In the social and social sciences, sport is seen as a specific tool for the construction of local, ethnic, and national identities and is linked to their dynamics in everyday culture. It is also significant because of the relationship between sport as a social phenomenon and politics, economics, and society. At the same time, sport is important for the sustainable development of society, for people’s health, and for the social integration and inclusion of different disadvantaged groups.

In this regard, the project “Society, Sport and Integration”, funded by the Scientific Research Fund (KP-06-H75/14, from 15.12.2023) aims to show the social relevance of sport through its integrative possibilities and contribution to the balanced functioning of social processes in Bulgarian society, to clarify how a large part of the marginal and vulnerable groups in society (children at risk, children and people with disabilities, women from risk groups, migrants, refugees, etc.) can be integrated and included through sport. Other emphases are placed on the analysis of the role of sport and sporting activities in the formation, consolidation, and maintenance of national and other types of identities, the exploration of its potential to overcome stereotypes and prejudices in society, good practices at the local level, the role and functions of community organizations in achieving more effective and sustainable integration, the political use of sport in historical and contemporary terms, etc.

The project cooperates the efforts of eight scholars from three scientific units – the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with the Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the University of Sofia “Sv. Kliment Ohridski” and the National Sports Academy “Vasil Levski”, which guarantees the interdisciplinary nature of the project and the breadth of the approaches used.