How to turn European cities into active places with outdoor recreation opportunities? During the second knowledge exchange, the STANDOUT project consortium explored digital communications, barriers and drivers for incorporating outdoor sports in cities. The partners gathered in Lecco, Italy from 6th to 8th September 2024 from all over Europe to develop Standards for Outdoor Sports in cities collaboratively.
The inaugural exchange of the ERASMUS+ co-funded project, led by ENOS, took place in Silkeborg earlier this year, incorporating a variety of expertise from the makers of the Danish Outdoor Capital:
This time, the Italian project partners of Trekkify hosted a practice-oriented exchange with productive work sessions and crucial insights from academics and practicians. Expertise in digital technology was provided by Outdooractive, revealing opportunities for strong communication with the public to boost participation in outdoor activity. Scholars from Charles University Prague and Technical University Munich added recent findings on outdoor recreation in urban areas. Their research results and the workshops in Lecco identified barriers and drivers for outdoor sports development and participation. Consecutively, the project consortium elaborated on good practices, discussed the Swedish framework for outdoor municipalities, and refined the dissemination strategy for STANDOUT.
Insights on successful collaboration structures from local to European level were brought to the exchange by the president of the Italian hiking federation, Massimo Mandelli. Based on committed volunteer efforts, the federation inspires wide-spread participation in mountaineering and related activities.
To foster trust for collaboration and to experience the local area, the Trekkify team also organised mountain walking and rock climbing activities for the STANDOUT consortium in the spectacular Lombardian Alps. The rifugio above Lake Como provided the ideal base for this valuable exchange, resulting in major steps forward in developing standards for European Outdoor Cities. Over the next months, the partners are to conduct further research and development, before meeting again in Viana do Castelo, Portugal, in May 2025.
Get involved in the development of standards for European Cities in your area! Municipalities and organisations from sports, health and conservation are invited to join the co-creative process. Contact us now to shape the standards, and join communication training starting in early 2025:
luis.monteiro@outdoor-sports-network.eu
Disclaimer: Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.