New step of the "Placemaking and Sport" project in Matera

The project “Placemaking and sport - Innovative European solutions” goes on and returns to Matera. In fact, on Friday 17 May, from 10.30, a meeting is scheduled at the University of Basilicata, where it will be present the national Uisp president, Tiziano Pesce. The meeting will also be an opportunity to exchange ideas and plan the next actions of the project that has European scope and takes place in Denmark, Italy, Malta, France, Spain and Bulgaria.

The project intends to promote innovative and effective solutions for the public spaces of cities, as well as for the programs and activities proposed in those spaces. Furthermore, it broadens the challenge for sports organizations by inviting them to use not only sports centers, but adapting public spaces to places where sports and physical activity can be practiced. Using public spaces, parks, squares, etc. the project aims to promote an activity that meets the citizen's need to be active just outside their front door.

"Placemaking is part of the path that Uisp has been following for some time now - explains Michele Di Gioia, Uisp common goods and suburbs policies manager - which aims to reflect, also in a concrete way and by making alliances in the territories, on the issues of common goods and suburbs, in particular on urban public spaces, where the quality of life and the ability of our urban settlements to be as close as possible to citizens is at stake. In our strategies, sport becomes an element of connection between different subjects and generational groups, thanks to which real opportunities for development and improvement of the quality of life are created, as well as the redevelopment of spaces that are often on the margins of the public policies of national governments and territorial. In our vision, it is essential to give space to citizens' actions, favoring associative methods, even non-formalized, but which, through the sharing of objectives, can activate forms of collaboration. Starting from shared administration up to more advanced forms of co-planning and co-programming, this perspective aims to create opportunities for change in our cities, also in harmony with Objective 11 of the 2030 agenda which addresses precisely this aspect, cities and inclusive forms of urban public spaces".

Placemaking fits into this context, comparing experiences from different European countries and involving the Gehl studio of Danish urban planners and BG Be Active from Bulgaria, in order to create guidelines and recommendations to be brought to the European context. Matera is the pilot city of the project in Italy: "We are halfway through the project and the appointment on May 17th is the Italian stage after a series of meetings that have already taken place in Copenhagen, Madrid, Nice” - says Giuseppe Pecora, coordinator of the project for Uisp Matera - The project traces the approach of the previous Civic Sport project, by adding a scientific and academic approach: in fact, among the partners there is the studio of Danish urban planners who have revolutionized the idea of ​​the city, thinking of it on a personal scale, therefore for the needs of citizens. The objective of these interventions is to rethink public space, based on a bottom-up approach. At the end of the project we will present guidelines developed on the reality of even very different cities, so that our cities can be rethought by taking into consideration also the dimension of sport".

Friday's meeting will be opened by greetings from Domenico Bennardi, mayor of Matera, and Claudia Coronella, president of Uisp Matera. This will be followed by speeches by Giuseppe Pecora, Placemaking and Sport-Uisp Matera project coordinator; Elena Dorato, professor at the University of Ferrara; Giovanni Padula, director of the Matera-Basilicata Foundation 2019; Massimo Aghilar, president of Uisp Turin; Antonella Palmigiano, Civic Sport Project coordinator - Uisp Taranto; Chiara Rizzi, professor at the University of Basilicata. The conclusions will be entrusted to Tiziano Pesce, Uisp national president and Daniela Conti, national coordinator of the project, will moderate the meeting.

In Matera, as part of the project, sports workshops aimed at various age groups are underway in the Piazza degli Olmi district, where the Uisp is also operating with the Civic Sport project. "We propose public greenery activities, gardening, and public art actions. We will continue until the end of the project, also with the experimentation of the use of an inflatable street soccer field, for 3-on-3 football activities". (By Elena Fiorani)