pilio or Pelion (the land of the Centaurs), Volos is the only outlet towards the sea from Thessaly, the country’s largest agricultural region. With a population of around 150,000, it is an important industrial center, while its port provides a bridge between Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Volos is the third of Greece’s major commercial ports, but also gains significant traffic because of its connection by ferry and hydrofoil with the nearby Sporades Islands, which include Skiathos, Skopelos and Alonissos. There are also connections to Limnos, Lesvos, Chios and Skyros.
Volos is the newest of the Greek port cities, with a remarkably substantial proportion of modern buildings, erected in the wake of the catastrophic earthquakes of 1955. The economy of the city is based on manufacturing, trade, services and tourism, and with its improved infrastructure the city is increasingly dynamic. Home to the University of Thessaly, one of the most important in country, the city also offers a wide range of facilities for the organization of conferences, exhibitions and major cultural and scientific events, together with international-standard sporting amenities.
Volos participated in the Olympic Games, and as an Olympic City it helped to present a new face of contemporary Greece to a world audience. The city has also since played host to a succession of athletic events, such as the European Athletic Championships.

All sports facilities belong to the municipalities in Greece but as a regional body we have very good cooperation with local municipality and we have in our disposal a lot of facilities, if we ask on time for them and there is no other training programmed for the specific date and time. For instance:
-A stadium with a capacity of 15,500
-An Olympic Stadium with a capacity of 30,000
-An indoor sports facility with a capacity of 2,000
-An Olympic swimming pool (50m x 25m) and a semi-olympic swimming pool (25m x 12.5m)
-A youth center building for courses, seminars and other educational activities.

 2. What are we doing in terms of sport?

Our scope of work regarding sports is:
-Organizing sports events for public,
-Sportive, cultural and social youth organizations,
-Organizing sportive activities for the schools in our city,
-Providing national/international certification for the sportsmen,
-Organizing courses/seminars about sports and Olympics for a wide range of attendants,
-Responsible for organization and documentation of any kind of sportive activities.
We do not have a specific expertise area, because we deal with many sports branches and there are a lot of both professional and amateur sportsmen from different age groups at our institution.

3. Why are we doing it (what are our target groups and what goals do we set)?

Our city Volos is an industrialized one and both culturally and economically it composes of a wide variety of people from all over Greece. As most of the population is workers, socioeconomic level is low and this makes the public facilities more important and effective than the special ones. Most of the teenagers at our courses and sportive activities are students at public schools. When we consider the amount and characteristics of the citizens we are working for, education and philosophy of sports and olympics become much more important. The parents of the teenagers at our center send their children to our facilities and courses not only for sportive training but also for other aspects. So, we arrange educational and theoretical courses as well as sportive trainings.

4.What are our Best Practices (what we do to have good results/achievements etc.)?

Many of the activities we organize are highly related with the project topic. These last years we have focused greatly on creating an awareness about Olympic games and doping issues, and similarly, at our institution we are organizing courses and different educational programs for teenagers. In these activities, Olympic games and doping problem is given significant importance.

For example, last year in cooperation with The Greek National Olympic Committee, we applied an education program for the 3rd grade students at high schools and many students participated in these courses. The focus of these courses was the philosophy of Olympics such as peace, equality and furthermore we informed the attendants about the dangers of doping both on health and sportive life. So, this project has an enormous potential to increase the effectiveness of our current applications.

We have realized that it is needed a very good understanding of olympic games and doping usage in sports. The primary main aim of our organization recently is to make an awareness and knowledge of the Olympic games, to make contributions to the sportive education schedules at participating organizations, and furthermore, while arising an awareness about Olympic games, to inform every stakeholder about dangers of using doping in sports, both for professional and amateur sportsmen. What is more, by the courses and instructions during the project activities, we aim to inform everybody about the philosophy of Olympics at the same time. These courses will be organized by our institution and somebody experienced and educated for this specific area will be invited to take part in these mini-courses as instructors, along with the well-known sportsman.

In our organization and in all participating institutions, the amount of educational activities about sports is far from being sufficient.

Even the trainees at sports centers and professional sportsmen at our sports clubs, are not sufficiently educated about Olympics and doping issues. There are some specific institutions in each county about this issues, for example in Greece, The National Olympic Committee is responsible for these issues but their scope is narrow and most of the students at schools and trainees at sports centers are not aware of what is happening at these institutions. Except for a minority, almost most of the students/teenagers/sportsmen haven’t had any chance to get education on this field.

The rationale of this project is mainly depending on a questionnaire implemented to both teachers, trainers, coaches and students, trainees at some our schools and institutions. We implemented such a questionnaire to discover whether our teachers and students are aware of any Olympic games and potential dangers doping. We attained surprising results from the questionnaire, the level of awareness in general is very low and more surprisingly, even the professionals who had been in many tournaments before, think they are not sufficiently educated on these matters.

Being instructed only technically on a sportive branch is not enough for a healthy sportsmen profile. On the other hand, to acquire international conciseness towards sports, Olympics, and also intercultural communication ability is of crucial importance. So, we must create opportunities for our students and the teenagers at the sports centers to become familiar with Olympics and dangers of doping usage, and we should do this not only in a passive learner position but also as active attendants, in an international atmosphere.

Participants will:

– Have detailed and applied information about Olympic games.
– Get an awareness about the hazards of doping use for sportsmen at every level.
– Be informed about the philosophy of Olympics in authentic surroundings.
– Be motivated to pursue healthier life.
– Have a chance to make some research about Olympic games and a different culture
– Have a chance to take part in the sports events organized.
– Attend the seminars and courses which will be held.
– Have a chance to share experiences with their colleagues, and to observe different sportive facilities of the partners and how they make use of it.
– Have increased sense of initiative and entrepreneurship.
– Be able to break their walls against speaking a foreign language.
– Overcome their prejudice toward other cultures by getting to know them not only theoretically but also in real life conditions.
– Get clear knowledge about diverse cultures and traditions including lifestyles, living conditions and cuisines.
– Acquire a European perspective towards their educational processes.
– Will become aware of the opportunities that Erasmus+ provides, and they may think to take part in different programs.
– Become more motivated about learning foreign languages as they will have to use another language in an authentic atmosphere.
– Be more eager to take active participation in society.
– Have friends from different countries and stay in touch for long years.

Institutions will:

-Have chance to create a great awareness about olympic games and anti-drug issues at their institutions.
-Increase the quality and effectiveness of the current applications about Olympics and anti-doping.
-Have chance to compare their own applications with their changes and to exchange good applications and ideas.
-Broaden the perspective of their personnel as they will have a chance to take part in international sports organizations.
-Have a chance to improve the effectiveness of their facilities by observing the others.
-Be able to make a cooperation with national and international institutions about Olympics.
-Increase their radius on both national and international area.
-Gain more institutional prestige with the experience they get from this project.
-Have more reliability in public.
-Encourage other institutions to take part in this kind of projects.
-Have more experienced and practical stuff at their institutions.
-Be able to improve their use of the facilities they have by observing the others.

At international and/or European level, this project has potential impacts. We examined the 2020 targets of European commission and we made a tie between ”Innovation Union and Youth on the move” targets. With these targets, a healthier and socially more active youth is aimed. In the same way, at our project, while creating an awareness on sports and informing the professional and amateur sportsmen about the hazards of doping use, we also aim to improve their entrepreneurship and make them active citizens. Moreover, our project will contribute a lot to their lives in terms of health, and this is also parallel with the target of reaching a more healthier youth and society.

Bonds of our institution and local community are really strong. We are a well-established organization running for more than 20 years now and our good reputation enables further cooperation.

On the other hand, new technologies are not widely used, so this is one of our weaknesses and a field we should focus on improvement.