Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Project Play is an initiative of the Aspen Institute Romania, organized in partnership with the Romanian Olympic
and Sports Committee and the Professional Football League, aiming to support the healthy development of
children between 5 and 12 years, through sport and physical activity.
Background
Available data indicate the need to adopt measures supporting children to practice sport and physical activities.
Scientific research established that 90% of the teenagers are spending more than 8 hours watching tv daily, surfing
the internet and playing video games. Meanwhile, 25.7% of the children have not experienced a healthy
development, while between 2010 2014 the frequency of sustained physical activity continued to decrease.
There is an evident need to support the healthy development of children and to prevent physical inactivity and
obesity, factors which increase the risk of occurrence of cardio-vascular diseases, diabetes, orthopedic injuries and
reduce the quality of life, putting individuals' lives at risk and a burden on health budgets and the economy.
Romanian society needs to increase its awareness regarding the importance of physical literacy of children, a term
defined as the ability, confidence and desire to be active for life, based on the proven connection between the
development of motor skills at an early age and habits of physical activity through adolescence and into adulthood.
Key deliverables
Launch of Project Play, on 7 December 2017, at the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, in the
presence of multiple stakeholders from the public, private, and non-governmental sectors. The main
objective of the event is to present the project and identify key stakeholders which will be represented in
the project task force.
Two thematic workshops on major topics, issuing key policy recommendations.
An international public conference in Bucharest, presenting the results of the project, in the context of the
Great Union Centennial.
White Paper with recommendations to the relevant decision-makers.