The Social Day project aims to encourage young people to be active citizens of their local community, as opposed to just recipients of services.
The aim of the project is to involve young people in social work that benefits their community (gardening, care work in retirement homes and kindergartens, babysitting, handcrafting, theatre performances, activities in public libraries, work as city tour guides, etc.), in a single symbolic day at national level. The final objective is to foster the relationships between young people and their community, including enterprises, public institutions, associations, and local businesses. The participants will receive a compensation for their activities directly from the hosting entities. The total amount of these contributions will be allocated to cooperation projects at the participants’ choice, both at the national and international level.
The Social Day project (www.socialday.org) was born in Europe in the Seventies, and started in Italy in 2006. From the 250 people engaged in the first year, it reached 8.500 participants in 2016, involving 65 schools and over 2.000 firms, businesses, public institutions and volunteering associations. Nowadays, the activities in Italy take place in the Regions of Veneto (Provinces of Padua, Treviso, Verona, Vicenza, Rovigo and Venice), Trentino (Province of Trentino) and Lombardy (Provinces of Lodi and Milan), and in the Province of Pisa.
The project is aimed at enhancing the activities of the Social Day in the communities that are already involved and to spread the initiative to new territories in Italy.
With the Social Day project, we want to educate young people to sustainable development and international cooperation through active citizenship practices. Participating in this project, young people get the opportunity to become active citizens in their community, debunking the myth of “There is nothing I can do about it”. In fact, at the end of their activities, the participants will be able to experience first-hand the improvements in their community resulting from their efforts.
In particular, the project “Social Day: new citizens from local to global” is aimed at:
- Making boys and girls aged 6-19 aware of their role of active citizens of the world and of their responsibility for the sustainable development of the planet
- Enhancing the knowledge of teachers and educators on sustainable development, active citizenship and international cooperation
- Spread the message: “Think global, act local” among young generations and citizens.
In the city of Milan, ICEI will cooperate with Fratelli dell’Uomo to organize educational activities with teachers and students, as well as initiatives in preparation of the Social Day with young people and groups of unaccompanied minors. Some of these young people will also be able to design and realize itineraries of sustainable tourism to discover the migrant communities of the city of Milan, also thanks to the involvement of migrant associations.
In the territories involved in the project (about 50 municipalities), we expect to reach:
- boys and girls aged 6-19 coming from schools, informal groups and communities of unaccompanied minors, who will take part in the educational activities.
- teachers of primary and secondary school and educators from informal groups, who will follow a training program
- associations of the third sector, public institutions and local administrations, firms and businesses, and ultimately the whole local population
Expected results
- Young people from schools, informal groups and communities of unaccompanied minors are trained on the issues of active citizenship and international cooperation;
- The development of a culture of international solidarity and active participation is fostered among young people between 6 and 19 years old
- teachers and educators increase their skills through a training program on the issues related to the project
- young people cooperate with local entities during the Social Day, increasing their awareness of the relationships between their everyday actions and the dynamics of national and international cooperation
- Awareness on the issues of international cooperation is raised among the citizens of the municipalities involved.
Info: comunicazione@icei.it
Official project website: www.socialday.org