Italy - UK Partnership

LIFESTYLE| 17 www.italchamind.eu skeletal disorders. The success of this sustainable development model represents an international benchmark of how a Wellness and Health Ecosystem should be and how it is possible to create a cultural, social and economic environment promoting and stimulating the adoption of healthy lifestyles with benefits for people, companies and Governments. Since 2003, the results on both people and the economy have been impressive. FUTURE PLANS The next goal will be to provide integrated “turnkey” programmes abroad, to public authorities and private developers, in order to provide other regions with the strategic skills necessary for the development of integrated wellness ecosystems. With this in mind, a specialised international advisory firm, Wellness Partners, was created in London. · ECONOMY Every year, 1.5m people come from all over the world to the Wellness Valley on business. The creation and dissemination of the healthy lifestyle culture led to a strong specialisation of the economic system focused on wellness: movement, healthy eating, organic food, tourism, management of sports and fitness centres. Furthermore, every year the Wellness District hosts many business international events. The economic ecosystem gathers overall more than 2,500 companies and employs more than 9,000 people. WELLNESSWEEK The Wellness Week is the main event in Romagna for lovers of wellness and healthy lifestyles. Promoted by the Wellness Foundation, the Wellness Week is a platform that involves all the Romagna municipalities and stakeholders organising events, initiatives and programmes to experience the benefits of the Wellness Lifestyle, through five categories of events: outdoor activities; sports; nutrition; art, history and culture; spas and thermal baths. It is the official event sponsored by the Emilia-Romagna Region to promote the Wellness Valley as a touristic destination. PHYSICAL EXERCISE, A STRONG MEDICINE Emilia-Romagna has been the first Italian Region to adopt the prescription of physical exercise in addition to medicine treatments. Over 200 practitioners have been trained in the Wellness Valley on the methodologies to prescribe exercise for diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer and On people: +10.1% active population compared to the rest of Italy +9.2% ​active children compared to the rest of Italy 68.1% ​university degrees on Wellness and Lifestyle 77% ​master’s degrees on Wellness and Lifestyle 10,300 ​students involved in the Wellness initiative On the economy: 2,500 local corporations working on wellness products and services 8,800 direct employees 30 ​wellness start-ups set up in the last five years 40% of exhibitions and business events in Romagna concentrate on wellness 1.5m ​business visitors per year concentrate on wellness €200m ​per year developed by the wellness hospitality industry