6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa
6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa
6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
etc. In many Italian regi<strong>on</strong>s, the Catholic Church, with its parishes and broad range of<br />
tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g activities, has played a relevant role <strong>in</strong> these endeavours, but unfortunately there has<br />
been no opportunity for socialisati<strong>on</strong> and participati<strong>on</strong> activated and realised directly by<br />
public <strong>in</strong>stituti<strong>on</strong>s that was not l<strong>in</strong>ked to adhesi<strong>on</strong> to associati<strong>on</strong>s or organisati<strong>on</strong>s of some<br />
k<strong>in</strong>d.<br />
There are several reas<strong>on</strong>s for this problem, but the most important <strong>on</strong>e is that str<strong>on</strong>g policy<br />
acti<strong>on</strong>s regard<strong>in</strong>g young people have often been rejected. The passage to adult and<br />
professi<strong>on</strong>al life, together with educati<strong>on</strong> <strong>in</strong> favour of social participati<strong>on</strong>, have been matters<br />
for the family, school, and associati<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
In Italy there is no clear def<strong>in</strong>iti<strong>on</strong> of youth work and, up to now, there has been no youth<br />
acti<strong>on</strong> plan where the expressi<strong>on</strong> “young people” was uniformly def<strong>in</strong>ed. All the laws deal<strong>in</strong>g<br />
with this issue, both at nati<strong>on</strong>al and regi<strong>on</strong>al levels, have different c<strong>on</strong>cepts of what “young<br />
people” are. Each of these laws c<strong>on</strong>siders different age ranges to identify the target,<br />
depend<strong>in</strong>g <strong>on</strong> the issue dealt with. Some def<strong>in</strong>e young people as pers<strong>on</strong>s between the ages<br />
of 15 and 29, others def<strong>in</strong>e them as be<strong>in</strong>g between 15 and 36, etc. The c<strong>on</strong>sequence is that,<br />
usually, youth work is c<strong>on</strong>sidered to be the work carried out by young people of different<br />
ages, study<strong>in</strong>g or not, young people who, for the first time, are approach<strong>in</strong>g the labour<br />
market, and policies <strong>in</strong> favour of youth work are all <strong>in</strong>itiatives to provide <strong>in</strong>struments<br />
necessary to cope with new job opportunities and with fast changes.<br />
In Italy there is now a M<strong>in</strong>istry for <strong>Youth</strong> Policies and Sport, as <strong>in</strong> other European countries,<br />
and the goal of this m<strong>in</strong>istry is to provide nati<strong>on</strong>al youth policies through the <strong>Youth</strong> Nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
Plan. A special ec<strong>on</strong>omical fund has been <strong>in</strong>stituted (Law n. 248, August 2006) to implement<br />
the acti<strong>on</strong>s of the Nati<strong>on</strong>al <strong>Youth</strong> Plan: the “Fund for <strong>Youth</strong> Policies”. It was created with the<br />
aim of promot<strong>in</strong>g the rights of young people to cultural and vocati<strong>on</strong>al tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g, to foster their<br />
<strong>in</strong>clusi<strong>on</strong> <strong>in</strong> social activities, and to implement acti<strong>on</strong>s needed to <strong>in</strong>crease their opportunities<br />
of becom<strong>in</strong>g house owners and gett<strong>in</strong>g credit to buy the goods and services they need. The<br />
budget is € 130 milli<strong>on</strong> for 2007; this m<strong>on</strong>ey will be adm<strong>in</strong>istrated the country´s regi<strong>on</strong>al and<br />
local authorities.<br />
Another important aspect to underl<strong>in</strong>e is the <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g attenti<strong>on</strong> paid by the nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
government to the provisi<strong>on</strong> of educati<strong>on</strong> and c<strong>on</strong>t<strong>in</strong>uous tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g for young people.<br />
Over the last ten years, many projects have been realised with the participati<strong>on</strong> of local<br />
adm<strong>in</strong>istrati<strong>on</strong>s, local health organizati<strong>on</strong>s and the third sector. These projects have dealt<br />
with preventi<strong>on</strong>, social assistance, and health promoti<strong>on</strong>. Local authorities manage youth<br />
policies through Local Social Plans (Piani Sociali di Z<strong>on</strong>a) <strong>in</strong>volv<strong>in</strong>g the promoti<strong>on</strong> of cultural<br />
and civic sense promoti<strong>on</strong>, the development of aut<strong>on</strong>omy and <strong>in</strong>dependence, and the<br />
preventi<strong>on</strong> of social isolati<strong>on</strong> and disease. Over these years, a great panorama of projects<br />
and <strong>in</strong>terventi<strong>on</strong>s has been promoted. These projects stress cultural exchange, a new<br />
approach to the needs and expectati<strong>on</strong>s of young people. Most local authorities communes<br />
are now <strong>in</strong> charge of youth policy, <strong>in</strong>dicat<strong>in</strong>g that there is an <strong>in</strong>stituti<strong>on</strong>al will to take care of<br />
37