ABOUT THE ICEHEARTS EUROPE MODEL

CHARACTERISTICS AND SCOPE

Through a comprehensive and always positive approach to the educational process, the Icehearts Europe model is aimed at preventing social exclusion, promoting health and mental wellbeing through an active lifestyle, and improving the psychosocial skills of disadvantaged children and adolescents. In partnership with schools, families and community services, Icehearts Europe aims at integrating vulnerable children and adolescents into the kind of normal everyday life that many of their peers in the same age group take for granted.

Icehearts Europe is a preventive program oriented towards children and adolescents with a sport-centred approach where grassroots sport organisations recruit dedicated professionals – the Icehearts mentors – to support the involved youngsters both in and outside school hours.

Sport is neither intended as an elite sport nor as the final goal, but as a recreational physical activity and a vehicle for securing the inclusion, education and growth of youngsters.

This approach, open to families’ involvement, offers opportunities for the kids to grow up in a positive and constructive environment where they can be engaged in meaningful activities and have positive experiences of support and appreciation.

In a context where factors such as trust, participation, sense of belonging and cohesion are strongly promoted and strengthened comprehensively.

Furthermore, Icehearts Europe aims at boosting work of professionals in basic public services, seeking to initiate and establish multiple Icehearts team in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods, amplifying the associated synergies over an area that greatly transcends the catchment area of any individual school.

Icehearts Europe is a 36 months project funded by the European Commission EU4Health Programme (EU4H) – Call: EU4H-2022-PJ.

The explicit objective of the project is improving mental health and well-being for disadvantaged children and adolescents in Europe through a pan-European initiative based on the Finnish best practice Icehearts. The project is uniquely positioned to address the intersections of physical activity, mental health and physical health and deliver benefits in all these fields.

More: https://www.icehearts.eu