Consermotion is born! I'm Sofia Bonicalza, IOC Young Leader

In February 2025, I received an email that changed my life:

"Congratulations! It is our great pleasure to inform you that you have been selected as one of the 25 IOC Young Leaders for the 2025-2028 cohort."

This incredible program from the Olympic Committee supports young people who use sport as a vehicle for social and environmental sustainability. And my idea, ConserMotion, was chosen from 5,000 submissions from around the world!

I promised myself that if I won, I'd move to Chamois... and here I am, writing the first ConserMotion article in front of the stove on a cold October evening, in that very village where I cherish my earliest (and fondest) childhood memories. Starting ConserMotion from here is my way, years later, of showing all the gratitude I have for this place.

As I watch a log of wood burn to embers, giving me its last glow of warmth, I think back to the path that led me to this project. After more than fifteen years of competitive athletics, I have experienced sport in an all-encompassing way. Today, having chosen not to pursue a career as an athlete to pursue a deeper interest—nature conservation—I like to think of my relationship with sport as enriching, not exclusive.

And so ConserMotion was born with a simple vision: to use outdoor sports to study and protect nature and revitalize mountain communities, starting with Chamois.

Thanks to the IOC Young Leaders program, I will have access to mentorship, specialized training, and funding over the next four years—invaluable tools to transform this idea into a concrete project with real impact.

Consermotion is my way of combining sport and science for nature conservation, creating opportunities for local communities to protect biodiversity, strengthen social bonds, and reconnect with the mountains we love.

I certainly can't complete this project alone. Consermotion needs all of you, and if you're reading this article, I'm sure we already have many ideas to share and synergies to create together. This is just the beginning.