MOVE GRABS INTERNATIONAL AWARD

Earlier this month, ISCA, the International Sport and Culture Association, awarded alliances that have reimagined and transformed urban spaces into active spaces – or MOVEment Spaces as they enable citizens to enjoy their human right to MOVE.

MOVE was nominated in 2 categories for its youth-led project SHAKE IT!, placing second runner-up in one of the categories, the People’s Choice Award after garnering the 3rd largest amount of public votes (12% of the votes) from all over the world.

Malta has for many years been among the least active countries in Europe. According to the latest World Health Organisation Reports, Malta leads the EU with the highest overweight and obesity rates, and ranks third in the whole of Europe.

Through the innovative project SHAKE IT! we and our cross-sectoral partners helped to change that. We have teamed up with the Valetta Local Council and Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), as well as the Valletta 2018 Foundation, Breaking Limits and Street elements to ensure we have the expertise and experience across a number of different areas to successfully get more people active. The idea of the initiative was to transform public squares and parking spaces into places where people could move and play. This youth-led project built on different sports activities within the revitalised public spaces to engage the community and get people involved and active.

To do this, a range of sport, games and exercises were organised by young volunteers, from street soccer to silent discos to traditional games, with the main aim of increasing physical activity levels in the community by reaching 5000 marginalised and non-active youth. These activities were always run in a friendly and inclusive manner, where anyone could get involved, with migrants, refugees, and those with disabilities all playing an active role. As a result, it did not just get more people moving, but also helped bring people together.

This advocated healthy social interactions, empowered young people to be active citizens to shape the future of their nation, and showed that youth culture is not something that is anti-social, but can help incorporate fun and non-formal learning into public spaces and in people’s everyday lives.

To learn more about the ISCA Awards, visit the MOVEment Spaces website.