What we impact

SPORTEGRATION’s free and low-threshold sports programmes allows everyone to experience positive encounters on equal footing. These contacts not only foster intercultural exchange, but also help build social networks — both among people with refugee experience and between them and the local population. Both dimensions provide important resources for social cohesion and individual integration.

Sport has a holistic impact on wellbeing: it strengthens not only physical health, but also mental and social wellbeing. Physical activity releases happiness hormones, which can enhance subjective wellbeing and increase feelings of happiness. At the same time, doing sport together fosters a sense of community and strengthens feelings of belonging — something that is particularly important for people with refugee background. Through these positive experiences, feelings of loneliness caused by isolation can be reduced and social relationships can be built.

Our programmes empower participants to develop a better understanding of their own health and to make health-promoting decisions in everyday life. Through low-threshold communication, we support participants in finding, understanding and using information about sports activities. Thanks to our welcoming and accessible setting, motivation for physical activity — both within SPORTEGRATION’s programmes and beyond — is strengthened. The fact that knowledge and motivation reinforce each other is reflected in the number of participants who engage in sport regularly. We support participants in building confidence in their own abilities, maintaining an active lifestyle and promoting their health in a self-determined way.

SPORTEGRATION is by no means alone in its aim to use sport as a tool for social development. Rather, we are part of a growing approach known as Sport for Development.* In this context, sport is far more than physical activity: it is a powerful tool for achieving key social goals, such as promoting health, strengthening the social participation of disadvantaged groups and enabling intercultural exchange.

Physical activity is therefore not an end in itself, but a key element of social change. Through our programmes, we not only promote the health of our participants, but also create spaces for encounter and exchange.

* Chen, S. (2018). Strengthening the global framework for leveraging sport for development and peace: A background paper. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. United Nations