An international laboratory to discuss sport as a tool for development and peace. With a hint of pride, the Italian sports center (Csi) of Reggio Calabria and theMediterranean University present a rich program of events from 2 to 7 April on the banks of the Strait.
A week of high profile initiatives and seminars which benefit from the patronage of, among others, theUnited Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) for Crime and Justice Research.
International Day
On 6 April 11 years ago, with Resolution A/RES/67/296, the United Nations General Assembly established the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.
The Day aims to promote the use of sport as an educational tool to guarantee human rights and sustainable development for all. Sport has the power to change the world, it is a fundamental right, it is a powerful tool for strengthening social bonds, solidarity, respect and promoting participation, inclusion and peace.
This social and educational dimension of sports practice and gaming are the factors that have characterized – for 80 years – the commitment of the Italian Sports Center and, specifically, the path of participation, inclusion, social development and citizenship of the Csi of Reggio Calabria.
The International Laboratory: scheduled events
On this basis, the idea of the first edition of the international laboratory entitled “Sport for Inclusion and Peace 2024 – In Reggio, the match of Rights, Development and Peace“.
It is a week from 2nd to 7th April of activities, focuses, meetings and initiatives which has already involved a significant and dense network of institutions, associations, foundations and brought in volunteers, instructors, educators, young people and many families from the metropolitan area of Reggio Calabria.
Here are the details on the program in summary:
- We start on Tuesday 2 April from Arghillà with the Street Educational Sports Festival: “Playing to Grow Together”. In fact, from 2 to 5 April, the Arghillà area will host sports workshops and street education activities that will involve children, teenagers and families. It will be an itinerary, promoted in collaboration with the network Community Energyand designed to let the little ones in the area experience, through different sports disciplines, a new model of relationships and a new community space.
- Wednesday 3 April from 4.30 pm at the PalacolorCsi in Pellaro, l‘Asd Restart will present theRhythmic Gymnastics performance “Rhythmic For Peace”a sporting and cultural journey that will involve girls and instructors, through a discipline with great communicative power. The theme of the afternoon will be the value of peace between peoples.
- Thursday 4 April from 9.30 am, the classrooms of the Department of Law, Economics and Human Sciences (ByGIES) of the Mediterranean University will host the workshop: “A Sport of Value between Rights and Participation”. Teachers, educators and experts will discuss the educational value of playing and practicing sports and the often denied right to play sports. During the morning, the projects and activities resulting from the projects will also be presented Educational Alliances in Sport in Reggio Calabria.
- Friday 5 April at 5pm, with the International Webinar: “Sport and Human Rights” we will leave the borders of our country. Italian, Slovenian, Argentinian and Indian teachers will try to discuss the very delicate matter theme of rights, racism, sexism and homophobia in sport. The webinar is promoted in collaboration with the associations: Redht, Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny W Krakowie and Mediterranea International Central. Students, teachers and associations from all over the world will participate in the meeting.
- Saturday 6 April, the day that celebrates Peace and Development in Sport in the world, double date. In the morning, Palazzo Zani will host the meeting on Sport, Sustainability and Development from 10.00. Teachers, important speakers and local experiences comparing the value and opportunity of giving space to new Sustainable Sports Tourism paths in the Metropolitan area of Reggio Calabria.
- From 4.00 pm, however, the PalaMangione Sports Center of Gioia Tauro will host the Sports meeting of the children of Baskin della Piana, the basketball experience that allows able-bodied and disabled people to play on the same team. The route is led by the associations Angeli di Pollicino and ASD News Basket Tiger Gioia Tauro.
- Sunday morning, from 9.30, Piazza Fontana a Saint Pantaleon it will be the enchanting starting space of the highly anticipated “Green Diving”, the Wellness Walk between Yoga and Shinrin – Yoku.
The Grecanica Area will host a route of Experiential GeoTourism through the discovery of the route in the Rocca di Varva area. The initiative is promoted in collaboration with Asd Terra Madre. - The week will end where it started. Sunday 7 April from 5pm, the Maestrelli Sports Center Claywill host the “Match Day Experience!”, the Youth Peace Trophy. During the afternoon of sport, which will involve adolescents between 12 and 14 years oldalso space for laboratory activities led by Csi educators: Peace Changing Roomsa Role Playing on Rights and Peace.
The broad partnership
The initiative records the fruitful collaboration between the Reggio Emilia CSI and the Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, within the project Ariadne Out of the Labyrinthselected by With the children as part of the fund to combat educational poverty minor.
As previously written, the week of initiatives makes use of the invaluable collaboration of UNICRI (United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute) for Research on Crime and Justice.
The initiative is also sponsored by Regional Council of Calabriafrom the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabriafrom the Conesfrom Sports and Healthfrom Cip Calabria and from Csv of the Two Seas. A network of institutions that further strengthen the idea of educational sport, solidarity and participation promoted in the area by the Csi Reggio Calabria.
The preparatory work
It is underlined that the two events at the Mediterranean University are held in collaboration with Sports Law Lab of DiGIES starting from a broad sharing of visions between the Csi and the University of Reggio.
In fact, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes the role of sport for social progress: «Sport is also an important enabling factor for sustainable development.
We recognize the growing contribution of sport to the realization of development and peace in its promotion of tolerance and respect and the contributions it makes to the empowerment of women and youth, individuals and communities, as well as to the goals of health, education and of social inclusion”.
This dimension is the perfect synthesis of this week which, even in numbers, presents itself to the city with great enthusiasm: ten institutions involved, nineteen leading associations, thirteen speakers, twenty-six committed instructors and educators, three hundred young people included in the laboratories are some of the numbers of the Sports Community that took to the field to once again bear witness to those values which, in sport, are not to be taken for granted.
«Sport does not educate regardless, this is our great belief. For years, with a large and strong network, we have been trying to make an impact, putting rights, inclusion and the search for the participation of everyone, no one excluded, at the center of the project” declares the provincial president of the Reggio CSI, Paolo Cicciù, in conclusion.
