On Sunday, November 20, in the ‘Salone dei Cinquecento’ of the Palazzo Vecchio, in Florence, the fourth edition of the Biennial of All Arts Award was held as part of the National Day for Road Victims.
On that occasion, ADRA Italia's project 'The Educational Sidewalk - Disabling Prejudice' received an important award with the motivation: 'For the prevention of road accidents'.
The Educational Sidewalk project
To understand the meaning of this recognition, let us briefly retrace the story.
The collaboration with the Fondazione Elisabetta e Mariachiara Casini Onlus, which awarded the plaque, began with Radio RVS in 2005 and developed over the years into a fruitful cooperation. Several series of radio programmes have been realised together, such as 'A workshop for life', as well as the organisation of theatre shows, debates, educational and training initiatives for schools, and commercials on individual civil responsibility and safety on the road created by young people.
In 2010, after another cycle of radio programmes 'A road for life', there came the realization that it was necessary to move from words to action. This led to the development of the project which, since 2016, has been called 'Educational Sidewalk', accompanied by the aphorism 'Disable prejudice'.
The 'platform', as it is called at the beginning of each session, subsequently becomes a modular wooden structure that reproduces any city pavement, with the difficulties and obstacles present on a daily basis.
The Educational Sidewalk, thanks to its staff of operators who have taken turns over the years, has worked and continues to work to raise awareness of the challenges of those who move around the city in a wheelchair or who have difficulty walking. Over the years, the project has reached more than 5,000 boys and girls on these and related issues.
Since 2016, the project has been entrusted to ADRA Italy and has recently been validated by social research. Currently, the Educational Sidewalk is part of the 'Chiavi della Città' (Keys to the City) of the Municipality of Florence, the portfolio that includes all the educational and training projects for schools in the Tuscan capital. The project is also carried out in Cesena and Sicily.
"We are proud of this project," says Dag Pontvik, director of ADRA Italia, "and, for their commitment and work, we want to thank the many people and organisations that, over time, have contributed to raising awareness of these important issues, and we will continue to play our part in this journey that still needs a voice and action.”
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