The Adriatic Sea, and in particular the area of the Marina di Pescara Tourist Port, offers potential that is still under-exploited for inclusive sports routes. Young people with visual impairments, often excluded from traditional sporting activities, face both material and cultural obstacles to access to educational and recreational experiences.
In this context, the project aims to fill a void, offering an innovative path that combines sport, education and technology to transform the sea into an open space accessible to all.
What the project involves
The initiative was born from the pioneering experience of Project Homerus, which developed a sound signal system to allow people with visual impairments to independently sail boats. In Pescara, Vela Inclusiva takes up and adapts this model through a structured path of theoretical-practical modules, sessions at sea with accessible boats and experiential workshops.
The objectives are multiple: to increase personal autonomy, strengthen self-esteem and social skills, develop relational and decision-making skills, counteract isolation and raise community awareness of the value of inclusion. The project also includes the training of operators and volunteers, to ensure continuity and replicability of the experience.
The beneficiaries
The direct beneficiaries will be 30 young people with visual disabilities, between 14 and 30 years old, and 20 operators and educators involved in the training. Indirect beneficiaries will be around 100 people including families, schools, associations and the local community, who will take part in dissemination and demonstration activities and in the final event open to the public.
In this way, the initiative intends to generate a lasting impact not only on the participants, but on the entire territory, helping to spread a culture of the sea as a place of freedom, equal opportunities and participation.
Project name: Vela Inclusiva - Il Mare per Tutti
Proposing organisation: diNautica ASD APS
Area of intervention: Inclusion & Social Development
Country: Italy