The BRIDGE project. Build bridges between peoples through the Traditional Sport Game

Abstract

The present reportseek tooutline both theoretical assumptions, organizational dimensions and some empirical results concerning the BRIDGE, an international project which won an EU Erasmus grant within the Small Collaborative Partnership section of the Not-for-profit European Sport Events category.Shortly, the BRIDGE project is meant to implement European scholastic Physical Education programmes by Traditional Sport Games (TSG) activities, in order
to foster wellbeing, inclusion and pacific coexistence. This Project iscarried on in four different European Countries (France, Italy, Portugal and Spain) andevaluatedby specialized academic research centres which adopt a Case Study approach, therefore collecting data mainly using qualitative tools (Focus Groups, personal journals, self-compiled sheets, ethnographic observations and so on).The main BRIDGEgoal is toemphasize the great impact ofTSG at a socio-
cultural level, an issue unfortunately withvery little acknowledgment and recognition, so poorly investigated. Focussing on motor, cognitive, affective and social development, our first Project findings confirm that TSG are able to positively foster students’ growth and activate a good class atmosphere. Finally, the project foresees a common final event during the Tocatì, a TSG International Festival taking place inSeptember 2018 in the city of Verona (Italy), when
both pupils, teachers and researchers coming from different European Countries, could share the acquired knowledge and competencies, and finally play together in a square dedicated to this playful experience.