Innovation: Abitanza project

Forli, Italy

AAI Domain: Participation in society (voluntary activity, social connectedness, political participation)

Many communities across Europe have faced severe economic and social challenges following the financial crisis of 2008 and the resulting period of austerity that has affected the lives and livelihoods of tens of millions of people. Social innovations can play a part in developing solutions to many of these challenges that require the regeneration and revitalisation of neighbourhoods, in even the most affluent regions.

Forli is a city with a population of approximately 120,000 people, it is situated in the Emilia Romagna region of northern Italy with a long history of agriculture and industry that is becoming a post-industrial community. Faced with the pressures of the central state stepping back from responsibility for social policies and an ageing population that has experienced relatively high levels of migration, the local municipality has embraced social innovation as part of the solution to the challenges of the present situation.

The established process of local area planning was intensified with an emphasis on social innovations being co-created with communities alongside strengthening partnership working across the public, private and social sector actors. The main health and welfare priorities of the Forli municipality were health and the environment, families and children, addressing dependency and using innovative methods to support families who take care of elderly, disabled and mentally ill people.

A good example of this approach is the Abitanza project in Villafranca, a district of around 2,000 people some 15 kilometres from the city centre, that has become a classic ‘bedroom community’ with few services for young or old people and a lack of spaces for socialisation.

After mapping population needs through field research, a committee of participation was established consisting of officers from the municipality, private sector entrepreneurs, third sector associations and local people. The ethos of the project, echoing John F. Kennedy, was ‘ask not what the city can do for you, ask what you can do for your city’ that enabled and encouraged community participation and voluntary activity in developing innovative solutions to local challenges.

This has been characterised as ‘soft welfare’ that encourages mutual aid, self-help activities and socialisation within the community that involved the establishment of a time bank, the library being self-managed by parents of young children, the restoration of the local agricultural college to house community initiatives for all groups within the community and the establishment of an ‘open neighbourhood committee’ to meet at informal venues, such as local cafes or bars, to discuss progress.

One of numerous initiatives was the establishment of a local farmers’ market to encourage the consumption of local produce at affordable prices that would take the community back to a more traditional model of shopping and living. The Fa-King-Sol initiative aims to spread musical culture among young people and adults and so foster inter-generational activity and understanding that will build a stronger sense of community cohesion.

In relation to active ageing, the Abitanza project in Forli is based on a combination of encouraging voluntary activities across the community along with strengthening political participation at the local level through the open neighbourhood committee. This is underpinned by a range of initiatives to build stronger social connections within the community involving people of all ages. Forli has embraced the concept of social innovation to meet the challenges it faces and the Abitanza project in Villafranca is an area of interest.

Websites

Regione Emilia-Romagna

LABSUS - Laboratorio per la sussidiarietà