23/4/2008

Vivicitta keeps growing

Expands to new countries and continents

Bucharest, 20th of April 2008: ISCA member UISP is inventor of Vivicittá. Now Vivicittahas taken off in Romania and around one thousand of people, under the banner “sport for tolerance and integration” - the same used in Rome on the 6th of April - were part of one of the most significant events UISP in 2008.

 

“Vivicittá” – comments Filippo Fossati, UISP president – “was the first run open to all the people in Romania: there was enthusiasm and a lot of families, school groups and people of every age run in the streets of Bucharest”.

 

Carlo Balestri, head of the International Department, puts emphasis on the follow up of Vivicittá: “In the cities we choose, like Bucharest for this year, we want to build pathways, so Vivicittà becomes an access point in those places which allows to start planning activities of international cooperation to development. For example the first edition of Vivicittá in Beirut one year ago was a big success, so this year it will be the second edition: actually we are developing an international plan to spread the concept of sport in different territories and countries using it as instrument of education and peaceful coexistence”.

 

On the 6th of April Vivicittá 2008 took place in more than 40 cities, the slogan was “First the environment!”: “Overall” – comments Massimo Tossini, manager of Uisp events – “considering also the races abroad, we will make around 80.000-90.000 participants run”.

 

Particular events linked to Vivicittá 2008 happened in Nova Gorica, where the banner "Once upon a time there was the frontier…” emphasised the entrance in Shengen area of Slovenia. Another event took place in Kinshasa, where about 2000 people run Vivicittá for the first time in Congo Republic. But Vivicittá 2008 is not finished: 7 penitentiaries have already hosted it, and another 5 institutes are ready to host it in the coming weeks, like plenty of cities including Beirut, Dakar and Havana.

 

“Through Vivicittá” – says Filippo Fossati – “UISP wants to repeat again that sport can be a vehicle of dialog, an important tool against the discrimination and the violence”.