DOT Projects has started a new two-year European cooperation journey with Youth Inclusion Through Sport (YITS), an Erasmus+ cooperation partnership in the field of youth (KA220-YOU) that runs from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2028.
YITS is coordinated by the Município de Vila do Conde (Portugal). The partnership also includes Coalition of Veteran Spaces (Ukraine), TechnAthlon I.K.E. (Greece) and DOT Projects (Spain).
Why sport, and why inclusion
Sport can bring young people together across social, cultural and economic differences. Taking part is not automatically inclusive, though. Barriers of access, confidence, cost, discrimination or simply a lack of suitable opportunities still keep some young people out, and young people with disabilities meet them more often than most.
YITS will develop, test and share a European methodology of youth work through inclusive sport for young people with disabilities.
What will happen
Over the two years the partnership will:
- run a participatory diagnosis in Portugal and Ukraine;
- design and validate the methodology, with scientific leadership, indicators and practical tools;
- train youth workers and sport practitioners in a learning activity in Vila do Conde;
- run pilots in Portugal and, at scale, in Ukraine;
- publish an open digital hub and toolkit, hold online dissemination webinars and close with a multiplier event in Portugal.
DOT's role
DOT Projects leads the work package on communication, the digital hub and the toolkit: the communication plan and visual identity, the structure of the hub and toolkit, the dissemination webinars, and the final package explaining how other territories can adopt, maintain and replicate the methodology. Across the rest of the project, DOT helps make technical results clear, usable and transferable.
The project does not depend on complex technology. It will use accessible formats, such as guides, templates, checklists and micro-learning content, that youth workers and organisations can bring into their own work.
What it should leave behind
A validated methodology with indicators and practical tools, comparable evidence from the pilots, an open toolkit, and trained practitioners who can act as multipliers, together with recommendations for municipalities and organisations that want to adopt the approach.
For DOT, YITS adds another European partnership to its portfolio while keeping the focus on something very local: better opportunities for young people to take part, learn and feel included in their own communities.
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).