Preserving history through specially designed paths and not surprisingly called “Paths of Memory”. Because the years go by inexorably, and very soon those who are now living testimony of the values of the resistance will no longer exist: it therefore becomes essential to find a new method, in order to pass on this historical memory to the new generations, to be preserved with care in the hope that allow us not to repeat the same mistakes of the past.
This is the main objective of VALUES -enVironmentAL and historical edUcation in Europe through Sport, which in recent weeks has seen an exciting project meeting in the Spanish city of Reus. In fact, VALUES involves the UISP-USEP Alpes-Méditerranée Régionale Association – which also plays the lead role – the UISP Ciriè Settimo Chivasso Committee, the French AURA USEP Comité Régionale and the Consell Esportiu of the Baix Camp of Reus, through a project based on experience of “Les Chemins de la Mémorie” which for years has been carried out at national level by the CRUSEP AURA association – Comité Régional Union Sportive de l’Enseignement du Premier degrè, Auvergne Rhône Alpes – which uses physical activity as a tool didactic, not only from the historical point of view. VALUES, in fact, through hiking and urban trekking, also intends to develop motor skills and transversal skills – such as observation and critical and logical thinking – to stimulate the desire to learn and that of constant research. Without forgetting the environmental component: the project will be useful for conveying to young people the importance of a healthy and active lifestyle, but also awareness of the environment that surrounds us and respect for the mountains, which must always be faced in safety. The direct recipients of VALUES are therefore schools, with teachers and students aged between 6 and 15 and residing in the countries of France, Italy and Spain. Schools will be offered an innovative teaching method through sport, applicable not only to history, but also to other subjects such as natural sciences, civics and geography. The project will also lead to the creation of a network of experiences and a methodological handbook that can be used by teachers from all over Europe.
These focal points and the activities that the VALUES project envisages were discussed during the meeting held on Friday 4 and Saturday 5 November in Reus, as previously mentioned. “At this juncture, the Spanish partners took the opportunity to organize an interesting visit to the places of memory and of the anti-Franco resistance, with particular attention to the anti-aircraft shelters of Reus and the trenches of the fighting that took place from 1936 to 1938. The stages along the Ebro river, which gave its name to the longest and bloodiest civil war in the area, were very exciting. In Barcelona, however, we visited the Memorial de El Fossar del la Pedrera, or the cemetery of the quarry. Place where there are the remains of Lluís Companys, president of the Generalitat of Catalonia during the Spanish civil war, executed by the Franco regime in 1940 in the castle of Montjuïc” said the Director of the UISP Ciriè Committee Settimo Chivasso, Roberto Rinaldi.