Great success in Italian schools. 1.600 project proposals arrived from all over the country
Great participation of the first cycle schools from all over Italy in the competition of ideas "The school for the Mascot of Milan Cortina 2026”, Promoted by the Ministry of Education - General Directorate for students, inclusion and school guidance - together with the Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation.
Schoolgirls and students represented, through the drawings, their ideas of Mascots that will be a source of inspiration for the choice of the couple of characters, Olympic and Paralympic, which will become the iconic symbol of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Milan Cortina 2026 and their values worldwide.
The participation of the schools involved all the Italian regions involving, in total, 81 provinces. Approximately 400 applications for membership and 1600 project ideas received, 681 are the participating classes and 82 are the institutes collective authors of the drawings. A participation that directly involved pupils and pupils in a process that, starting from the principle of mutual collaboration, led to the sending of thousands of ideas.
Now, we are moving towards the conclusion of the evaluation phase of the projects, carried out by a special Commission and which has led to the identification of ten couples suitable to continue the path, which will end with the choice of the two that will be developed and presented. to the public for the final vote.
Three years after the assignment to Italy of the Milan Cortina 2026 Games, which took place on June 24, 2019 in Lausanne, the participation of the Italian school in the Olympic and Paralympic event to be held starting from February 6, 2026, is therefore starting to come alive. . As already announced on 24 June 2021 by Minister Bianchi and the top management of the Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation, on the occasion of the formalization of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Education and the Organizing Committee, schools will also be at the center of future initiatives, educational, cultural, training and promotion of the values of sport linked to the Games.
"The School is the place where female students, guided by their teachers, transform ideas and intuitions into collective projects. This is the intent of the competition: to collaborate with the school not on a simple design, but on a design path that sees the pupils participate together with the Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation in the creation of a symbol that characterizes the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the Mascot. A project that is a true path of education to the educational values of sport, in particular to winter sports, their history and their territory”, Declares the Minister of Education Patrizio Bianchi.
"It moved me deeply - declares Giovanni Malagò, President of CONI and of the Organizing Committee of Milan Cortina 2026 - the enthusiasm with which students, students and teachers responded to our appeal by participating in the competition of ideas for the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Mascots. A great involvement of the Italian school in the wake of an indissoluble link between the world of education and world of sport. Our sincere thanks go to Minister Bianchi and all the staff of the Ministry of Education who are accompanying us on this journey.".
For Vincenzo Novari, CEO of the Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation: "This synergy between the world of schools and the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games demonstrates the importance of team play. This is a first big step on the road that will lead to the Milan Cortina 2026 Games. With the Ministry, in the wake of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in June 2021 with Minister Bianchi, a discussion is underway on a series of opportunities and activities educational programs to offer to our students and our students in the post-pandemic period. Always - concludes Novari - the Games are a source of inspiration and a reference model that places sport at the service of the community, to build a better future for the new generations".