THE SEEDS OF A COMMUNITY

The seeds of a community is a project of social cohesion developed in the Quarto Oggiaro district, in Milan. The project is promoted by ACLI Lombardia, funded by Fondazione Cariplo and partnered by ACLI Milano, Associazione Unisono, Villaggio Nostrale, Fondazione CAPAC- Istituto Greppi, Consorzio CCSL, Associazione ConVoi and Associazione Ricerca Sociale.

The project will run from July 2013 to June 2016 and has as its general objectives on the one hand to develop and strengthen relationships and connections (among the district’s inhabitants, between them and some specific places in Quarto Oggiaro, between the formal and informal organizations that make the neighbourhood alive), and on the other to increase the citizens’ capacity, alone and especially in groups, to realize and take responsibility for the common problems, identify solutions, become promoters of interventions of people and places’ care and promotion.

The main actions of the project are the following:

COMMUNITY GARDEN – creating a community shared garden as a place for socialization, co-production, exchange, education on socially and economically sustainable lifestyles. The garden’s development and care will see the involvement of elderly and young volunteers from the neighbourhood, at first supported by project operators, later in the form of a local citizens’ association. The garden will also host public events and initiatives aimed at knowing other places in the district and their history.

RELATIONSHIPS TO OVERCOME THE VULNERABILITY – development of guidance and support to local services for people in situation of fragility, development of voluntary initiatives and self-help groups aimed at taking care of individual and collective problems, such as the children care, places’ safeguard, family budget’s correct designing, risky behaviours’ reduction (debts, betting, etc.).

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TERRITORY – development of initiatives for young people in Quarto Oggiaro who are about to end or have recently ended their education course (neet) and need support, guidance, skills to build voluntary and professional paths. The activities, through the initial presence of professional operators, see on one hand the youngsters’ involvement in start-up initiatives and voluntary social actions for the most vulnerable families in the neighbourhood, and on the other the contribution of “young elders” who, as volunteers, guide the younger ones with relational support and their technical skills.

Contact: Giuseppe Imbrogno – ACLI Lombardia