Fabbrica: 27 million to open community spaces for young people. Abodi: ‘This way, they take centre stage’

An incentive for amateur sports clubs and third-sector organisations wishing to set up permanent venues for socialising, training and guidance for young people aged between 14 and 35. It is ‘Fabbrica – Civic Spaces for Young People’, the €27 million public call for proposals presented in Ascoli Piceno – the 2026 Italian City of Youth – by the Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi. The funds come from the Youth Policy Fund and are managed by the Department for Youth Policy and Universal Civil Service, with the support of Sport and Health.

The Civic Space is defined as an ‘open, accessible, safe and inclusive local hub’, where sport acts as an educational catalyst alongside cultural, educational, social and career guidance activities. The call for proposals focuses primarily on local areas, with the aim of offering young people opportunities to remain in the places where they live. The programme builds on the experience of Community Civic Spaces and RiGenerazioni.

According to Abodi, together with the latter, this brings the funding for initiatives aimed at young people to ‘over 50 million’; in the minister’s view, young people should not be ‘merely the recipients of public policies, but key players in decision-making’. For the president of Sport e Salute, Marco Mezzaroma, in small towns and provincial areas, a place to go “is often lacking, or is too far away”, whilst sports clubs and the third sector “are already there”.

Between 120 and 150 projects will be eligible for funding, with a duration of 18 to 24 months and a grant of between 150,000 and 250,000 euros each. Eligible applicants include amateur sports associations and clubs registered with the RASD, and third-sector organisations established as associations or foundations and registered with the RUNTS. Applications must be submitted via the Sport e Salute platform from 12 noon on 4 November until 12 noon on 18 December 2026. Given the available funding, the average grant per project ranges from 180,000 to 225,000 euros.