Project Details

Yes to Sport – No to Drugs, Violence and Racism

Short Description and Goal

This bilateral town twinning of Zierenberg (DE) and Gattatico (IT) demonstrates how young people can be involved in the local life through sport and at the same time recognise and support the hidden values behind these activities. The idea stems from the “European Year of Education through Sport” is focused on such important issues as prevention of violence and discrimination as well as promotion of tolerance.

Detailed Description

  • The partnership between the two towns dates back to1999; several projects have been implemented by the two towns in the past: in 2000 with the project“Friendship house” and 2002 with a project around culture and sports. The two towns recognized the importance of the social inclusion issues, result of which was a project involving young people from both communities. Young people from Gattatico (IT) and Zierenberg (DE) took part in a meeting to discuss issues relating to social inclusion in the European youth community.A first session took place in 2004 in Zierenberg and the second session was organised in 2005 in Gattatico.
  • Police, community workers, local schools, sports clubs, prevention councils and citizens of the twin towns also participated in the conference, which was attended by regional and supra-regional politicians.
  • The conference examined issues such as how to make sport into an attractive alternative to drugs and alcohol, and how to replace racism and violence with fairness and tolerance.The project, involving young people from Zierenbergand from Gattatico, included lectures and discussions on how to combat racism and violence through sport related activities. One of the aims of the debate was to relay information on the principle “Yes to Sport – No to Drugs, Violence and Racism”.
  • The meeting also involved sports activities and a visit to ‘Ballance 2006’, a street-football tournament to promote tolerance amongst the European and international youth communities.
  • The participants also formed a joint team to play against American schools, present in Zierenberg thanks to a school exchange programme.

Source: Town twinning projects on Social Inclusion
Innsbruck, AUSTRIA 10-12 May 2006
Brochure of best practices

Initiated by

  • European Union

Initiators are

• Public institution

Contact Info

GATTATICO – Comune di Gattatico
Tel: +39 0522 477939

Project Topics

Inclusion & Welfare, Sport

Level / Project Complexity /

Medium

Participating Cities

  • Zierenberg (DE)
  • Gattatico (IT)

Sizes of Participating Cities

• 5.000 - 20.000

Participating Countries

  • Germany
  • Italy

Project Region(s)

• Europe

Media Credits

https://unsplash.com/