August 29, 2025
The culture of wellness as an Olympic legacy for Italy
The Milano Wellness City project from the Wellness Foundation takes the culture of movement into workplaces and urban life, with the 2026 Winter Olympics just around the corner.
“The Milano Cortina 2026 games represent a fantastic opportunity for the whole country to promote the culture of sport and wellness with a twofold objective: spreading the culture of health and prevention, and presenting Italy to the world as the number one country for wellness and quality of life”. This is how Nerio Alessandri, President and Founder of Technogym, described Technogym’s partnership with the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic games.
The Wellness Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Alessandri in 2003 with the mission to promote the culture of wellness as a social opportunity, has been working since 2023 to contribute to the legacy of the next Winter Olympics with two large-scale projects: Milano Wellness City 2030 and Cortina in Wellness.
The Wellness Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Alessandri in 2003 with the mission to promote the culture of wellness as a social opportunity, has been working since 2023 to contribute to the legacy of the next Winter Olympics with two large-scale projects: Milano Wellness City 2030 and Cortina in Wellness.
The first steps towards Milano Wellness City 2030 have been a study of the state of wellness in the city and the founding of a multi-disciplinary working group that includes the Fondazione Cariplo, Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026, Bocconi, Politecnico di Milano and the Fondazione Politecnico di Milano, Humanitas University, Ospedale San Raffaele, Fondazione Umberto Veronesi ETS, Fondazione Human Technopole, Federalberghi and Assolombarda, as well as the city’s most popular sports clubs – Inter, AC Milan and Olimpia Basket.
Their shared goal? To make Milan a true Wellness City by promoting a new culture focused on healthy lifestyles and prevention. There are many areas that make up a genuine Wellness Ecosystem: lifestyle medicine, diet, mental well-being, educational programs, research, corporate wellness, tourism and urban development.
Their shared goal? To make Milan a true Wellness City by promoting a new culture focused on healthy lifestyles and prevention. There are many areas that make up a genuine Wellness Ecosystem: lifestyle medicine, diet, mental well-being, educational programs, research, corporate wellness, tourism and urban development.
Corporate Wellness on Olympic Day
Olympic Day, the international day dedicated to movement set up by the International Olympic Committee to commemorate its founding in Paris by Baron Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894, was an opportunity to promote wellness and healthy lifestyles in the workplace.
Olympic Day turned Milan into an open-air gym, launching a real sign of change. Guided by the slogan “Let’s Move”, over 2,000 employees from 35 companies took part in a huge group walk from their offices to the Arena Civica, where institutional speeches alternated with activations by Technogym master trainers and appearances by Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
Olympic Day turned Milan into an open-air gym, launching a real sign of change. Guided by the slogan “Let’s Move”, over 2,000 employees from 35 companies took part in a huge group walk from their offices to the Arena Civica, where institutional speeches alternated with activations by Technogym master trainers and appearances by Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
The initiative was promoted by the Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 and the Wellness Foundation, with the support of the Municipality of Milan, in partnership with Assolombarda, the WHP Regione Lombardia network and Coca Cola, Salomon and Technogym as technical partners.
As part of Milano Wellness City, the project has an ambitious objective: to turn workplaces into spaces where health and wellness are cultivated through active breaks, sustainable mobility and awareness of the benefits of daily movement.
As part of Milano Wellness City, the project has an ambitious objective: to turn workplaces into spaces where health and wellness are cultivated through active breaks, sustainable mobility and awareness of the benefits of daily movement.
Exercise for Health
Physical activity and exercise are not just wellness tools, but a type of preventive and longevity medicine. This was the message at the heart of the “Exercise for Health – Verso Milano Cortina 2026: il valore dell’attività fisica e dell’esercizio per la salute” conference held on Wednesday 9 July 2025 in the conference room at the Palazzo Reale in Milan.
Promoted by the Municipality of Milan’s welfare and health council in partnership with the Wellness Foundation and IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, with the support of the Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 and the Milan Order of Surgeons and Dentists, the symposium offered an opportunity for training and shared reflection, aimed at the medical community, healthcare professionals, industry experts, students and citizens interested in finding out more about the role of exercise in improving quality of life, starting with the urban setting.
The initiative was part of the Milano Wellness City Lifestyle Medicine strand and came about thanks to a desire to foster multi-disciplinary reflection on the role of physical exercise in preventing chronic diseases, managing mental health and promoting active ageing.
Promoted by the Municipality of Milan’s welfare and health council in partnership with the Wellness Foundation and IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, with the support of the Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 and the Milan Order of Surgeons and Dentists, the symposium offered an opportunity for training and shared reflection, aimed at the medical community, healthcare professionals, industry experts, students and citizens interested in finding out more about the role of exercise in improving quality of life, starting with the urban setting.
The initiative was part of the Milano Wellness City Lifestyle Medicine strand and came about thanks to a desire to foster multi-disciplinary reflection on the role of physical exercise in preventing chronic diseases, managing mental health and promoting active ageing.
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