ROME (ITALPRESS) – Promoting sports as an essential tool for health and social inclusion and strengthening facilities in the territory: these are some of the objectives of the operational agreement signed by Anci and Sport and Health. “Sport is a common good, it is prevention, wellness, health cost reduction and social inclusion. Our commitment as administrators and Anci is aimed at creating the necessary conditions to achieve to contribute to a new innovative season for sports policies by leveraging the now established synergies with Sport and Health, which I thank for its constant contribution to our activities in the territory,” stressed Anci President Roberto Pella in illustrating the agreement. “The collaboration between Anci and Sport and Health has already materialized in several initiatives aimed at municipalities, among which I like to highlight two: ‘Sport nei Parchì and ‘Bici in Comune,'” he recalled. “With the first one, which represents the continuation of the Sport di tutti – Parks project, an evolution of the Sport in Parks project born in 2020, we aim to create new equipped sports areas within public municipal parks and beaches, through the provision of fixed facilities for the performance of free-body outdoor sports activities, in co-financing with municipalities.” Instead, the “national ‘Bici in Comunè project, promoted by the Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi, through the Department for Sport, in collaboration with Sport and Health and Anci, allocates 12.6 million euros available to municipalities.” The intervention moves along four lines: the dissemination of cycling culture to encourage the adoption of bicycles as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional means of transport, the development and upgrading of cycling infrastructure, the promotion of cycling tourism for the enhancement of cultural heritage and landscape, and the organization of events, including non-competitive events with the active participation of citizens. With this initiative, “we want to go more and more in the direction of concretely promoting the culture of cycling, which makes territories more sustainable and our communities healthier,” pointed out the Anci president.For the president of Sport and Health, Marco Mezzaroma, “the one with ANCI is for us a strategic collaboration that is proving increasingly effective. The protocol signed will allow us to involve municipalities even more in the various actions for the dissemination and promotion of physical activity and sports, starting with the updating of data regarding the national census of sports facilities. In addition, what has already happened with the ‘Sport in the Parks’ and ‘Bici in Comunè’ projects demonstrates the fundamental importance of local authorities in the territory to expand the offer of spaces and opportunities in response to the increasing demand for sports by citizens. For our part,” he stressed, “we guarantee development actions and support to municipalities on several fronts, starting with that of facilities, where we can offer our services such as, for example, acting as a central purchasing and contracting station.”- photo spf/Italpress -(ITALPRESS)
