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On the first weekend of September, the Pirogovskoe Reservoir hosted the International Round Table "Development of Inclusive Sailing in Russia".
Participants from 12 regions of Russia, from the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Abkhazia and Israel discussed the experience of holding inclusive sailing competitions, the importance of state support, as well as the prospects for creating the interregional social movement "Inclusive Sails of Russia" and the Federation of Inclusive Sailing. The round table was held as part of the first Russian Cup in inclusive sailing in the YARKAT class.
Representatives of Udmurtia, Bashkiria, Khakassia, St. Petersburg, Tyumen and Kurgan regions presented their projects to teach yachting to people, regardless of their health and age, at the International Round Table "Development of Inclusive Sailing in Russia".
The chairman of the Tyumen regional organization of the VOI, Evgeny Kravchenko, spoke about the “Fresh Wind” project, which is aimed at social adaptation and rehabilitation of people with disabilities in the region. Evgeny Kravchenko noted that such inclusive projects can be implemented in any region of Russia thanks to the design of the YARKAT class catamaran, which allows holding competitions, including in shallow waters.
The Izhevsk project “Udmurtia needs sails!”, which develops not only sailing, but also other water activities for people with disabilities in the republic, seeks to give everyone the opportunity to try themselves as a helmsman or a sailor, sail independently and, of course, participate in competitions. The author of the project, Maxim Vorobyov, in his speech emphasized the importance of state support in the development of the project - thanks to the presidential grant in Udmurtia, more than 300 people got the opportunity to try their hand at inclusive sailing.
As part of the round table, the project "Happy Sails" of the International Union of Non-Governmental Organizations "Eurasian Peoples' Assembly" was presented. According to the project manager Marina Volkova, one of the main tasks of the project is to hold the “Happy Sails” World People's Sailing Regatta in an online game format, as well as offline races in various countries and regions of Eurasia.
“Thank you for developing an accessible environment and talking about it! Thanks to such projects, people with disabilities move mountains. When Masha gets behind the wheel of a catamaran, she develops her inner potential, which is so important for every person,” - said the mother of the youngest participant in inclusive regattas, six-year-old Masha Gutova.
The importance of corporate and social volunteering in inclusive sailing, as well as the development of an accessible environment for people with disabilities, was discussed by Artem Bebishev, project coordinator of the National Association of Participants in the Market of Assistive Technologies "AURA-Tech", emphasizing that corporate volunteering and joint participation of business representatives in events with people with disabilities positively affects the level of customer service and the economic performance of companies. Thus, according to international studies, in companies that pay attention to customers with disabilities, sales are 2.9 times higher, and profits are 4.1 times higher compared to companies that do not pay attention to inclusion issues.
“Business participation in corporate volunteer programs is a very effective tool for promoting a socially responsible brand and enhancing corporate culture. During such events, participants can take a broader look at inclusiveness: this applies to the architectural environment, site adaptation, customer service, as well as the employment of employees with disabilities,” - said a representative of the AURA-Tech Association.
President of the National Federation of Disabled Sports of Armenia Samvel Rostomyan and President of the ANO "WHITE CANE" and head of the project "Sails of the Spirit" Oleg Kolpashchikov became special guests of the round table. They joined the event online right from the territory of the International Sailing Camp, which is taking place in Armenia, and showed how the training process of the athletes is going.
Ilya Patichenko, head of the program of the Quality of Life division of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, took part in the round table "Development of inclusive sailing in Russia". He told the participants and guests of the event about the “Open to All” project, which is aimed at creating an inclusive community and organizing an accessible environment.
“It is very important for us to make not only yachting, but also all areas of life and business accessible to people with disabilities. The goal of our project is to help business and society by uniting all those who are not indifferent into a single inclusive agenda,” - said Ilya Patichenko.
An important element of the “Open to All” project is the National Inclusive Compact (NID), which is the public manifesto of the organization about its intentions and specific plans to increase the accessibility of goods, services and services for people with disabilities. Today, more than 40 commercial and public organizations, charitable foundations and mass media have signed up for NID. As part of the event, the inclusive community was replenished by another company - the Beryozki Park Hotel and Yacht Club. The company intends to develop a comfortable, equitable and safe environment through the introduction of inclusive technological solutions in the infrastructure of the yacht club, as well as to develop, implement and popularize innovative solutions in the field of socialization, rehabilitation and support for children and families in inclusive sailing.
The Cup of Russia in inclusive sailing in the YARKAT class was held for the first time. The organizers were the participants of the project "Open to All": charitable foundations "Give Love to the World" and "Give Good to the World". Also, the organizers were: the International Union of Non-Governmental Organizations "Eurasian Peoples' Assembly", the Center for the Development of People's Yachting and Sailing Tourism "Water and Wind", the International Public Organization "Association for Assistance to Disabled Sailing", the Park Hotel and Yacht Club "Berezki". 15 crews from 8 regions of Russia took part in the All-Russian inclusive regatta in the YARKAT class. The winners of the first Russian Cup in inclusive sailing were a family crew from the Kemerovo region - Ilya and Sergey Myslyaev.
