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GROWS aims to contribute to reduce the gender gap in skateboarding and, through skateboarding, to involve small grass-roots organisations in a process of transferring good practices and acquiring skills that will make them protagonists in the implementation of strategies and activities aimed at reducing the gender gap in sports participation, in the professional sphere (top-level athletes, judges, instructors) and in decision-making (planners, managers, executives), with a special focus on the inclusion of groups with fewer economic opportunities and from migratory backgrounds.
The project proposal originates from the encounter between realities that operate at different levels in skateboarding and social work: a national federation (FISR Federazione Italiana Sport Rotellistici), two small skateboarding clubs that have several inclusion projects to their credit (BSS Bologna Skateschool and MCHP Madrid Club de Hochey y Patinaje) and an association that deals with social and sports projects in Turkey (AGSK Aktif Gençlik ve Spor Kulübü Derneği), with the support of local institutions such as the Municipality of Bologna- the Navile District, which make their educational services available to contribute to the GROWS project with the collaboration of experts in the field of inclusion and the needs of the area.
GROWS aims to:
Improve the competences of the organisations involved, supporting them in defining strategies to reduce structural barriers and stereotypes that are at the basis of gender discrimination; to provide them with the necessary resources in order to favour women’s participation both in decision-making processes and in access to grassroots and competitive sport; to develop their digital competences and networking skills with other European realities.
Involve grassroots organisations in training and discussion with partners on strategies and activities to raise awareness among the target communities (internal and external) about practices that cause the gender gap in skateboarding, about the positive values of skate culture. Provide them with the necessary resources to foster women’s participation in their activities and decision-making processes, with special attention to and inclusion of those with fewer opportunities and from migrant backgrounds.
Encourage women’s participation in the sector’s professional fields through training/advancement courses for aspiring female managers, designers, empowering and networking with special attention to include those with fewer opportunities and from migrant backgrounds to favour the reduction of the gender gap in decision-making and representative processes.
Promote gender equality in coaching and among competition judges by supporting the female component through empowering and networking paths and by encouraging the access of a larger female component to technician/judge courses.
Promote female participation in basic and competitive skateboarding, with a focus on inclusion, through free basic and competitive courses for girls and women from migrant backgrounds or socio-economically fragile conditions.
Organising events and initiatives dedicated to women’s skateboarding involving skaters, professionals and beneficiaries of the project, in order to raise awareness in local communities on stereotypes and the different forms of discrimination that are acted against women and to promote green opportunities and practices related to the discipline and skate culture.