Public spaces (parks,beaches,etc.)

Contribution:

• Municipalities are major funders and providers of Sport for All through facilities, infrastructure, programmes, events, subsidies.
• When Sport for All is adequately treated as a common service, the largest number of residents are benefited and a high level of access to Sport and physical activity can be achieved

International endorsement

Who global action plan on physical activity action 1.3:
Implement regular mass-participation initiatives in public spaces, engaging whole communities, to provide free access to Sport and physical activity.

•  If users have to spend more than 20-30 minutes to reach the facility, it is a major barrier.
•  Municipalities allocate “sophisticated” Sport facilities away from low-income neighbourhoods.
•  Public Sport facilities are free of cost or subsidized. Thus, an increased demand is likely to exist.
• Security: it might be difficult to control the users that share these facilities.
• Compared with private venues, the available budget to maintain public venues is limited. Therefore, the quality of venues is lower. Inefficient facility management results in high costs and low benefits for the users. (120)

Maintenance

• Public invitation and incitements to private donors to co-finance facility construction.
• Implement other management mechanisms: administrative license, non-low-cost private, low-cost private). (121)

Advocacy towards shifting the negative perception of the use of public funds in Sport infrastructure.

• Involve grass-root Sport representatives in the planning and construction of new Sport facilities.
• Outsourcing of facility management to grass-root Sport organisations.
• Sport facilities combined with tourism can evolve in new and niche markets in many destinations. (129)
• Collaborative partnerships to promote and enable the use of existing public community buildings and facilities for community-based and community-led physical activity programmes.
• Highlight the importance of open spaces (streets, squares, parks, waterways).

Changes in policy making levels

• Investment in Sport facilities should be an obligation both in local city plans and for private construction companies when erecting new buildings.
• Incorporating Sport and physical activity in city planning such as in parks, “green corridors” and harbour baths.
• Providing Sport-friendly nature facilities, giving access to forests, fields, seaways, etc.

Other tips:

• Sanitization in indoor facilities (e.g., dressing rooms and swimming pools) is a critical factor.
• Develop an efficient reservation system.
• Encourage the realization of events between members. Particular guidelines regarding the organisation of event in public spaces (e.g., marathons) are presented in Activity Boxes 4.2 and 4.3.
• Developing integrated agendas for events in public facilities contributes to a better organisation of resources and increases the chances of attracting sponsor.
•  Do not limit the access to any participant considering the public nature of these locations. It is important that the access of participants should be managed in a very organised way: turns, reservations, etc.
• Most open spaces are multimodal and can serve not only Sport for All but also culture, daily life, etc.

• London/Río de Janeiro legacies. Click Here 
• Northern Ireland aimed at ensuring that 90% of the population would have access to Sport facilities meeting their demands within 20 minutes travel time by 2019 (122). Click Here
• C40 cities 15-minute city concept.  Click Here

“Pohod ob žici”: March along barbed wire
(City of Ljubljana)

• Was first organized in 1957, covering a distance of almost 35 km around Ljubljana, where between the Second World War the wire fence of Italian and later on the German occupiers was and is therefore called “March along barbed wire”.
• It is the largest Sport and recreational event in Slovenia: An innovative approach to encouraging people to move.
• By its tradition, the grand opening starts with the march of preschool children. It is followed by a march of pupils from primary schools and secondary schools on Friday. Saturday is full of other marchers and participants of a race in a three-member team run.

More information:
March release. Click Here