Resources

TAFISA - Active Cities – Active Communities – Active Citizens’ Program, the ‘Triple AC

SportCityNet is a project led by TAFISA as part of the European Union „Preparatory Actions: European Partnerships on Sport“. Co-funded by the European Commission, TAFISA, Ball Packaging Europe and Suomen Kunto ja Virkistys Oy, it started on the 1st of January 2013. SportCityNet aims at improving the life quality in European cities and communities, increasing the levels of physical activity participation and integrating physical activity into the everyday lives by raising awareness, sharing knowledge and experiences about its benefits, and providing practical tools for the promotion of Sport for All in the city setting. Its main result is the publication of a “toolkit” designed for cities and containing a description of the 5 Key Success Areas to become an Active City, a set of good practices and a step-by-step approach to create an Active City strategy.

http://www.triple-ac.net/about_sportcitynet.html

 

Good practice

In Curitiba, Brazil, policies that influence the built environment and make it more walkable resulted in adults living in high-walk- ability areas were found to be more likely to achieve recommended levels of physical activity, both for transport walking and leisure-time physical activity. The results of the study confirm findings from high-income countries that walkability plays an important role in physical activity as daily transport.   

Tehran, the capital of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has introduced a bicycle-sharing scheme, funded by the municipal government. The scheme aims to reduce congestion on the city’s streets, decrease pollution and provide additional transport. Twelve bicycle “hubs” are positioned across the city in various administrative districts, with each hub having around 40 bicycles. Over 6000 people have subscribed to the scheme, which allows the use of a bicycle for up to 4 h for the equivalent of US$ 2.

Because of Islamic and cultural considerations, women are unable to participate in the programme. Partnership and social marketing to promote physical activity amongst Women in Tonga  Recognizing the seriousness of women’s sedentary behaviour, the Tongan ministry of health and Ministry of Internal Affairs, with the support of the Australian Sports Outreach Program, joined with the Tonga Netball Association in a campaign that brought together a broad range of technical skills and networks to deliver a highly targeted intervention using netball to mobilise women for physical activity. The campaign, branded Kau Mai Tonga: Netipol (Come on Tonga, let’s play netball!), was launched in June 2012 and since then has been delivered in annual phases of community mobilization, large-scale advertising and communication, and interpersonal education. Since the first phase, there has been increased participation of women, with more than 20 netball clubs registered, and increased knowledge and awareness of the benefits of physical activity among participants.

The city of Freiburg in southwestern Germany has been successful in implementing sustainable transport policies that may be transferable to car- oriented countries around the world. Over the last three decades, transport policies in Freiburg have encouraged more walking, cycling and use of public transport. During this pe- riod, the number of bicycle trips has tripled, travel by public transport has doubled, and the proportion of journeys by automobile has declined from 38% to 32%. Since 1990, motorization rates have levelled off and per capita carbon dioxide emissions from transport have fallen, despite strong economic growth.