SMARTSTART PROJECT KICK-OFF MEETING

The Municipality of Piran, together with our association and the BOR association, successfully held the kick-off meeting for the new European project SmartStart – Enhancing Early Childhood Development through Integrated Motor-Cognitive Sports Activities, funded under the Erasmus+ Sport 2025 call. The project officially started on 1 November 2025 and will run until 31 October 2027.

SmartStart focuses on improving the motor-cognitive development of preschool children. With this initiative, the consortium aims to strengthen the local sports culture and ensure that young children have access to high-quality and professionally guided physical activities.

At the kick-off meeting, partners reviewed the project plan and agreed on the initial set of activities, which include:

· introducing a sports teacher into a pilot kindergarten,

· developing guidelines for motor-cognitive skill development,

· delivering professional workshops for preschool teachers and staff,

· supporting kindergartens in independently implementing quality physical activity programmes,

· monitoring the programme’s impact on children’s development.