The Giocampus project and it’s social, health, educational and scientific impact

Abstract

Giocampus® is a unique multidisciplinary educational project developed in Parma (Italy) dedicated to children and young people with the primary aim of promoting correct lifestyles through structured paths of motor, food and environmental education. The project, structured according to a public-private educational alliance, includes the Municipality of Parma, the Uni- versity of Parma, the Coni - Emilia-Romagna Regional Committee, the Regional School Office for Emilia Romagna, CUS Parma and Barilla G&R as founding partners, and other private Companies and Institutions as members and supporters of the principles of the Educational Alliance for future generations. Besides the strong social support of the population, over the years the project has also collected the recognition of the scientific community at the interna- tional level. Every year, Giocampus involves 15,000 children and hundreds of professionals working on the project: 100 operators (including university students from Scienze Motorie and Scienze Gastronomiche) work on the success of Giocampus School (20 hours per year of Food Education for the third, fourth and fifth classes and for all classes 60 hours a year of Motor Education), 60 for Giocampus Neve (for children aged 9 to 14 to learn and improve their skiing skills) and over 200 contribute to the success of Giocampus Estate (for children aged 5 to 14 a path of experimentation of different sports and movement disciplines) [1-4]. Within the School and summer projects, the Giocampus Insieme project is also active, a program dedicated to the inclusion through the game of children / young people with disabilities and children / teenag- ers with difficulties from behavioral and environmental point of view. The important scientific path accomplished and the results that support the theories underlying the project led to the definition of the Educational Model, made official in 2014 with the publication of the Giocam- pus Methodology signed by the Scientific Committee. The results achieved are the product of the important, constant and continuous work of a great Educational Alliance composed of pub- lic institutions and the private world.