Recipe to develop the implementation guide for the sport-based Icehearts Europe programme: a collaborative process

Background: Icehearts Europe is a pan-European initiative promoting EU-wide adaptation and dissemination of the Finnish sport-based best practice ‘Icehearts’, focused on preventing social exclusion and promoting the psychophysical well-being of disadvantaged youth through a 12-year mentoring and comprehensive support. The project aims to develop tools to implement Icehearts Europe programme and involve more EU countries and grassroots sports organisations (GSOs).

Purpose: This work elucidates the methodology employed to develop a comprehensive guide serving as a ‘lowest common denominator’ for adapting the programme to diverse contexts.

Methods: The guide development was conceived as a sequence of stages: description, analysis, deconstruction of the model concept, identification of the essential ‘ingredients’ and procedural aspects to prepare the implementation, reorganisation, and ‘inspiration’ for the programme. A collaborative approach involving GSOs,
Public Health Organisations, Universities, NGOs was adopted, based on opinion and information sharing, effort in writing collaboratively, meetings, and collection of first-hand data through a study visit to Icehearts Finland. The English version was translated into the languages of the pilot countries (Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Slovenia, Spain) using an online AI-based translation tool; each translation was completed by native translators from the pilot organisations.

Results: The six-language ‘Icehearts Europe Implementation Guide’ consists of four main operative phases plus insights from Icehearts Finland and is freely available on the Icehearts Europe website.

Conclusions: Developing an operational tool that facilitates the transfer of a best practice requires a collaborative process, sharing of experience and expertise between stakeholders through a teamwork characterized by the comprehension of the underlying characteristics of the practice and their possible adaptation to new contexts.

Practical implications: The guide will provide operational information and basic guidelines for EU grassroots sport organisations seeking to implement the programme within their respective contexts to promote the health and well-being of disadvantaged youth.

Funding: EU4Health Programme 2022.