Green Inclusive Project: IBSA and FIV awarded for inclusive sailing at the Sport For Nature Awards

With the Green Inclusive Project award for the project Para Sailing Academy (a disabled sailing school), IBSA – always active in supporting inclusiveness and respect for the environment – ends a year full of events and satisfaction.

At the third edition of Sport For Nature Awards, IBSA received the award in the Sport, Environment and Inclusivity category; this prestigious recognition was awarded for the company’s commitment in favour of society and environmental protection.

The award given to Para Sailing Academy – the strongly anticipated project jointly created by FIV President Francesco Ettorre and Giorgio Pisani, Vice President IBSA Group and Project Leader of the larger initiative Sailing into the Future. Together – is a recognition for the dedication and determination to achieve increasingly ambitious goals.

“The project Sailing into the Future. Together is also an opportunity to reinforce our commitment to society and to people in difficulty or with disabilities”, explained Pisani. “The last example in chronological order is the Para Sailing Academy, which we founded together with FIV to promote and develop the disabled sailing discipline at a national and international level, in order to give access to this sport to as many people as possible”.

A 2023 full of satisfaction and concreteness for society

The partnership established last June with FIV’s Para Sailing Academy (a project of the Italian Sailing Federation, born in collaboration with CONI, the Italian Paralympic Committee [CIP, Comitato Italiano Paralimpico] and World Sailing, the world sailing federation) is a great opportunity to carry out – at local level – tangible activities and inclusive projects aimed at opening this sport to disabled people.

IBSA and the Para Sailing Academy have three important objectives: to endorse the inclusive sailing movement; to implement local programmes for the development and promotion of the discipline; and to build a solid network of qualified technicians and managers, who will be able to support the expansion of the introduction activities to this sport.

Among the various programmes implemented in 2023 within the IBSA-Para Sailing Academy partnership, two are of particular value and communication significance. This is the event that took place in Cagliari from 6 to 10 November, an initiative created through a collaboration between World Sailing and FIV and part of the wider Sardinia Sailing Cup event, as an integral part of the process of promotion, growth and development dedicated to inclusive sailing.

And, to conclude, it’s worth recalling the three days of the Barcolana per il Sociale (“Barcolana for Social Initiatives”) which, on the occasion of the 55^th edition of the Barcolana, last October, offered the opportunity to put inclusive sailing under the spotlight.

IBSA is committed to making inclusive sailing an extraordinary opportunity to participate and compete together, proving that sport really can break down barriers and unite people. Initiatives like these not only provide a platform for disabled athletes, but can bring the public closer to issues such as diversity and inclusiveness, encouraging society as a whole to be more open and welcoming. So that no one is left behind.