Milano Cortina 2026 frames its legacy beyond competition and medals, placing people and their everyday well-being at the center of the Olympic project. In a context marked by sedentary lifestyles and their impact on public health, the Winter Games become a platform to promote movement as a daily, accessible, and shared habit—one that can be integrated into school, work, and community life. Physical activity as a sustained practice is the ambition guiding this approach, with the aim that it endures long after the Olympic flame is extinguished.
This vision is already taking shape through concrete actions across Italy, with more than 70 active projects linking sport, inclusion, and territorial development. From educational programs to community and regional initiatives in host areas, Milano Cortina 2026 articulates an approach that aligns with a profound shift in the country, reinforced by the constitutional recognition of the educational, social, and psychophysical value of sport. The Olympic legacy, in this sense, is built day by day in schools, companies, neighborhoods, and mountain communities.
Movement as learning and social cohesion
In the educational sphere, the GEN26 program has become one of the pillars of this strategy, bringing Olympic and Paralympic values into classrooms across the country. More than two million students take part in initiatives that combine physical activity, values-based learning, and healthy habits, supported by partnerships with the Italian National Olympic Committee and a network of 20 universities. Projects such as Winter Games Week, SC:ORE, I’mPOSSIBLE, and the Olympic Values Education Programme enable teachers and students to integrate sport as an educational tool, with free resources tailored to local contexts.
This educational momentum is complemented by interventions in everyday infrastructure: the renovation of school gyms and playgrounds, along with the recovery of disused urban spaces, aims to ensure safe and accessible environments for movement. Initiatives like Walking the Games, which mobilized thousands of students to collectively cover more than one million kilometers, illustrate how movement can become a shared experience that strengthens motivation, health, and a sense of belonging from an early age.
Active communities: from the workplace to the city
The legacy of movement also extends into workplaces and urban environments. Programs such as Go for 30 encourage 30 minutes of daily physical activity among more than 430,000 employees, embedding well-being into organizational culture. Participating companies redesign spaces, introduce active breaks, and promote routines that affect not only individual health but also team cohesion, reduced absenteeism, and tangible improvements in productivity. Events like the Sempione Walk, held as part of Olympic Day, reinforce this collective dimension of movement in the workplace.
At the same time, cities and regions are advancing the transformation of public spaces under principles of accessibility and inclusion, making sport part of everyday urban life. Initiatives such as Italia dei Giochi, alongside neighborhood renewal projects and mental and nutritional well-being programs, bring physical activity closer to millions of people. Added to this is the Cultural Olympiad, which broadens the reach of the legacy through artistic and cultural expressions, celebrating movement as part of identity and community life throughout Italy.
