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About Parkour As a Tool in a Humanitarian Life Skills Intervention

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About Parkour As a Tool in a Humanitarian Life Skills Intervention Run Forrest run! About Parkour as a tool in a humanitarian life skills intervention Image 1 Syrian youth practicing Parkour on a tank in Inkhil, Syria (Reuters, 2017b). This thesis is submitted for obtaining the Master’s Degree in International Humanitarian Action. By submitting the thesis, the author certifies that the text is from his/her hand, does not include the work of someone else unless clearly indicated, and that the thesis has been produced in accordance with proper academic practices. NOHA Master Thesis Master program in By Lukas Wilhelm Antti Rosendahl International Humanitarian Action Supervisor: Dr. Jesper Bjarnesen May 2018 Uppsala University 30 ECTS 0 Abstract Aim: Parkour is a relatively new action sport, which is not only popular in non- conflict regions but also in regions where armed conflict is taking place. When being featured in the media, youth from conflict regions frequently report that Parkour has helped them to deal with the consequences of armed conflict. Although Parkour is being used in psychosocial and life skills interventions in European countries, and despite the fact that action sports are used in humanitarian assistance, there is no research on the potential of Parkour as a tool in humanitarian interventions. The aim of this thesis is to analyse how Parkour can be used in humanitarian aid interventions, particularly focusing on its potential for life skills interventions. In order to do so, a mapping of Parkour teams in conflict regions is conducted. What is more, example cases highlight the importance Parkour has for youth in conflict regions. Lastly, a qualitative thematic analysis, will review the cases and academic literature, in order to discuss to what extent these characteristics coincide with the ten life skills as they were outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO). Methods: Mapping is limited to the timeframe 2013 – 2018 and to countries which display a high amount of organized violence within said timeframe. Furthermore, qualitative thematic analysis in combination with a review of relevant literature is used, in order to understand what Parkour’s potential for life skills interventions could be. Findings: The mapping indicates that Parkour teams and individuals are active in 16 out of the 22 countries which comply with the mapping criteria. The cases further exemplify that for many practitioners in the conflict regions, Parkour is used as a tool to deal with the consequences of armed conflict. The qualitative thematic analysis shows that Parkour’s characteristics seem to coincide with the 10 life skills laid out by the WHO. Conclusion: Action sports are already being used in aid interventions. Parkour’s assets in particular are multiple. It is an accessible, cost-effective and popular sport that youth globally and in conflict regions is attracted to. That, in combination with its characteristics and social media based nature, could be compelling arguments to use Parkour in humanitarian assistance. 1 Index Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 1 Preface ..................................................................................................................................................... 4 Glossary ................................................................................................................................................... 6 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Relevance to the Humanitarian Field ............................................................................................ 3 1.2 Thesis Outline ................................................................................................................................ 6 2. Methodology ....................................................................................................................................... 7 2.1 The Research Design ..................................................................................................................... 7 2.2 The Sources of Data ..................................................................................................................... 11 2.3 Ethical Questions ......................................................................................................................... 13 3. Theoretical Framework ..................................................................................................................... 14 3.1 Literature Review ........................................................................................................................ 15 3.2 Youth ........................................................................................................................................... 18 3.3 Education for Youth ..................................................................................................................... 20 3.4 Education in Emergencies ........................................................................................................... 21 3.5 Definition Life Skills ..................................................................................................................... 23 3.6 Challenges for Life Skills .............................................................................................................. 26 3.7 Life Skills - Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 27 4. Background - Parkour ........................................................................................................................ 28 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 28 4.2 Historical Roots of Parkour .......................................................................................................... 29 4.3 Parkour and its Contemporary Use ............................................................................................. 30 4.4 The Spread and Importance of Social Media .............................................................................. 32 4.4.1 Parkour and Social Media ..................................................................................................... 32 4.4.2 Humanitarian Relevance ...................................................................................................... 34 5. Findings - Parkour in Violent Environments ...................................................................................... 36 5.1 Cases ............................................................................................................................................ 37 5.2 Parkour and Conflict - A Rudimentary Mapping ......................................................................... 43 6. Discussion - Parkour and Life Skills .................................................................................................... 48 6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 48 6.2 The Ten WHO Life Skills and Parkour .......................................................................................... 49 7. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 62 2 7.1 Limitations of the Research ......................................................................................................... 65 7.2 Relevance & Applicability for Humanitarian Action .................................................................... 66 8. Bibliography ....................................................................................................................................... 68 Annex 1 .................................................................................................................................................. 79 Video Media ...................................................................................................................................... 79 News Articles ..................................................................................................................................... 83 Annex 2 .................................................................................................................................................... 0 3 Preface It might be a weird idea to think that jumping on rubble can help youth dealing with the consequences of conflict. Yet, somehow it keeps appearing in news about Parkour in conflict regions. Being embedded in the Parkour scene myself, I could grasp what the young people meant. However, it becomes even more absurd when you look at it from an academic perspective and delve deeper into the discipline. But, when there are many people from a variety of places reporting these characteristics, some grain of truth must be hidden somewhere. This is an attempt to explore why these young practitioners utter that Parkour helps them in times of conflict, it is also an attempt to understand if Parkour is attractive to integrate in aid interventions. Holly Thorpe’s “Youth, action sports and political agency in the Middle East: Lessons from a grassroots parkour group in Gaza” inspired me to
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