Kick-off of the PLAYER project in Brussels:
for the developing of tools for the inclusion of displaced Ukrainians through sport

By Jeanne DELVAL, EU Affairs – Project Manager

On May 5-6th, the European Office of Sport and Citizenship had the opportunity to host the kick-off meeting of the PLAYER project, ‘Promoting Learning and Active Youth Engagement for Ukrainian Refugees’, funded by the Erasmus+ Youth programme. This project is an opportunity to strengthen the tools for inclusion of displaced persons through sport and to support the solidarity movement towards Ukraine initiated in Poland and Latvia, partner countries, and supported by the European Commission.

The inclusion of displaced people through sport

As our previous FIRE and FIRE+ projects on this theme have shown, sport is a powerful tool for social inclusion. This is all the truer for displaced persons, who are sometimes far removed from other vectors of inclusion such as school or work. Football particularly, as the most widely played sport in the world, is a kind of universal language, enabling people from all walks of life to share common values of sharing, solidarity and respect.

However, access to physical activity and sport is not always easy for people experiencing migration living in shelters or in even more precarious situations. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 led to the departure of over 14 million Ukrainians, according to the UN, including several hundred thousand in the first few days, to neighbouring countries and the rest of Europe. The emergency of the situation sometimes limited the services offered by local authorities and associations to the most basic necessities, leaving aside leisure activities, even though they are so important for the social inclusion of individuals. More than three years later, the process of integrating Ukrainian displaced people into their host societies has more than begun. However, there is still a long way to go in terms of inclusion through and in sport.

The PLAYER project stems from these constatations. It aims to promote the inclusion of displaced Ukrainians in Poland and Latvia through sport, but also by raising awareness among young people in Poland and Latvia of the migration experiences of people their own age.

An innovative awareness-raising tool: the Migration Mural

This 20-month project is organised around several areas of action, the first of which is the adaptation to the Latvian and Polish contexts of the ‘Fresque de la Migration’, an educational awareness-raising tool created in 2020 by Kabubu. Based on the concept of the Climate Fresk, this team-based workshop, which is open to both children and adults, enables participants to discover the issues surrounding migration and exile by trying to reconstruct the journey of a person experiencing migration.

During the PLAYER project, Kabubu will develop frescoes depicting the journeys of displaced people from Ukraine and other extra-European countries to Poland and Latvia, based on real testimonies collected during co-creation workshops organised in the two countries. Kabubu will then train educators and other volunteers associated with the partner organisations to run Migration Mural workshops for local young people and adults.

New advocacy tools for better inclusion of displaced people through and in sport

Over the course of the project, Sport and Citizenship will coordinate the creation of new resources for sports organisations and other stakeholders working with displaced people.

Following a period of research and the collection of good practice on the impact of sport and youth organisations on the inclusion of displaced Ukrainians, the project partners will develop a set of cooperative sports games and educational tools on sport, migration and European citizenship, for local sports and social actors interacting with displaced people in their activities.

A group of partners committed to sport and inclusion

During the PLAYER project, we are lucky to be working with 3 partners from 3 different countries:

– Kabubu (France): Based in Paris, Strasbourg and Lyon, Kabubu aims to promote the social and professional inclusion of migrants through the unifying values of sport, and to raise public awareness of the realities of migratory journeys through ‘Migration Fresk’ workshops.

– Fundacja dla Wolności (Poland): Already our partner during the FIRE project (on the inclusion of refugees in football clubs), the Foundation for Freedom is one of the oldest Polish organisations supporting the integration of children and adults with migration and refugee experience in Poland, offering them access to physical and sporting activity as well as education.

– Rīgas futbola federācija (Latvia): As the football federation for the Latvian region of Riga, our third partner works with local clubs and in particular with amateur football clubs, which are the place where young people start practicing sport, and sometimes where displaced people spend their leisure time.

PLAYER project activities in a nutshell

From May to October 2025, the consortium will develop the tools that will be used during the project. The most important one is the Kabubu Migration Mural, which will be specially adapted to reflect the realities of a Ukrainian migrant’s journey from 2022 to Poland and Latvia. A user’s manual for this workshop will enable it to be disseminated among local and national stakeholders in Poland and Latvia.

Next, a toolkit containing educational resources and cooperative sports games on sport, migration and European citizenship will be produced, for any actor in the world of sport or social action wishing to enhance their skills in promoting the inclusion of displaced people. Like the Migration Mural workshops, it will be used during the sports festivals to be held in Latvia and Poland between the summer and autumn of 2026.

Finally, one of the project’s major activities will be the translation of our ‘Fire and Refugees’ MOOC into two additional languages, Polish and Latvian, and its dissemination to new groups of sports educators.