PRESS RELEASE
‘WE CAN BLU IT!’ RETURNS: THREE DAYS OF SPORT AND THE ENVIRONMENT TURN THE TIBER INTO AN INTERNATIONAL ARENA
- The event, organised by the piùblu Association, runs from 25 to 27 September
- The Tiber Skiff, an international rowing regatta organised by the Italian Rowing Federation, is the sporting heart of the event
- For three days, the riverside beneath Ponte Sant’Angelo will become a stage for sport and sustainability
Rome, 17 September 2026 – For three days, the Tiber will be the true star of Rome. From 25 to 27 September, the capital’s river hosts the third edition of “We Can Blu It! 2026”, promoted by piùblu, an association dedicated to protecting rivers and aquatic ecosystems. The event brings together sport, the environment, culture and participation, with Italian digital innovation group Almaviva Group as main partner. The aim is to bring citizens, students, tourists, businesses and athletes back to the Tiber, so they can experience it as an environmental asset and a place where different communities meet.
“The Tiber,” says piùblu Vice President Domitilla Baffigo, “isn’t simply the river that runs through Rome. It’s part of the city’s identity, its history and its future. With We Can Blu It!, we want to change how people see the Tiber, by presenting it as a place that is alive and fragile, yet precious and belonging to everyone. Sport is our way of rekindling that relationship.”
The event’s international dimension comes from the Tiber Skiff, inspired by Turin’s Silver Skiff, taking place on Saturday 26 September at 12.30pm. It is the first international rowing regatta on the Tiber, organised by the Italian Rowing Federation. Athletes from a range of countries will race on the river in a competition that forms the sporting heart of the 2026 edition, with the aim of turning the Tiber into a new international arena for rowing.
“Anyone who takes up sport on the water, whether on a river, a lake or the sea, develops a deep, visceral bond with nature,” says Italian Rowing Federation President Rossano Galtarossa. “Standing alongside piùblu means rowing in the same direction: towards environmental protection, education and, above all, respect for our most precious resource, water. I’d like to thank all the partners and institutions for this special weekend, which will put rowing and sustainability at the centre of attention across Rome, with the exciting addition of the Tiber Skiff, ready to bring together everyone who shares a passion for rowing on the Tiber.”
“We’re especially proud to stand alongside our environmental partner piùblu in a year when the ‘We Can Blu It’ programme welcomes the remarkable addition of the Tiber Skiff,” says Giovanni Esposito, Secretary General of the Italian Rowing Federation. “Bringing an international rowing regatta to the heart of Rome for the first time,” Esposito continues, “on the waters of the Tiber, thanks to the outstanding partnership between FIC Lazio, AS Luiss and Rome’s rowing clubs, is a huge opportunity, not just to promote our sport, but also to showcase the river as an environmental and social resource. Rowing is a sport that is sustainable by nature and lived in close contact with the environment, and this initiative embodies the values of protecting the land, fostering inclusion and driving urban regeneration that the Federation firmly stands for.”
“Sport has an extraordinary power: it teaches us to push past our limits and see the world around us with fresh eyes. Bringing young people to the Tiber, letting them experience sport in a natural ‘gym’, gives them a new point of view. Because care for the environment around us isn’t something you teach, it’s something you practise. And in sport, as in life, changing direction means rowing together.” So says Valentina Rodini, Olympic rowing gold medallist and member of the CONI Board.
The Tiber Skiff will be just one of the moments through which the “We Can Blu It!” programme brings the Tiber to life. Sport becomes the lens through which people see Rome’s river again, drawing citizens and communities back to it. Another key ally in this is AS Luiss, the sports club of one of Italy’s leading academic institutions.
“For AS Luiss, being a partner of ‘We Can Blu It!’ means sharing a vision of sport as a tool for education, sustainability, responsibility and participation. For years, together with the Italian Rowing Federation, we’ve been running a Dual Career model that puts the individual and their development first, helping student-athletes balance their academic studies with high-level sport. Our approach goes beyond academics: it also builds our student-athletes’ awareness of their responsibilities towards the community and the environment they live in. The ‘Team Up for the Planet’ project, run together with Roma Capitale’s Environment Department, is one example of this. At Luiss, we want to keep nurturing a generation of student-athletes capable of achieving both sporting and academic success, while also taking responsibility for their community’s future.” So says AS Luiss Sports Director Paolo Del Bene.
Sunday 27 September is given over to the Almaviva Blu Race, a 400-metre race in eight-oared gigs. Held in a non-competitive spirit, it turns the Tiber into a meeting place where sport becomes an opportunity for inclusion, accessibility and shared responsibility.
“Water is the thread that connects every part of our lives,” says Michele Svidercoschi, Communication, Marketing & Public Affairs Director at Almaviva. “Technology helps us understand it, track it and protect it. Almaviva Group’s role as main partner of the event reflects digital innovation’s commitment and responsibility towards managing and safeguarding water resources. We’ll be at the Sustainability Village to show, including through augmented reality and headsets, how we track a single drop of water through its entire life cycle, turning data into knowledge and knowledge into timely, informed decisions.”
The programme continues with the Match Race featuring Special Olympics athletes and the Canoe Match Race, organised by the Italian Canoe and Kayak Federation.
The event, now piùblu’s flagship occasion, features a packed programme of activities dedicated to environmental sustainability. On Friday 25 September at 9.30am, a Tiber clean-up takes place, run with local schools and universities and the initiative’s partner associations. On Saturday 26 September, the action moves to Ostia for a second clean-up.
For three days, beneath Ponte Sant’Angelo, the Sustainability Village will also be open, a space for the city with activities, talks and initiatives dedicated to the environment. Taking part will be a network of organisations working daily to protect the environment and look after the local area: WWF, Marevivo, Retake Roma, FAI, Legambiente, LIPU, Plastic Free, Evera Clean Up, Ostia Clean Up and Tevere Day, alongside ISDE Italia and Special Olympics.
“We Can Blu It!” was created to talk about water, plastic and microplastics, biodiversity, health and environmental education, but above all out of a wish to turn words into concrete action. That’s why we wanted to build a genuine Sustainability Village, in the heart of Rome, on the banks of its river.
A place where environmental and civic associations, institutions, universities, schools, businesses,
athletes and citizens can meet, get to know each other and share what they’re doing.
We wanted to create a shared home for the environment, where every organisation
can keep its own identity, its own history and its own causes, while putting its expertise at the service
of others. That’s perhaps the achievement we’re proudest of.” So says piùblu President Roberto Montanari.
“We Can Blu It! is the event that showcases our city’s river and strengthens the bond between this remarkable environmental asset and the community. Today, the Tiber plays a leading role in active citizens’ initiatives, but it also sits at the centre of the political agenda: we’re currently working towards making it safe for swimming, the end goal of a wide-ranging effort to restore the river’s waters to a more natural state. Alongside this, new riverside parks have been created, designed specifically to bridge the divide that has for too long separated the river from its citizens. The latest of these, Tiberis Park, opened last July and was well used by Romans throughout the summer,” says Sabrina Alfonsi, Roma Capitale’s Councillor for Agriculture, Environment and Waste Management. “It’s precisely because people are what bring places to life that I want to thank the piùblu Association and everyone involved in organising this event, which once again shows how vital active citizen participation is to looking after and promoting our shared resources,” Alfonsi concludes.
“Making the most of the Tiber is a priority for Regione Lazio, which in recent years has launched major projects to regenerate the river, including collecting floating waste and removing submerged wrecks. In August, we approved a resolution identifying 31 new plots suitable for concessions, earmarked for recreational and sporting use. All these measures are moving in the same direction: making the Tiber ever more fully accessible to residents,” says Fabrizio Ghera, Regione Lazio’s Councillor for State Property and Assets.
It’s at this intersection of sport and the environment that the Blue Talk “Plastic Doesn’t Play Sport” fits in, taking place on Friday 25 September at 5pm at the Sustainability Village, in collaboration with ISDE Italia – Doctors for the Environment and hosted by journalist Francesco Gasparri. It’s a discussion on the risks posed by plastic in ecosystems and the need to rethink the relationship between sport, the environment and health.
The We Can Blu It! programme doesn’t stop at sport and the environment. On Saturday 26 September at 7pm, at the Sustainability Village beneath Ponte Sant’Angelo, the Tiber will host Antonio Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”, performed by the Musica su Roma String Orchestra, with Matteo Morbidelli as solo violinist and Lorenzo Porzio conducting. It’s an occasion that rounds out piùblu’s vision: a river to protect, but also one to live alongside, cross and reclaim through a range of different experiences.
All activities will take place at the Sustainability Village, set up beneath Ponte Sant’Angelo on the Lungotevere di Nona side.
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