UISP (Italian Association of Sport For All) is the association of sport for all, whose goal is to spread the right to participate in sport to all citizens. Sport for all is a good for health, quality of life, education and society. It is also a right, an immediate commitment to a new quality of life that has to be affirmed day by day, both in traditional sports facilities and in the every-day environment.
Sportforall is a new and single word, which can’t be found in a dictionary, but it exists in life. Through this identity, we chose to put the people as the main subject of UISP: the heart of our world are women and men of all ages, everyone with rights, motivations and differences that should be recognized and celebrated: all ages, abilities, disabilities, sexual differences and differing motivations for practising sport.
Sportforall means the need to write a fresh sports proposal and to reshape the activities of every discipline. Sportforall aims also to highlight the profile of UISP, which is promotes a culture of human rights, of environmentalism and of solidarity.
WHAT WE DO?
Through its initiatives, UISP has the aim to celebrate the different faces of sport: the competitive side (with a particular focus on the world of amateurs), the spectacular side, the instrumental side (sport for health, for wellness and for environment) and the expressive side (personal or collective practices out of structured sports facilities). Important events of UISP Sportforall have taken place on spring since the early 80s: some of them are “Vivicittà”, “Giocagin”, “Bicincittà”, “Summerbasket”, “Neveuisp”. During these events, which involved at the time hundreds of Italian and international cities, UISP works side by side with important Italian and international associations such as Unicef, WWF, Legambiente, Libera, Action Aid and Save the Children.
The topic of solidarity, focused on inclusion and socialization, became the pillar of one of the several projects that UISP is involved in on the field of denied rights, such as projects for migrants. Considering the social-cultural value of sport, the non-verbal language of sport can become a place of meeting between different languages, cultures and ideologies. The aim is to arrive to an awareness of public opinion, and to a peaceful cohabitation of people with different cultures by sport as a mean of socializing.
THE NUMBERS OF UISP
UISP is made up of 1,335,000 individual members across 18,020 sports clubs (2015 membership drive data). We are present in every Italian region, province and in many cities, with 157 local committees and 25 Leagues and Areas of activity. Appointments, conferences, a calendar of initiatives and training activities can easily be consulted on our website www.uisp.it.
UISP EMILIA-ROMAGNA APS
UISP in Emilia-Romagna region is the end point of a long revolutionary journey, that began with peasant feasts, traditional games hosted in taverns throughout the region, long walks in cities and parks, bathing activities on the Adriatic coast and the experience of proletarian cycling of the so-called "Red Cyclists". Nowadays, UISP preserves this enthusiasm and the commitment with which its operators continue to spread the benefits of sport at any level, without distinction of skills, sex, origin and social belonging, free from the demands of competitiveness. The organization is structured through the work of many Sports Leagues working together with several Local Committees, with offices based in the regional territory and in the main cities and centers of the region. Local Committees, along with the 3,300 affiliated sport clubs in the region, are the focus for interaction with our approximately 380,000 UISP members in Emilia Romagna, as well as the base for an analysis of the political and social dynamics underway in the area.
These numbers show the importance of UISP both in the promotion of physical activity of each person and in the social role that the association has played since its foundation. Well-being of the citizens is the focus of UISP activities, as shown in the many projects such as the fight against doping and obesity among the youth.
OUR PROJECTS
In the recent years UISP Emilia Romagna APS, in parallel with the activities related to the sport disciplines mentioned, has started several projects together with foreign and local partners. These projects concern international cooperation, the fight against racial discrimination, events about the integration of people with disabilities and the promotion of equal opportunities, as well as bike or walking races in major cities to help develop a new eco-sustainable urban model.
The most relevant projects are:
2016 – “Sportantenne”: this project, created together with the National Office of Racial Anti-discrimination, has the goal to support territorial networks against discrimination and strengthen existing reporting services, through the support of 16 “Centers Against the Discrimination” based in each national territory. Their task is to support victims of discrimination and to promote prevention against discriminations, the emergence of discriminatory behaviors and the conflict mediation process.
2017 – “Sport welcomes refugees”: the aim of the project is to improve social inclusion and the participation of migrants at different levels of sport (both formal and informal) through training, raising awareness and helping to build the capacity of players in the sporting world.
2017 - “Differenze in gioco”: the project is a cycle of annual projects in collaboration with the Territorial Committees of Emilia-Romagna, the coordination of the Anti-violence Center of Emilia-Romagna and Local Health Authorities against gender violence, with the goal of promoting healthy lifestyles and empowering women through sport.
2018 – “Cittadini 3.0”: this project is aimed at improving the physical and social well-being of people through physical activity. The target of the project are people with psychiatric care pathways, with the goal of improving their physical and mental well-being through adapted and integrated activities.
2018 – “Primo è l’Ambiente”: born out of the commission of the Emilia-Romagna Region, UISP Emilia-Romagna APS has called out for schools and sport clubs wishing to create eco-friendly, sustainable sport events. The aim of these events should be the enhancement of the region’s territory. The consulting firm “Punto 3” is a partner of the project.
2018 - “Sport Hub”: this project is realized in collaboration with CIDAS (Cooperative Integration of Disabled and Solidarity Assistance). Its aim is to involve migrants with social cooperatives in sports activities organized by swimming pools, gyms and associations of the territory of Bologna
2019 - “Gioco di squadra”: this project is about the training of the operators of UISP summer camps and young people, through peer-to-peer education, to help their teammates in the development of sports activities during the summer camps.
2020 – “Sport it Right!” : UISP Emilia-is the leader of a consortium of European partners in this project that aims to fight discrimination in sport though the story of past and present athletes who have experienced discrimination. This goal is achieved through peer to peer education: young sportsmen from local sports associations are involved in the research of stories and their oral transmission during training and sporting events. The project involves: Sport Against Racism in Ireland (SARI), Sport Union Kartnen Austria (SUA), Slovenian University for Sport Association (SUSA).
2020 – “Welcome project”: this project aims to provide cultural and sporting discussions. Thanks to the cooperation with sport clubs and regional social cooperatives, the participants are involved in four days during which Africa and Italy meet and join, without any distinction of history, language, and religion, sharing their cultures though topics such as sports, cuisine, cinema, theatre and music.
