Project partners met online for the 4th Inno4sports Knowledge Capitalisation Seminar. 

The last Inno4Sports project meeting was supposed to be in Łódź, but this was just another event suspended because of COVID19.

Sport is a sector really affected by the pandemic: some prefessional competions are back, but amateurs are still on hold, and the big events, from local marathons to the Olimpic Games, are far to return.

Despite the fact of being in an emergency situation, Inno4Sports project has never stopped: moreover the post-pandemic escenario will offer new opportunities for Innovation that are going to considered and that shuold be explored.

The partners reviewed the status of the project actions and they also had the possibility to learn about the good practices from Łódź kie region.

The Knowledge Capitalization Seminar was attended by Polish key stakeholders who have shared inspiring Good Practices (GG) in the realm of sport and vitality from the region.

The first GG was myHYDRO presented by Magdalena Owczarek and Ewelina Pabjańczyk-Wlazło, who are the founders of “Tex Life & Healthcare”. This StartUp highlights the importance of monitoring hydration of humans and particularly of those who have an active lifestyle. MyHYDRO offers an innovative textile wristband which monitors the level of hydration of the individual, as well as some main vital measurements through innovative sensors technology. Hence, myHYDRO provides an universal, innovative and non-invasive tool to ensure a continuous monitoring of the physical well-being.

Adam Jerzykowsky from the cosmetic brand Movigo, presented the second GG, Swim for a dream. This iniciative started with the launch of an event named Dreamers Day so to set a new Guinness World whilst also hosting 20+ other sport activities. The aim was to raise awareness of the drawbacks of sedentary lifestyle causing rising obesity among youngsters, particularly. Hence, the Dreamers Day in 2017 conquer the new record of the World Guinness Record whereas in 2018 its strategic cooperation with VERDE has lead to the organisation a conference about the status of sports and physical activity in Łódź  during the Dreamers Day

The third GG focused on the Technical University of Łódź  and its R&D towards sports and vitality. This was presented by Grzegorz Liskiewicz who highlighted the increasing commitment of the University to boost sport and vitality both in terms of awareness among its community, as well as in terms of new and innovative academic courses.

Łódź is a very academic city, with 23 Universities, public or private, and more than ninety thousand students. The most innovatives centers are the Łódź Univeristy of Technology, the ICT Central Poland Cluster and the ICRI-BIOM, which represents the excellence in biomedicine in Poland.

In the University of Technology, there are different kinds of “teams” made of students and specialized in certain research areas and with specific projects. The most successful teams at the moment are:

• ŁÓDŹ SOLAR TEAM, with their solar powered car which has corverd thousands of kilometers with no petrol at all

• Its competitor, the IRON WARRIORS TEAM, which his the best team in Poland in gasoline category at Eco-marathons

• The RAPTORS TEAM, who has developed a Martian rover

• The HYPER ŁÓDŹ TEAM, who has the goal of design an high-speed vehicle of the future

Recently, the Łódź Univeristy of Technology has invested in the ZATOKA SPORTU, a large  Sport¡s Bay area with several sport equipments.

Łódź will be the host of the next EUSA – European Unvesrity Sports Games in 2022 – that will be mainy performed at Sport’s Bay.

Good Practices in VERDE’s Regional Status of Affairs

Piotr Wiąckiewicz from Łódź VERDE Cluster presented three more Good Practices to the consortium.

Łódź kie Horse Trail is an initiative launched in 2012 by the Managing Authority of Łódź  under a Private/Public Partnership including+200 horse clubs. This initiative aimed at developing an Horse Trail covering +180km across the whole region of Łódź  so to lift tourist activities in the rural districts whilst also valorising the unique natural wealth available. Hence, the key lesson learnt from Łódź kie Horse Trail includes the boosting of sport and vitality in rural communities, the promotion of niche sports so to capitalise on the regional natural wealth and the use of innovative technologies.

The second GG named “Orlikowa” Champions League was launched by the Department of Sport and Tourism of the Marshall Office of Łódź  in 2009. This project included a juvenile tournament of eight sport disciplines hold on traditional artificial pitches named “Orliki” so to provide appropriate infrastructure in each municipality (at least one pitch per discipline) and to promote sport and vitality among youths. The key lessons learnt from “Orlikowa” Champions League are the impact of the initiative considering the limited resources (100.000 Euros), the use of already existing infrastructures in the districts and the relevance of strategic cooperation with key stakeholders such as sport clubs/association/schools.

Finally, MyFriend was presented as an initiative launched in 2015 by the Department of Education and Sport of the City of Łódź  and the Łódź  Center for Teacher Training and Practical Education. MyFriend is an initiative to reduce “unjustified” absences from PE classes by promoting a more inclusive grading system which also focus on the commitment/progress of the student. This includes supporting schools and teachers by offering workshops to embrace the new grading system. Hence, the key lesson learnt from MyFriend is its repeatability across different regions/countries.

After the stakeholders’ sessions, partners have joined an e-workshop regarding the GG presented with the intention to reflect and identify - at the partner and consortium levels - the most relevant lessons learnt and their applicability into partners Action Plans.

Finally, partners hold a session to share ideas for a Common Pilot Actions with the aim being to identify a suitable Action under a relevant topic for the consortium.

As reported by Carlotta Giussani from EPSI “It was highlighted the importance to ensure that the Common Pilot Actions advances both the partners Action Plans and the project aim within the context of socio-economic transformations in Europe so to open up new dimensions for the capitalisation of sports ecosystems as a whole.”

Giuseppe Caprara, Innovation Manager at IBV, underlines that “It would have been interesting to visit Łódź: their good practices are quite complex and strongly binded to the territory and the society. We hope that in the future we will be able to go through deeply in the relation between the GGs and the Lodzkie sport enviroment”.

The consortium will continue to further advance with their Actions Plans based on the lessons learnt whilst continuing mediating to identify suitable activities/thematic for the Common Pilot Actions.

Enrique Alcántara, Innovation Director at IBV, says that “There are lot of things to do: the upcoming phase of Inno4Sports is as interesting as fundamental for the future of the sport ecosystem in the regions participating in the project

(Thanks to Carlotta Giussani from EPSI for the resume of the meeting)

Follow Inno4Sports project at https://www.interregeurope.eu/inno4sports/