MILAN (ITALPRESS) – An action that focuses on young people and their educational and socialization needs, enhancing the network of oratories and strengthening territorial educational alliances. This is the Open Doors Call. The results of the first edition were presented this morning at the meeting held at the MEET Digital Culture Center in Milan during which the second edition of the call was launched, promoted by Fondazione Cariplo in collaboration with Fondazione Peppino Vismara and the 16 Community Foundations.An initiative that is being relaunched after the success of the first edition: on that occasion, in fact, more than 160 projects were received, a demand that led to the increase of the initial budget of 2,250,000 euros to reach the total share of contributions deliberated of 3,238,600 euros in specific support of 50 projects. 10 funded proposals are configured as “system projects” in that they involve collaboration and networking among at least 10 oratories.At the end of the activities envisaged by the projects – whose duration will be between 24 and 36 months – it is estimated to involve more than 59,000 minors and young people (up to 25 years of age) and 15,000 adults (including animators, educators and volunteers) involving as many as 271 oratories in total.In continuity with the previous edition, the call (aimed at entities in Lombardy and the provinces of Novara and Verbano Cusio Ossola) intends to support initiatives to strengthen oratories active in the territory, the strengthening of territorial alliances and support for the educational function of adults and the community.Discussed were the lines of the call and how oratories can be an important garrison for this purpose Giovanni Azzone, President of Fondazione Cariplo; H.E. Card. Matteo Zuppi, President of CEI – Italian Episcopal Conference; Enrico Mentana, journalist and founder of OPEN; Elena Marta, Professor of Social and Community Psychology at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan; and Paolo Morerio, President of the Peppino Vismara Foundation.For President Azzone, “the goal is to make sure that we help our young people not only to be part of a community, but to feel part of a community. We need a lot of tools. Oratories especially in Lombardy are a strong place of integration that competes with so many other stimuli. Having a physical place that can generate solidarity and a sense of belonging seems important to us. “Commenting on the excellent results of the first edition of the call for proposals, Azzone described as “emblematic already just the fact that we had to increase the budget allocated to this initiative compared to the forecast. The goal in this first and second year is to have a range of different experiences to understand which of them can be most successful.””We have therefore very much welcomed the willingness of Fondazione Cariplo and the Community Foundations to join efforts so that we can offer a support tool that, even in its experimental nature, can push oratories to “open their doors,” to “contaminate” and be “contaminated” by the different experiences present in the various communities that care about the growth and formation of the new generations.” commented Paolo Morerio, trusting that from these initiatives we can “generate opportunities for aggregation and socialization, restoring to oratories the role of open and user-friendly educational garrison, while also stimulating a responsible involvement of adults, which is indispensable in a process of building the educating community.”For this year’s call for proposals, 2.3 million euros have been made available and projects, which can be submitted by April 16, can be allocated a contribution of between 30,000 euros and 60,000 euros, not exceeding 90 percent of the total costs.In his speech, Cardinal Zuppi stressed that “the great strength of oratories is that of teaching, preparing for the future, sowing something that will help to orient oneself in an increasingly confused world. This is why President Azzone’s intuition to help oratories is very wise. “Cardinal Zuppi then highlighted the role of the social alliance “which must nurture hope and therefore the future. After all, it is the same theme of this Jubilee of Hope. We should not be afraid of open doors because they help us to make us feel at home and not to be alone. “Shifting our gaze to current events, the founder of Open Mentana also recommended reflecting on the educational model we transmit to young people. “We need an idea of the future, but to date no political force or important element (of society, ed.) offers us a future goal. The risk is that a young person will be increasingly de-empowered because there is a virtual assistant that evaluates and decides in his place,” he said. “Instead, we need to have a project of future society that is not delegated to subjects such as artificial intelligence or Elon Musk.”-photo Fondazione Cariplo press office-(ITALPRESS)
