The project will be headed by Mittuniversitet. The other institutions of higher education involved are, besides Dalarna University, KTH, the University of Gothenburg, Chalmers University of Technology, Malmö University and Stockholm University.
The aim of the project is to research the effects on the environment of sport and outdoor activities so as to develop knowledge and understanding related to sustainability, and thus contribute to a reduced negative environmental impact.
Dalarna University's part in the project involves a study of how sport and outdoor activities in schools as well as in its academic programmes, such as its Physical Education Teacher programmes, affect environmental sustainability and the way in which it can contribute positively in this field.
"Sport and health in schools and in teacher education is part of the sport and outdoor life movement in Sweden. Students from our Physical Education Teacher programme will be involved in the project, and our hope is that the project will be a clear part of the internal and external work being done on issues related to environmental sustainability," explains Erik Backman, Associate Professor at Dalarna University, who will work together with Andreas Isgren Karlsson, a doctoral student at Dalarna University.
Together, Erik and Andreas will study participants of sporting and health activities in schools and in the teacher education programmes in Sweden, such as pupils, physical education teachers, physical education teacher students and their instructors.
"We'll employ the use of questionnaires, interviews and observations with the goal to learn more about instruction within schools' physical education subjects and the way instruction can be designed so as to contribute to general environmental sustainability," concludes Erik Backman.
