Anniversary of the project“ Ri Urban Inclusive Walking 2020!“

One year ago, our DIP members, volunteers, members of Matica umirovljenika Rijeka (a pensioners’ association), and other citizens took up the Molo longo, and with their good will, positive energy, and ready for action they walked all the way from DIP to the end of terminal, helped by walking sticks and comfortable sneakers.

For those who don’t know, we are talking about our project “Ri Urban Inclusive Walking 2020” which was chosen by Citizens’ Council as part of Civil Initiatives Programe in 2019. This project gathered citizens of all ages from Rijeka and our young people with developmental and psycho-social functioning disabilities in a common activity, with aim to promote healthy physical activities of our citizens. A certified trainer, our Šime, taught the participants about basic techniques of nordic walking, with the help of volunteers. However, besides learning about walking with nordic sticks, our main goal was networking the citizens of Rijeka, developing positive social interactions, raising awareness of young people with developmental and psycho-social functioning disabilities and encouraging inclusive volunteering in the Rijeka area. Thereby, Nordic walking sticks became an urban walking symbol!

Aside from walking, there was a variety of workshops and lectures about social capital, the action DAM-DAŠ in DIP and the competition for the best amateur photographs which was exhibited in our old friends’ and neighbors’ place – in the Architects Association Rijeka.

By the end of this project, public and member’s reactions were more than positive, and many showed a will to continue with nordic walking once the project is finished, so we can again gather together, feel that positive energy, great atmosphere, and a good feeling after doing a physical activity. In these times of online activities, our volunteers and DIP members few times chose nordic walking as one of the best activities that they would like to repeat once we are back in DIP. Our young people’s wishes are very important to us, therefore nordic walking is one of the activities we will do when the circumstances allow us.

So, follow our activities so you can also know when can you see us on the streets of Rijeka! In the meantime, you can read more about our projects on the following link: https://dip.hr/programi/ri-urban-inclusive-walking-2020/.