Consortium

Our association was created to promote water sports activities practiced by people with and without disabilities, in order to promote social cohesion and integration in the society in which we live.

We believe that sport practiced in mixed groups, by people of different abilities, is an extremely effective means of enhancing diversity as a resource for the growth of the individual and the community.

Lake Maggiore is our gym for water sports, where everyone has the opportunity to practice their favorite sporting discipline, together with new friends, beyond any difference and prejudice.

VISION

A world in which more people fall in love with water sports; inspired by the unique relationship between sport, technology and the forces of nature, we all work to protect the waters of the world.

MISSION

To make water sports more exciting and accessible for everyone to participate or watch and use our reach and influence to create a sustainable future for our sport and the waters of the world:

•To build a strong profile and image for water sports – using our key points of difference to resonate with people and give them a lifetime of sport.

•To create a tangible sustainability programme that maximises the positive effect that the water sports community can have on our environment.


Politecnico di Milano since 1863

A world class university for Architecture, Design and Engineering

Politecnico di Milano is one of the most outstanding universities in the world, ranked 24th on a global scale, 7th in Europe, and 1st in Italy among technical universities, according to QS World University Ranking – Engineering & Technology 2016. Founded in 1863, Polimi is the largest school of Architecture, Design and Engineering in Italy, with 3 main campuses located in Milan, heart of fashion and design industries, and 5 campuses based around the Lombardy region, which is one of the most industrialized areas of Europe.

Many important scientists and architects studied and taught at Polimi; among them Achille Castiglioni, Gio Ponti, together with Renzo Piano and Aldo Rossi – who received the Pritzker Prize in 1990 and 1998 respectively – and Giulio Natta, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1963. Polimi is organized into 12 Departments, responsible for planning of the research strategies, and 4 Schools, responsible for the organization of education. Among these, two Schools cover the branches of Engineering, one School focuses on Architecture, Urban Planning and Construction Engineering, and one School is devoted to Design.

Thanks to a strong internationalization policy, all Laurea Magistrale (Master of Science) and PhD programmes are taught in English, attracting an ever-increasing number of talented international students, now forming a diverse community from more than 100 countries.

In the academic year 2016/2017, around 29% of the students enrolled in Master of Science Programmes were international students.

Inter and multidisciplinary approaches are fostered throughout the academic path, and represent the methodological approach of the PhD School and the ASP (Alta Scuola Politecnica), a school for young talents from all over the world, who develop their skills in a team work context to pursue complex innovation projects.

Teaching is closely related to research, a key commitment that enables to achieve results of high international standards, while creating connections with the business world.

Strategic research is carried out mainly in the fields of energy, transport, planning, management, design, mathematics and natural and applied sciences, ICT, built environment, cultural heritage, with more than 250 laboratories, including a Wind Tunnel (unique in the world for configuration and features), a Crash Test Centre, PoliFAB (the University’s infrastructure for micro and nano production) and PoliFactory, a laboratory where new design processes are developed.


Comité Régional Olympique et Sportif des Pays de la Loire is an omnisports association created in 1973. It is the regional representative of Pays de la Loire to the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (C.N.O.S.F.). As such, it has the mission to decline, taking into account local specificities, the orientations and actions initiated by the CNOSF. The structure is a member of the European Network of Outdoors Sports (ENOS) and also of the Comité Atlantique des Sports Nautiques.

The C.R.O.S. participate in the development and implementation of regional sport policies, ensuring their consistency with national sport federation policies. To this end, it represents the regional sports movement (1,000,000 licenses holders and nearly 10,000 sports associations) with the public authorities and within the various consultation bodies.

It relay and implements, under the control of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee, the policies and actions in the following areas:

  • Sport & Public Policies
  • Sport & Professionalisation
  • Sport, Education & Citizenship
  • Sport & Health

As part of these activities and to share best practices of water sports in the European Atlantic area, it was coordinator of the 2018 Erasmus + project “Development of the Atlantic Watersport Network – D.A.W.N.” and the 2020 Erasmus + project “Rowing an Outdoor Sport for education – R.O.S.E.

Comité Régional Olympique et Sportif des Pays de la Loire takes the environment into account as currently one of the major challenges of the sports structures in our territory, in particular with the implementation of new environmental regulations. Hence, the Comité Régional Olympique et Sportif des Pays de la Loire can bring concrete added value to the consortium.


Ericeira Surf Clube (ESC) is a non-profit sports association founded in 1992. Its main goal is the promotion and dissemination of the organized practice of wave sports in Mafra’s municipality, namely in Ericeira, gathering locally more than 5 international surf judges, 40 surf schools and 800 associates. Currently, ESC is organized in eight major departments:

  • Administration;
  • Surfing performance and sports events;
  • Training and Accreditation (incl. ISA accreditation);
  • Innovation;
  • Education, Culture and Citizenship;
  • International Cooperation and Collaborative Networks;
  • Media and Communication and
  • Environment.

Institutionally, these eight departments are mixed together as a whole by:

  • Representing Ericeira World Surf City at the World Surf Cities Network world meetings;
  • Being a board member of municipal Tourism Council and municipal World Surfing Reserve Council ;
  • Being part of Ericeira World Surfing Reserve Guardians and
  • Being part in various meetings, debates and seminars on surfing and environment.

Socially, ESC has developed applications for training, education and sustainability projects, for all age groups. It is also involved as strategic partner in the development of a new teaching methodology for the 2nd cycle educational formation. It is an active association being:

  • Founder and guardian of the Ericeira World Surfing Reserve (1st World Surfing Reserve in Europe and 2nd in the world) 
  • Member of the executive board of Surf World Cities Network; 
  • Member of the Municipal Tourism Council and member of the “Ericeira Business Factory” Advisory Board; 
  • Member of the Municipal Ericeira’s World Surfing Reserve Council
  • A wire for a PhD thesis “Making Waves”; 
  • A Surf cultural promoter and strategy developer in Ericeira; 
  • Provider of medical and therapists support for its members and athletes.

In sports terms, ESC is the representative association for some of the elite Portuguese surfing competitors [which some of them are currently the Portuguese National Champions] and it is the Portuguese National Surfing Cup Bi-Champion,


The Surf is a sport of sliding in the sea and a great tool to promote personal skills, self-knowledge, improve
physical condition, balance, coordinating skills and neural connections, improves motor and psychomotor
capabilities. It promotes the standardization of people with functional diversity through the educational
activities of leisure in sport. It is a good strategy to develop healthy skills, educate in values and work
hydrotherapy. This activity has a recreational, therapeutic and adapted purpose.
As for adapted surfing, we talk about the possibility of modifying the motor, mental and/or sensory possibilities
of the people who make it.
We develop an individualized method, based on the connection of the participants with themselves responding
adaptively to the demands of their own body and the physical and social environment and on the development
of initiative and expressiveness.
For this, we facilitate a very dynamic and fun activity, not without challenges, since failure is part of learning
and emotions must be constantly regulated.
Surf coaches, working on our project for more than 3 years.
Surf coaches specialized in adapted sport, with more than 4 years of training about adaptive surfing.
Occupational therapy appropriate to the needs of the group.
Trained Volunteers: Adapted sports training program in the beach.
A disabled person as a volunteer and part of the training team, we have some of our oldest disabled
participants, that now are completely independents about surf.
We started our journey in 2010, and since then, more than 500 boys and girls have started with us in this
wonderful sport. In our club, we bet for an integral formation of the children and young people, from a holistic
and integrating perspective. We firmly believe in the development of people through sports, socialization, play,
coexistence, and training by instructors, who are in turn role models. Since 2014, we have developed the
adaptive surfing program, with which, we try to bring this sport to all people with functional diversity.