The “Sport and Integration” project - #IOVENGODALLOSPORT (#ICOMEFROMSPORT) is realized by Sport e Salute S.p.A. (Sport and Health) and financed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies through the Migration Policies National Fund (Fondo Nazionale sulle Politiche Migratorie), totalling 1.600.000 euros. Activities started in October 2023 and will conclude on 20 February 2024.
This initiative was born in 2020 as part of an Agreement signed between the Italian Minister of Labor and Social Policies and the Minister for Youth Policies and Sport with the aim of defining a multi-year intervention plan to promote sport as a tool for dialogue, inclusion, and anti-discrimination.
All information on the project's activities, events, and news is available in the specific section on the Sport e Salute S.p.A website.
The project is articulated in three fields/areas: sporting, training, and listening and monitoring, together with transversal communication and support activities.
Each field consists of specific interventions aimed at developing the role of sport as an instrument for inclusion, sustaining the creation of networks to promote good practices in both the field of sport and the Third Sector, and fostering local communities’ cohesion.
The project’s objectives are:
- Promoting the access to sport for boys and girls coming from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, including those with a migration background, in order to guarantee the right to sport, with particular attention to the participation of the female component.
- Favouring inclusion through sport, thanks to the diffusion of fair play principles and overcoming gender stereotypes.
- Raising awareness around the sporting world, the academic field, and the Third Sector on the role that sport can cover as a tool for aggregation and valorization of diversity.
- Working with the academic world to develop training courses aimed at future motor science technicians and teachers. These courses are dedicated to sharing tools for working in increasingly multicultural environments.
- Valorising the experiences of technicians, sports operators, associations, and amateur sports companies involved in social work.
Activities in the making
SPORTING FIELD
- Premio Mondonico (Award in the memory of Emiliano Mondonico)
The Award is aimed at enhancing technicians, managers and/or other operators in the sports world, as well as amateur sports associations/companies capable of interpreting, on and off the field, the social value of sport as an instrument of inclusion and integration.
The award is inspired by the figure of Emiliano Mondonico, a footballer and coach who was able, through his work, to be a spokesman for the participative dimension of sport.
- Promotion of Access to Sport Practice
Publication of a Notice addressed to ASDs and SSDs, through which financing sports-educational centres in urban areas and neighbourhoods with a high concentration of foreign citizens and with a migration background, with a focus on promoting girls' participation.
- Synergies with the world of football
In cooperation with the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), several initiatives are being implemented to promote the culture of positive cheering, inclusion, and anti-discrimination.
The project has several planned activities, including a social campaign on the themes of integration and positive cheering aimed at boys and girls aged 6 to 18; a Contest dedicated to the FIGC Youth and School Sector; the realisation of the Sport and Integration Day and the involvement of testimonials from the world of football in the various initiatives.
TRAINING FIELD
Eleven Italian Universities decided to add the “Sport and Integration” project to their Degree Courses in Physical Education study plans. The goal is sharing to future technicians, coaches, or sports managers the importance of their role in educative terms and providing instruments to manage groups, valuing sports as a ground for meeting, dialogue, confrontation, and inclusion.
Each path opens with Seminars, conceived as formative moments with the participation of university members, representatives from the Ministry of Labor and Sport e Salute S.p.A., athletes with a migrant background, and representatives of sports associations and Third Sector organisations identified as good practices for the promotion of inclusion through sport.
The universities involved in this project are Bari, Bologna, Florence, Milan, Naples Parthenope, Palermo, Parma, Rome Foro Italico, Rome Tor Vergata, Turin, and Verona.
LISTENING AND MONITORING FIELD
This area includes activities aimed at the realization of Focus groups, interviews, and the identification of a listening group – real think tanks and networks composed of representatives from the world of sport and associations – to gather and share needs and proposals, as well as fostering an exchange of information and know-how for an increasingly inclusive sport.
Finally, a monitoring system will be set up to measure the project initiatives' participation, satisfaction, and impact.
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