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WORK(OUT)SIDE THE BOX | Civic Europe
Community development, Social inclusion

WORK(OUT)SIDE THE BOX

Care for psychophysical health and suppressing stereotypes in the rural environment of Imotski that physical recreation is meant solely to maintain men´s looks, and that women do not belong in the gym

Creators

Who is behind this?

Marija Lozo Ujević

Fitness center TEMPO

https://fitnesscentartempo.hr/

Croatia

Idea

Idea pitch

“WORK(OUT)SIDE THE BOX“ wants to encourage discussion in the rural area of Imotski about physical exercise and suppress stareotypes existing due to the general view that workout exclusively serves as a way to maintain physical appearance and that gyms are places for men only. Our target group are people who avoid exercise, convinced that it is an activity suited for muscular men and that women or obese people should not go to gyms, yet rarely think about the effect on psychophysical health.

Where will your project idea take place?

The project will be conducted in the are of the city of Imotski, Split–Dalmatia County, Croatia.

What is the specific societal challenge faced by this region?

The challenge this project takes on is changing the general opinion of many people that benefits of gyms are limited to maintaining attractive physical appearance, ignoring the effects of exercise on health, on psychological well-being, and the feeling of social integration it provides.The project will attempt to diminish the prejudice about gyms being places only for “bodybuilders”. We will try to promote the view that gyms are meant for recreation, boosting social cohesion and that physical exercise does not only preserve an appealing physical appearance but also plays a significant role in overall health and psychological state of both men and women.

Who are you doing it for?

The target group is set on all interested residents of Imotski and its surrounding area aged 16-65 (over 15.000 people), no matter the sex, educational background or financial status. To be more accurate the target group will contain of typical representatives of the following groups: adolescents, college students, employed and unemployed people, pensioners, women of younger age (young parents), women aged 50+, people struggling with obesity, diabetes and spine diseases, physically active and inactive people.
The discussions will invite experts to participate also: doctors, nutritionists, psychologists, social workers and public figures (actors, athletes…)

How do you plan to get there?

The project will be executed through the following steps:
Forming a team responsible for the project and defining their roles and obligations
Inviting target groups to participate using public calls
Defining subgroups to ensure representation of typical profiles
Including associates from specific areas
Including local organizations and associations
Organization and realization of dialogues/debates
Organization and realization of round tables/educations
Organization and realization of radio shows
Scientific research and publication of results
Visibility on social media, internet and other media
Monitoring and reporting
Evaluating the project´s implementation.
For each of the steps of execution a suitable scientific or practical work methodology or to be more precise project management tools.

What are the expected results?

Imotski´s residents will acknowledge physical activity influences psychophysical health. Stereotypes saying the only goal of physical recreation is good looks and that gyms are suitable just for men will be removed. A healthy lifestyle, diet and physical activity will be adopted which will distance people from laziness, unhealthy food and consummation of alcohol/drugs. Regardless of the socio-economic status, women will turn to living healthier and the result will diminish the imposed stigma. Participants will learn effects of physical exercise on preventing diseases connected to lack of physical activity, stress will be reduced and positive psychological effects will emerge.
The society will surely be moved by the dialogue to accept democracy which will open a path to topics alike.

How does your idea strengthen active citizenship at a local and community level?

In accordance with strengthening and enhancing citizens´ engagement in dealing with stereotypes about gyms and the attitude that women have no place in gyms, we came up with activities which support active participation:
Act.1. Participating in debates: for and against (3), Act.2. Introducing and educating the “eternal opponents” about the benefits of physical exercise (4), Act.3. Radio shows with guests and on-line debates (12), Act.4. Studying the effect of the stereotypes in rural communities and presenting the results to the public (1), Act. 5. Visibility and PR activities.
Citizen´s engagement will encourage public discussions which will enable consideration of opposing views, active inclusion of the interested population and redefining the roles of women in traditional societies.

Why is this idea important to you?

FC Tempo was founded in 2011. with the aim to satisfy the needs for preserving and improving psychophysical health of Imotski´s residents and enriching free time with physical activity and sports.. Social development is supported by workout related programs: education for members, organization of seminars about health, nutrition and physical therapy, providing scholarships for kinesiology students. Our project “Temporiranje”, financed by the EU social fund, is intended for children and adolescents that come from families with a low financial status in order to boost their social inclusion.
Leadership of the organization and the project team are made of: president–graduated economist, vice president–master of psychology and secretary– master of sociology and anthropology.

€ 36553,-

Total budget

€ 34553,-

Funding requested from Civic Europe

Major expenses

Employee salary–Project manager: 10.106,81 EUR
Employee salary–Activity coordinator: 8.920,53 EUR
Dialogue/debate organization: 986,75 EUR
Round tables/education organization: 1.649,01 EUR
Radio shows: 1.907,28 EUR
Fees for experts: 1.324,50 EUR
Research–fees: 2.635,60 EUR
Research–publication: 2.973,51 EUR
PR activities total: 2.331,26 EUR
Flyers, posters, invitations: 362,25 EUR
Other expenses: 362,25 EUR
Travel expenses: 1.973,51 EUR
Refreshment: 1.039,74 EUR
Total: 36.553 EUR

What do you need from the Civic Europe community?

Every comment, piece of feedback and advice is more than welcomed! Thank you for reading our proposal.

Team

Anamarija Buljan

Ivana Matic

malozo

Idea created on April 25, 2021
Last edit on April 25, 2021

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