In the second episode of our three-part podcast series on Placemaking and Sport, we catch up with Cynthia Debono from MOVE Malta and Dusan Pjevac from Azur Sport Santé in France about repurposing urban spaces for active living in two very different countries. Both are non-profit trailblazers who proactively seek partnerships with city and community authorities to make innovative ideas come to life. It hasn’t been an easy ride, but it’s been a rewarding one.

We find out how they approached their Placemaking and Sport pilot projects – and why they chose their locations and strategies as they did. For Cynthia and MOVE Malta, it was finding a rare pocket of green space that had been left untouched for 60 years and engaging local children as consultants to find environmentally-friendly ways to use the space to learn and play. For Dusan and Azur Sport Santé, the 2024 Paris Olympic Games was perfect timing to highlight the potential of spaces around the National Museum of Sport and a repurposed parking lot (the City of Nice’s “green lung”) for physical activity and its interactive “Move Game”.

Jump into the conversation to find out:

Why it’s still possible to create active, green places in densely populated cities.

Why projects combining urban design, environmental sustainability, health and physical activity can bring huge returns on investment.

How Azur Sport Santé joined forces with the City of Nice – and why their partnership is still thriving.

Why “cathedral thinking” (no cathedral was built in a year, sometimes not even 100 years) is more effective than 5-year plans when designing public spaces for future generations.

Get inspired by these real-life examples of placemaking from two courageous sport NGOs.

Hosts and recording: Hilal Erkoca Mølgaard and Rachel Payne, ISCA

Guests: Cynthia Debono, MOVE Malta, and Dusan Pjevac, Sport Azur Santé, France

Post production: Rafael Morales and Kristine Onarheim, ISCA

Listen to more ISCA podcasts at https://isca.podbean.com/ 

Access this episode https://isca.podbean.com/e/placemaking-and-sport-with-cynthia-debono-from-move-and-dusan-pjevac-from-azur-sport-sante/ 

Visit the Placemaking and Sport project website https://placemaking.isca.org/

"This project is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them."