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4. Which are the main impacts of outdoor sport activities at individual level?
At individual level, the main impacts of outdoor sport activities consist in:
• Health (physical and mental) impacts: multiple studies point out, how physical activity is positively associated with both physical and mental well-being. People who are active have a lower the risk of serious health related problems, such as cardiovascular disease, overweight/obesity and other.
• Cognitive improvement and well-being: the contribution of physical activity to mental well- being is also widely recognized especially to reduction of stress, improvement of sleep, boosting of self-confidence and self-esteem and increasing enthusiasm, increased emotional skills, reciprocity, and relationships, increased self and group identity. It also benefits cognitive functions and reduces the risk of depression and dementia. Furthermore, it fosters the development of cognitive skills including executive/planning, attention, simultaneous and successive tasks; self-esteem, self-efficacy, self-regulation, locus of control; social competence; identification with and attitudes towards school and school-related values.5. Which are the main impacts of outdoor sport activities at community level?
At community level, the main impacts of outdoor sport activities consist in:
• Sport as “a social glue” that contributes to increasing both bonding and bridging social capital (Taylor, Davies, Wells, Gilbertson, Tayleur, 2015). Several studies (Sherry and Strybosch, 2012; Spaaij, 2012; Bloom et al., 2005; Burnet, 2009; etc) have indeed found positive relations between sport/physical activity and greater social connectedness, networking, social interaction – largely among a fairly homogeneous population (i.e. bonding capital) as well as between sport and greater awareness and better understanding of others, greater social inclusion/connectedness and mixing across heterogeneous population groups (i.e. bridging capital). Furthermore, these studies have shown a positive correlation between sport and greater ties between people in dissimilar social situations, enabling individuals and groups to access formal institutions (i.e. linking capital).
• Increased levels of bonding, bridging and linking capital contribute to increasing community social cohesion in the long run through the: increased formation and maintenance of networks; increased integration into social settings; improvement in peer relations; increased motivation for personal and social development and cross-cultural exchanges. In the long period, the above-mentioned effects result into reduced social tensions and increased collective action and community involvement.1. How local impact generated by outdoor sport activities can be identified and evaluated?
First of all, the movement and the energy of the community depends on the number and activities which involves a mass of people for a general scope. Regarding communities, a city without sport, is a poor city, without soul and human perspectives. The number of people participating, the number of activities implemented and their diversity, the number of entities at local level, the degree of municipality involvement and institutions, the number and quality of the strategies and attention offered to sport, the number of partners and the complexity of the partnership are important indicators to be evaluated. Questionnaires, feedback, debriefings, group reflection, games. On the other hand, the impact can be evaluated considering the evolution of the mentalities, the implementation of the scopes and objectives, achieving the directions and common visions. -
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