“Parco Tutti Insieme” - The First Multi-Active Park In Italy Fully Accessible To The Disabled, Especially Those With Physical Disabilities

Project location: Italy, Rome
Project start date: October 2014 - Project end date: October 2014
Project number: 2014-040
Beneficiary: Associazione La Partita del Cuore – Umanità senza Confini ONLUS

Time span for this report: from 20.10.2014 to 30.09.2015

The "Tutti Insieme" park was built with the firm intent of promoting inclusiveness and integration. Now almost 1 year after its opening, it is fair to say that it has unquestionably achieved its main purpose: The park has become a unique landmark in Rome, where social events, such as recreational and sport activities, help overcome those physical, social and cultural barriers which are often hard to conquare in the everyday "normal" contexts.

The "Tutti Insieme" park is now a green area inclusive of a playground, a picnic area, a minigolf course, a bio-lake, a nature trail with paleontological excavation, the Technical Centre of the Italian Paralympic Federation of table Football (equipped with two standard tables and two for the disabled), a 5-a-side football field and a volleyball pitch, also becoming an increasingly important "relational space", fundamental to embrace those moments of sharing and gathering which inspired the original idea of the park itself.

The normal daily attendance of the park are mainly children, accompanied by their parents and / or grandparents to spend an afternoon outdoors, while during the weekends it is mostly families enjoying the equipped areas for picnics, barbecues and celebrations of all kind (birthdays, baptisms, anniversaries and anniversaries).

Besides the purely recreational-sportive aspect, it was also created an educational project called "At school with the dinosaurs - Paleontologist for a day" which in a period of just four months was visited by over 2,000 children whom witnessed a paleontology lesson by the bio-lake (where we reconstructed prehistoric animals) enriched by the final simulation of a real paleontological excavation with the discovery of dinosaur fossils.

Here is a list of the organized events:

• November 23, 2014 an entire day dedicated to Sports without Barriers: mini- golf and football tournaments and exhibitions were organized with teams composed of both handicapped and able-bodied players thus promoting the insipiring values and true mission of the "Tutti Insieme" park;

• March 29, 2015 the first edition of the International Tournament of Minigolf delighted the attending audience with more than 71 professional players -12 of which Internationals competing for the trophy;

• 2 to 3 May 2015 hosted the second edition of the Integrated Trophy of Table Football organized with the Federation of Paralympic Table Football: two days of sport and integration;

• July 16, 2015 a day of prevention and education was organized to teach all kinds of Lifesaving Gestures (calling an ambulance, CPR, using a defibrillator, unblocking airway for children and adults, and finally the installation of a defibrillator which makes the park also cardioprotected !);

• 5 to 6 September 2015 the first Italian Championship of Table Football with Integrated Teams featured 11 teams from all over Italy battle for the trophy: for the occasion, the Park built a wooden gazebo which also became the center of Technical Paralympic Italian Table Football Federation. The center not only will host the Italian National Team 3 times per year, but also will host tournaments and exhibitions aimed not only to the pure competition but, above all, to spread the message of integration which this sport successfully demonstrates;

• October 10, 2015 in collaboration with ACLI and U.N.I.T.A.L.S.I. the park promoted an event called Ottobrata Solidale (Solidarity October) where all children experienced what it feels like living "inside" a fable (The Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book, The Little Mermaid and Frozen) with costumed characters, games, entertainment and snacks for everyone offered by the solidarity project "Pane a chi serve" (Bread for those who need it);

• November 21, 2015 Festival of Trees

The assigned funding was essential for the maintenance and administration of everyday activities, the organization of events, the cleaning and maintenance of the green area and, above all, to give an opportunity to reward those people in need by helping them rebuild their self-esteem and social relocation