Cadore, young councilors team up: “Listening and ideas, let’s revive the valleys”

First exit with five elected by majority and opposition. And the Paralympic champions Fantin and De Silvestro arrive

PIEVE DI CADORE. Small administrators grow up in Cadore. And they have clear ideas. “We don’t want to wage war on local administrations, of which we are a part, but we need clear and timely answers, we can’t wait any longer. Because the meaning of politics is to respond to the needs of citizens. Politics is the future, not seats ». This is the manifesto of the Giovani & Futuro group, which was presented on Saturday morning in the Coletti room in Tai. Five, for now, the promoters: Luca Frescura (20 years old), minority group leader in Vigo and member of the Unione Montana Centro Cadore, second year law student in Trieste; Thomas Menia Corbanese (22 years old), municipal councilor of Danta, graduated in modern literature in Trieste and student in the first year of a master’s degree in Philology in Trento; Luca Olivotto (21 years), city councilor in Borca, office worker; Monica Del Favero (28 years old), minority city councilor in Vigo, teacher; Emanuele Maierotti (29 years old), municipal councilor of Perarolo.

Luca Olivotto, who is in charge of sports, culture and youth policies in Borca, thinks of this new group as a “driving force for creating a direct relationship between desires and feasibility. It’s frustrating – he argued – to have ideas and not have the means to make them happen. And it is not often a question of lack of funds, but of the will to change ».

«We seek the involvement of all – Tommaso Menia echoed – young people, but also the elderly, adults, families, to revive the villages and valleys. We listen to the needs of the people, but then we want to be able to find concrete solutions, because too often in the municipal councils our proposals are left to decant. There are many problems from depopulation to viability, but new solutions are needed ».

“We asked ourselves how to best honor the mandate we received in the last elections – Luca Frescura then resumed – and we can only do it by looking at reality, starting with the poverty index which in our areas is even higher than that of the province. Standing still, the death of our valleys is a certainty; we oppose this fatalism. We tell our peers to take the reins of our future together, to interact, to team up. Leaving aside the party flags, which make little sense up here, and pursuing an identical vision of administrative commitment ».

In the programs, health care and the first aid service come first, “because it is not possible for a mother to risk losing her child in 2022 due to traffic and the lack of this fundamental protection in the area”. Then, in no particular order, social initiatives, attention to the local economy also as a deterrent to depopulation, transport and services for children. “But these are all related issues – said Monica Del Favero – and our territory deserves more respect on all fronts”.

But how do these young people relate to local administrations and also to associations such as Consulta of the young people of Cadore, the Comelico Nuovo Association, etc.? «The birth of associations is the first concrete demonstration that citizens really want to change and prevent the mountain from dying. Within the administrations we want to bring a wind of novelty and rejuvenation, we want to collaborate with the other associations ».

In the meantime, two young champions responded enthusiastically to their appeal who challenged their limits and demonstrated that willpower can win over everything. The meeting was attended, in fact, by Antonio Fantin, Paralympic swimming champion in the 100m freestyle specialty in Tokyo 2020 (7 times world champion and 8 times European champion) and René De Silvestro (Paralympic champion of alpine skiing in the super combined Lillehammer 2021 and silver and bronze at the giant slalom Paralympics in Beijing 2022). “I have always tried to look at obstacles as an opportunity,” said Fantin. “I am with you because I live in our territory and I believe it can have a future built together”, resumed De Silvestro. And both said they were willing to work alongside the Giovani & Futuro team.