Youth Drop-in Sport (YDIS): Transnational Project Meeting in Vienna

The Erasmus+ project Youth Drop-in Sport (YDIS) aims to understand why many young people stop participating in grassroots sports and to find effective ways to keep them engaged. The project focuses on tackling youth dropout and promoting youth drop-in by developing and testing practical guidelines that help sports clubs and organisations create more inclusive, supportive, and motivating environments.

The fourth transnational meeting of the YDIS project took place in Vienna from November 11th to November 13th, hosted by CSIT and marked the second in-person gathering after the meeting held in June in Rome. The partners met for one and a half days of workshops, presentations, and discussions. CSIT General Secretary Wolfgang Burghardt was present and warmly welcomed all partners at the start of the meeting, highlighting the importance of cooperation and shared learning within the project; this will benefit all national sports federations and their clubs, even beyond the CSIT movement.

Discussing project guidelines

The meeting focused on the existing YDIS guidelines, which were created to support the prevention of dropout and to encourage participation among young people in sports. Partners from Germany (RKB Solidarität), France (FSGT), Italy (AICS), and Spain (UCEC) presented their pilot activities, where these guidelines were tested in practice. They shared their experiences, the results of their activities, and reflections on what worked well and what could be improved. In working groups, the participants discussed the pilot activities in detail and linked them to the guidelines. Later, during plenary sessions, the group shared outcomes, exchanged ideas, and refined the guidelines further based on the pilot feedback. Erasmus+ Project Officer, Isabelle Mulanga Tshilumba from the EU Commission also took part in the lively discussion, giving valuable feedback and input on the shared insights.

The meeting’s main aim was to continue promoting youth drop-in and to find better ways to keep young people active and involved in sports. Discussions were very productive and showed strong cooperation among the partners, with many valuable ideas for the next steps of the project. Finally, partners were also able to attend a best practice example of the Taekwondo Vienna Gym, showcasing strategies on how a local club emphasizes the importance of keeping youth in sports in their respective context.

Outlook

The YDIS project continues to develop tools and knowledge to support sports clubs and organisations across Europe in preventing dropout and promoting long-term participation. CSIT is now looking forward to finalizing the YDIS guidelines and is ready to share them with any organisation interested in supporting youth participation in sport. More information about the project can be found here.