Best
About Best
The project has the ambitious goal of promoting the inclusion of young people (aged between 13 and 16) with physical disabilities through the development of innovative and unexplored models, using esports as a lever to reduce sports dropout rates and reconnect young people with disabilities to traditional sports. Esports are, in fact, a new sport favored by young people (although their definition as a sport is still debated), capable of promoting social integration through the creation of player communities that share a common interest, regardless of their physical conditions. The project’s strategy aims to explore an innovative approach where esports are defined and used as an “inclusive instrument” to strengthen the role of grassroots traditional sports in supporting the social inclusion of young people with disabilities, reducing marginalization and promoting a more inclusive EU society.
In fact, acting as a social aggregator, esports bring young people together – with apparent differences (presence or absence of disability), but with the same passion for esports – through the organization of local and transnational BEST VILLAGES, which include esports games and sports competitions, educational initiatives for young participants, and in-depth knowledge aimed at their families and sports operators. Under the theme “sports for all,” each event is open to young people with and without disabilities, offering the opportunity to meet and compete with each other on equitable terms, with the same rules applicable to both parties, thereby reinforcing participation, social inclusion, and solidarity in and through sports.
The project has the following main objectives:
- Establish the project governance structure in order to ensure the full participation of the partnership in all project activities, high-quality work, and a shared appropriation of the project results;
- Promote the sharing of knowledge among PP in the realization and implementation of an innovative, integrated, multidimensional, and replicable BEST event format (BEST VILLAGE), through the evaluation of potential relationships between electronic sports and traditional sports to promote social inclusion and reduce school dropout rates among young people with and without disabilities.
- Organize the BEST VILLAGES (4 local and 1 transnational), adapting, applying, and testing the Transnational Methodology and the set of tools, which include esports games, integrated sports competitions, educational and cultural initiatives.
- Establish and formalize the Transnational Network project, disseminating the BEST VILLAGES format, maximizing its visibility, the potential for networking with similar initiatives, and its replicability capacity throughout the EU.
- Carry out a focused dissemination strategy throughout the entire project lifecycle, targeting the project’s target groups and relevant stakeholders, ensuring the project’s visibility to a broader audience, maximizing the potential transfer of the project’s key results, and guaranteeing an effective impact on the community and the project’s target groups.
Funding Programme: Erasmus+ Sport – European Local Events
Period – 01/2025 to 06/2026
Partners listed:
Coordinator – Fondazione Giovanni Paolo il per lo Sport – Italy
Partner – Derthona Basket Societá Sportiva Aresponsabilit – Italy
Partner – Nysa Sweden AB – Sweden
Partner – Sport Evolution Alliance – Portugal
Total Budget of the Project: 200.000,00€
Total Budget of SEA: 46.750,00€