ROW FOR THE PLANET

The ROW FOR THE PLANET project addresses two critical issues identified in several EU countries: 1) youngsters between 15 and 23 often give up sports to the detriment of their well-being, 2) environmental and personal care is insufficient: young generations must be better educated to take care of the planet and their own health. We intend to use rowing, a sport discipline which is practiced "immersed" in nature, to raise younger generation’s awareness toward environmental issues, thus becoming an instrument for the promotion of health and ecological actions and to keep the target group engaged in sports. The ROW FOR THE PLANET project aims at creating a bridge between environmental protection and rowing; on one hand, care for rivers and bodies of water (lakes, seas, and lagoons) has been insufficient, and water pollution is of concern. On the other hand, those youngsters who are not devoted to competition and are often absorbed in studies, neglect sport activity risking health threats. Our project provides a common solution to two fundamental needs: to support youngsters psychophysical health through sport activities such as rowing, and to raise awareness and promote environmental actions for ecological improvement to the benefit of the planet. Our project implements actions for 3 EU teams (each of 8 boys and 8 girls+2 coaches) in: - Sport training: o indoor and outdoor rowing sessions. - Eco-Friendly local rowing events “ROW FOR THE PLANET DAYS”: o to raise awareness on environmental issues, o to reduce water pollution o to keep youngsters involved in healthy activities. - Environmental education through: o local meetings in clubs, schools, and associations, o a conference held during the “ROW FOR THE PLANET WEEK “ o an exhibition titled “ROW FOR THE PLANET EXPO” documenting our eco-friendly rowing events. - “ROW FOR THE PLANET WEEK “: o a week of sharing of the educational and sport results achieved, o a final competition “ROW FOR THE PLANET REGATTA”.