A national census to map the entire territory and feed a database capable of guiding public policies, leading to a national regulatory plan for sports facilities. It is the path that began this Thursday, March 28, with the signing of the memorandum of understanding between Sports and Health and the Conference of the Regions e Autonomous Provincesin the presence of Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi.
“This signature gives us the possibility of combining Article 33 with Article 117 of the Constitution – said Minister Abodi -. I thank President Fedriga, President Mezzaroma and their structures: this protocol, signed today, focuses its attention on a fundamental fact which is the implementation of the census which, through this agreement, will evolve into a database on sports infrastructures. We will therefore have more significant information that will also enter into the infrastructure management model. This signature is a political, non-formal act to produce effects on the citizen. With this agreement and with the overall work we are doing, each resource will be finalized with a logical sense which can also be further supported by the evaluation of the social impact of the investments”.
The agreement, which comes after a series of meetings between Sport and Health and the regional representatives of the Conference of Regions, officially launches the collaboration between local authorities and the Society for the Development of Sport. In fact, by 30 June, all Municipalities, through the Regions, will have to provide Sport and Health with information relating to the individual sports facilities present in their territories, thus feeding a national database made available by the Company.
This platform will not only collect data, but will analyze it, also providing new details for each individual system such as usage levels, management costs and energy systems. Furthermore, it will also be possible to analyze in real time the relationship between supply and demand for sports for each individual territorial area, thus representing a fundamental tool for investment planning.
“An updated map of sports facilities in each region – explained the President of the Conference of Regions, Massimiliano Fedriga – allows for better knowledge of the services offered and open to citizens in the area. It is a service tool, useful for planning and enhancing the diffusion of sporting activities, making these activities more widespread by optimizing the offer and services to citizens for all age groups. It will be possible to analyze the sectors to be encouraged, the activities to be qualified, always with a view to better usability and accessibility. Sport is a fundamental value for the territories, it is good for the health and well-being of citizens, therefore it is also good for the economy, improving behaviour, spirit of collaboration and social life”.
“We are called to address the issue of sports facilities in Italy with concreteness and seriousness. Shall we – said the President of Sport and Health, Marco Mezzaroma – with our skills in data analysis and engineering but also in technological development, providing a platform which, thanks to the precious collaboration of the Regions and local authorities, will collect and analyze the information. But above all we will have a wealth of data that will allow both the launch of an observatory capable of suggesting public policies and the drafting of a national regulatory plan for sports facilities. A “team” action useful for responding to the real needs of the territories and of the Italian sports system and for an increasingly careful allocation of public resources at central and local level”.
Also present at the signing of the protocol wasCEO of Sport and Health, Diego Nepi Molineris. “The database and the census affect the per capita income of the areas where there is a need to invest and on education – said Nepi Molineris -. Where there is good education and good income there is also the plant engineering part which has good capillarity, where these two aspects are missing there is a desert and that is where we will have to intervene. Through funds such as Sport and Suburbs and Pnrr we think we will cover an important offer, this will be the team’s objective for an instrument that takes on a new light’.