Live life through the values of art and sport

The VIVAS project was set up to coincide with The European Year of Education Through Sport 2004, as part of the International Youth Festival, which celebrated its XXV edition in 2007. Cultural groups, schools and sports teams from the participating nations take part in the annual International Youth Festival. They meet together to demonstrate and exchange good practice in Education through Sport, Dance, Drama, Music, Art, Folklore and traditional games. This concept of sport is derived from the Classical Olympic Games when the sports meeting was also an opportunity for artistic and poetic competition: an intercultural festival of Olympic peace. We believe that sport includes everything that “moves the body and broadens the mind”. VIVAS 2007 succeeded in bringing together 70 groups from different nations, with a final gathering which involved more than 2000 young people. VIVAS plans to continue in the same way in 2008, using past experience to improve and advance our original model. As ever, the success of the final result will depend on the hard work and contributions of many people. Preparatory meetings necessary for the smooth running of the project include:

• 5th trip to Eastern Europe
• List of tasks for the youngsters to do before attending the Festival, so that they arrive in Italy well-prepared.
• Collection, preparation, publication of documentary material on CD, DVD, video and OK Sport magazine.
• OK Sport magazine which shows past events and introduces new ideas for future ones. This can be down-loaded from :the Vivas site: www.vivasworld.org .

Once again, we invite you to get to know Vivas, to find out about its will to play, demonstrate its skills, try out new experiences, make new friends, open itself up to the whole world and to try everything that involves.
If you have the time and the inclination to read about our trip to the countries of Eastern Europe, you will see how many opportunities for meeting and sharing our network and partners have created.
We invite companies and institutions who want to join our organisation to read our 2008 ‘invitation’, which has further benefitted from Romania and Bulgaria joining the European Union.
We are especially keen to join in this programme and are asking cultural groups and educational institutions to focus their attention on this theme so as to take VIVAS to global level.

WHO: this invitation is for commercial and industrial businesses in Italy trading with foreign countries, particularly with those involved in the International Youth Festival. This year the Festival celebrates its XXV edition. Participating countries send groups of young people representing: schools, artistic and folklore associations as well as cultural institutions will be attending the Festival in Italy.

WHAT: we are aiming to raise funds to pay for travelling expenses and accommodation for groups (up to 40) of young participants who will be staying in Italy, in Ferriere (Piacenza) for 14 days during the spring and summer. Each group requires approximately 5,000 euros to cover its expenses. Other items, such as promotional material, t-shirts, pens, notebooks, postcards, can be agreed at a later date.

MISSION: the aim is to promote Italy as being open to the best features of European culture, from both a social and economic point of view. “Welcoming” these youngsters means giving them the chance to demonstrate their talents, and at the same time, promoting the businesses which work in those countries. This commercial exposure gives businesses excellent opportunities and shows the right attitude and vocation towards solidarity, which reflects Italian way of doing business.

SPONSORSHIP PROJECT: attending the Festival is the culmination of 4 to 8 months’ hard work in the home country and involves the whole school or cultural group (between 300 and 1,000 youngsters).

These activities are the means by which the group is chosen to represent their national culture in Italy. The project aims to promote the sponsor, in the various countries, for the whole period and with all participants. Exposure will be backed up by other means of communication which have already been set up by us: a colour magazine, with a circulation of 11.000 copies, audio-visual material and an official Festival web-site.

WHERE: countries which have already booked for summer 2008 include: Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldavia, Ukraine, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, The Slovak Republic, Hungary, Spain, India, Georgia, Mexico, China, Algeria, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Croatia, Taiwan and Kazakhstan, Togo.