Fondazione Cariverona supports young people who choose to stay

Convincing young people to imagine a future in their homeland, which they increasingly decide to abandon. With this objective in mind, Fondazione Cariverona has launched the new call Orienta il tuo futuro (Orient your future), with a total budget of 2.8 million, to support innovative projects aimed at 14- to 20-year-olds.

The decision stems from the realisation that one in two young people no longer see their city or region as the place where they will build their lives. There is no lack of ties or roots, but concrete conditions for staying. This trend emerges from the Futuro Qui! research, previously also promoted by the Foundation operating in the provinces of Verona, Vicenza, Belluno, Ancona and Mantua. It emerges that 51.6% of the under-35s interviewed look elsewhere, especially abroad, discouraged by low salaries, housing difficulties, inefficient transport and inaccessible services. This is not disillusionment, it is awareness because this is a pragmatic generation, calling for effective actions, structural changes and new initiatives through which it can participate, choose, make its mark.

The aim of the call is to develop transversal skills, strengthen youth leadership, and build solid alliances between schools, families, organisations, businesses and institutions. 'With Orienta il tuo futuro,' emphasises Bruno Giordano, president of the Foundation, 'we want to offer young people tools to choose, to plan, to stay. Not as spectators, but as protagonists of change'. The initiative is aimed at schools, associations, public bodies, businesses, and third sector organisations that choose to accompany boys and girls in a crucial phase of their growth. Adolescence is the time of questions, of choices, of the first real challenges. It is necessary to start from here in order to explore one's own capacities, to get to know oneself and orient oneself, beyond the school, including additional spaces: cultural, sports centres, creative workshops, areas for meeting and confrontation. The selected initiatives will experiment new ways of involving young people, making them protagonists, from the planning of activities to their implementation.

Special attention will also be paid to the personal and relational wellbeing of the project beneficiaries, because growing up does not only mean acquiring new knowledge, but also learning to know oneself, to believe in one's own potential, and to manage emotions and difficulties one encounters. The projects must be implemented in the five provinces where the Foundation operates and have a maximum duration of 24 months. The available grants range from a minimum of EUR 150,000 to a maximum of EUR 250,000, with co-financing of at least 20% of the total project cost. Applications must be submitted online by 1pm on 19 September. All materials are available on the Foundation's website.