Project description

Being active is essential for women of all ages, particularly in adulthood. The inactivity of adult women, especially mothers, is often exacerbated by their numerous commitments, including raising a family and managing their professional responsibilities. Due to persistent stereotypes that continue to shape women’s lives, it is often easier for them to abandon sports activities, leading to negative consequences for both physical and mental health.

The project “Women, We Walk!” aims to engage young women, particularly mothers, who have dropped out of sports and are not engaged in physical activities. It seeks to empower local sports communities, equipping them with the skills needed to become key actors in promoting inclusion, dialogue, and the integration of inactive women within different communities. These goals are achieved through advanced training, sports tools, and the transfer of best practices from leading associations in the participating member states (Luxembourg, Italy, Bulgaria) to partners from third countries (Serbia and Moldova) to promote this initiative.

Through the WWW! project, collaborative efforts between partners from different regions will be strengthened through substantial cooperation in sports and the development of tools to reinforce women’s communities within grassroots sports clubs. WWW! connects a consortium of partners specializing in sports, women’s engagement, and research, ensuring a high-quality mix of expertise. The partnership involves youth and sports organizations at the grassroots level—responsible for implementing concrete activities—alongside research institutions that guarantee quality research, assessment, project management, and strong follow-up engagement with the target audience. This diverse expertise ensures that the project is built on a solid foundation aligned with its key objectives:

 Hurry up! Conducting research on adult women’s inactivity levels to understand cultural and gender equality issues in different regions by gathering literature reviews, interviews, and questionnaire responses.

 Empower! Co-creating a series of Walking Football Training (WFT) sessions to strengthen adult women’s mental and physical skills while establishing a standard methodology for communities.

 Implement! Organizing Walking Football Bootcamps (WFB) in informal spaces such as public areas, gardens, and city neighbourhoods to encourage women to participate in sports, increase visibility for their physical activities as role models, and promote walking football.

 Sharing! Expanding a network of sports organizations and providing them with a platform—both online (via the “Walking Football discussion forum” and the “Sports for Healthy Lifestyle and Inclusion” magazine) and offline (through WFB promotions)—to exchange ideas, showcase projects, and encourage active participation.

What makes this proposal innovative is that it:

1. Promotes Walking Football in regions where it has not yet been developed.
2. Encourages a healthy lifestyle among women who have dropped out of sports and are no longer physically active.
3. Develops training programs focused on a sport-based grassroots system for coaches and trainers, reinforcing local sports clubs as bridges for social inclusion and fostering a bottom-up approach.
4. Empowers individuals through sports in areas still influenced by male-dominated stereotypes and cultural divides between communities.

News

Usma European Week of Sport