3rd Partner Meeting Boosts the GRASS Project

The Safer Grassroots Sport (GRASS) project has taken another step forward in its mission to develop support tools for grassroots sports, focusing on the protection of athletes and participants. The 3rd partner meeting was held online, bringing together representatives from the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Portugal and partner organizations: the National Olympic Committees of Slovenia and Albania, the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Bulgaria, Universitat de Vic (Spain), Sportieq (Belgium), and Qantara Sports (Portugal).

The main objectives of the meeting were to review progress in the development of the project’s two main tools: the “online self-assessment tool,” a self-evaluation platform, and the digital toolkit, both designed to assist sports clubs in implementing effective safeguarding policies and mechanisms. Additionally, participants focused on preparing for the Mid-Term Conference, which will take place online on December 12th. This conference will align with the final conference of NOC Portugal’s Pelo Respeito – Safeguarding program, themed “Zero Tolerance for All Forms of Violence and Abuse.”

The event will be a crucial milestone for the project, bringing together partner organizations from the participating countries and their pilot clubs, which in 2025 will test the tools developed under GRASS. Discussions during the meeting emphasized the importance of this international cooperation network in advancing the project’s next phases.

The GRASS project is co-funded by the European Commission under the ERASMUS+ Sport program and will run until the end of 2025. It involves collaboration among expert, sports, academic, and governmental organizations, aiming to produce practical tools to strengthen safeguarding measures for athletes and participants in grassroots sports.