On 24 and 25 March 2023 at the Naturalistic Museum of the Territory “Giovanni Pusceddu” in Lunamatrona (VS), the Ampioraggio Foundation in collaboration with the Marmilla Union of Municipalities will hold the first Ampioraggio Day with the aim of defining a participatory development model of the territory working on 3 integrated macro themes:
- Digital Awareness: reduce the digital divide and transform technologies into a development lever, increasing the skills of citizens, entrepreneurs and administrators;
- Business chains: transforming the vocations and potential of the territory into an integrated system of territorial, social and profit entrepreneurship, capable of creating a system;
- Social Heritage: develop skills and attitudes of citizens and associations aimed at innovative processes of shared growth.
Below is the interview with the director of the Ampioraggio Foundation Joseph DeNicola it’s at Marco Pisano, Mayor of Siddi and president of the Union of Municipalities of Marmilla.
The director offers us a concise picture of who we are, what we do and why.
What is the Ampioraggio Foundation?
“Ampioraggio is a participatory Foundation, legally recognized since 2022 and active since 2016, which has created a national ecosystem of innovators with the aim of reducing the gap between innovation supply and demand by enhancing the collective intelligence of the members as a lever to disseminate models of sustainable development in companies and in central and local public administration. Our goal is to encourage the effective use of available resources to transform spending into long-term investments with measurable results”.
What are Ampioraggio Days?
“The Ampioraggio Days are territorial innovation laboratories through which the Foundation organizes direct discussions with communities and stakeholders to co-plan integrated revitalization and regeneration actions through meetings between Foundation members and groups of local actors. The aim of these laboratories and contaminate the territories with innovative visions and models and collect indications on the potential of the areas and the motivations of the people to try to generate new initiatives”.
During these meetings in Marmilla there will be “Open Talk and Living Lab”: how will the meetings develop?
“The structure of the Ampioraggio Days is based on 2 activities that take place in parallel, preceded by online meetings between the members of the Ampioraggio team and local actors. The open talks are public discussions between partners and members of the Foundation with institutional stakeholders ( public administrators, Foundations, Institutions and development Agencies, etc.) on specific issues. The living labs, which take place in parallel, provide coaching and training activities with groups of citizens interested in both creating new initiatives and growing existing activities o learn new skills.At the end of the 2 activities, the indications and stimuli received will be collected in order to elaborate reports on the works as an output for the territory.
The prism of Ampioraggio, innovation out of the ordinary
by Flavia Marzano
Now let’s see how the Mayor of Siddi and president of the Union of Municipalities of Marmilla interpreted his role on the first Ampioraggio day 2023.
How did it come to us?
“I met the Ampioraggio Foundation through the President of the Scientific Committee Flavia Marzano met through a mutual friend whom I will never tire of thanking for the opportunity she offered me. In particular, I was able to appreciate the initiatives promoted by the Ampioraggio Foundation in occasion of the selection of the Jazz’Inn 2022 format which saw the Marmilla Union of Municipalities as a candidate.Thanks to the mobilization of the territory, strongly desired and supported by the eighteen mayors of the Union, even though we did not win the 2022 edition of Jazz’Inn, we achieved the flattering result of the third place. From that moment a special bond was born between us and the Foundation and we have never left each other”.
What do you expect from the first AR day that we will do with you?
“I start by saying that the chief operating officer Giuseppe De Nicola and the President of the Scientific Committee of the Foundation, who enjoy my total trust, have worked beyond measure to organize the wide-ranging day in Marmilla in the best possible way. Whatever happens, it will be a success. First of all for the involvement: public and private institutions, the world of businesses and associations, the third sector, young people and operators in the various social sectors. Then for the topics covered: current, innovative, decisive, out of the ordinary”.
What are its goals?
“The goal of these two days is not to chase chimeras, but to sow a seed: a seed that tastes of social cohesion and a sense of belonging to the local community and on this basis to strengthen awareness, in local administrators, businesses, towns and in the citizens, in the social and economic operators, that the marvelous Marmilla does not have to invent anything to counter the sad phenomenon of depopulation because with its cultural, environmental, historical and artistic jewels it can truly become a place to live, to re-inhabit, and be a future for our young people”.
Can your experience and what we will do together become a pilot project for other administrations?
“I’m honest: I like the Foundation’s approach, its way of interacting, its managers and its important and qualified ecosystem. The Ampioraggio day program consists in focusing on the potential and opportunities for sustainable development of Marmilla, highlighting the critical issues where they exist, with an innovative method based mainly on listening to the interested parties and therefore proposing solutions that do not come from above but rely on the real needs of the territory and above all on the existing propensities, skills and professionalism. Lab will clearly highlight the strategies necessary for the relaunch of Marmilla and in this perspective, given the new analysis tools, proposals and solutions used, it can credibly become a pilot project also for other municipal and territorial administrations”.
What kind of pilot project and with what characteristics?
“It is an innovative project made up of involvement and sharing between public and private stakeholders, therefore with greater possibilities of rooting and success. The project involves different parts that dialogue with each other in a harmonious way, it is attentive to the reality of the territory and favors the valorisation of endogenous resources, sometimes unexpressed and heralds of development. For this reason, the project can be re-proposed and adapted to the needs of other territories and villages with similar needs in order to truly make ‘innovation out of the ordinary'”.
With what goals?
“The goal is to create true and sustainable development, anchored to our history, our skills and our knowledge, but combined with the evolving world, with new needs and with the new demands that come from society. This is what that we are committed to doing with Ampioraggio Day, an appointment that is not an end in itself, but the start of a path that has as its objective the creation of a project that is capable of shaping a cohesive, modern and technological territorial community and makes abandon the migratory intentions of our young people”.
What happened to the first stage of Jazz’Inn 2022
by Flavia Marzano
The Ampioraggio Foundation will be present with a delegation of associates: the process owners of the living labs, the coordinators of the open talks and some associates; people with great experience in sectors that are very different from each other but very connected to the needs of the territory and of all territories that have the characteristics and needs highlighted by President Pisanu, I would like to point out some of them:
- Andrea Paoletti
- Daniela Cadeddo
- Francis Naples
- Giulia Fabrizi
- Martino Cortese
- Maurizio Bertipaglia
- Raniero Pani
- Simon Caporal
As Mayor Pisanu said, this first Ampioraggio Day also aims to be a pilot project for the other 6 that we will do during the year (Canistro – AQ, Castrocielo – Rome, Roseto Capo Spulico – CS, Rovereto – TN, San Giovanni in Galdo – CB, Torrazza Coste – PV) to define together a sort of SWOT analysis on the needs and development possibilities of Italian villages: we look forward to seeing you in Marmilla to share experiences, problems and solutions!