The project aims to initiate a virtuous circle based on innovation & cooperation, creating a fertile ground for social cohesion & generativity. Through a multistakeholder process providing both strategic know-how and tools for bottom-up social projects design & implementation, it will set a place (a co-designed community platform allowing anyone to discover, propose & support local actions) for Trapani citizens to come together & to be actively engaged in the development of their own community.

Trapani, South Western Sicily, South Italy

The project aims to initiate a virtuous circle based on innovation & cooperation in order to contrast depopulation & impoverishment of Trapani area (characterized by lack of services, high fragmentation & low social cohesion)by empowering local community through tools tailored to stimulate bottom-up solutions generation & active citizenship whilst facilitating civic engagement & networking. It will boost local community setting a space dedicated to stakeholders’ interactions & contamination. After community building phase (including training, shared analysis of local issues & challenges and design of a roadmap for development)the contest will enable citizens to experiment new skills & tools, gaining confidence in the impact of their ideas & commitment and thus becoming activators of change

It is foreseen to empower 50 youth (mixed in terms of age (16 to 40 years old), background, socioeconomic conditions) through practical training on project design & development, soft skills and digitalization, provided by a multidisciplinary team in the local co-working space, that aims to become a hub for local actors & an incubator for innovative ideas focused on local development. In order to develop a multistakeholder network, particular attention is paid to involve, connect & empower a diversified group made of students, NEETs, young professionals, workers and entrepreneurs. Moreover, a diversified group of local stakeholders (min. 200 persons) will participate through digital tools to shared context analysis & design of the platform dedicated to community interactions & contamination

The project is made of 5 WorkPackages of which 2 are transversal to the entire project: WP1, focused on PM (ensuring goals achievement & monitoring change-initiated effects) and WP5, dedicated to its communication & capitalization.
Central WPs represent the core of the project as focused on beneficiaries’ involvement through participatory approaches & activities fostering social cohesion & generativity.
WP2 includes:publication & promotion of 2 calls to action (1 for youth on-site training & 1 open to all residents); participants’ selection;events to raise awareness & participation; launch of public surveys to map citizens’ needs, critical areas for community development & users’ requirements for platform design.
WP3,providing tailored know-how & tools, includes: platform development;on-site training (multidisciplinary & interactive workshops on reference context analysis, design thinking, theory of change, digital & soft skills);launch of the contest, open to the whole community,that will propose on the platform potential solutions to challenges jointly identified.
WP4,building on & cementing results of previous WPs, includes: launch of the platform (validated by users in beta test); digital training (interactive webinars & strategic know-how in a nutshell);citizens’ ballot & selection of contest winning proposals, of which crowdfunding will ensure effective implementation

The project, thanks to its interactive and multidisciplinary approach will promote the empowerment of Trapani community and its sustainable socioeconomic development. It will initiate a virtuous circle based on innovation and cooperation: the hub & the platform will enable anyone to participate and be aware of local actions, to acquire new skills and to connect with others, becoming activator and supporter of the revitalization of his territory. The provision of a community space, together with the know-how necessary for its effective use and the support of financial & non-financial tools, will promote social generativity, sense of belonging to the community and active citizenship, fertile ground for the development of new initiatives dedicated to the long-term enhancement of the territory

The project will foster civic engagement & active citizenship through a multistakeholder process providing at the same time know-how and tools for bottom-up design & implementation of local development actions. Besides training on site & through digital tools, the creation of an IT platform (designed through participatory user-centric approach) will allow citizens to connect, discover and participate in local actions, easily supporting their implementation through crowdfunding and access to multidisciplinary know-how & expertise. In order to ensure citizens’ participation & empowerment, the project contest will allow participants to experiment the knowledge & tools provided and to gain confidence in the impact their ideas can have whilst discovering social generativity processes potential

All partners are established in Trapani area & dedicated to the promotion of its sustainable & inclusive development. The team is made of local youth who chose to invest in their homeland and to unlock its potential in order to tackle the depopulation trend that affects it. It is made of multidisciplinary professionals who complement each other, united by the awareness of the importance of aggregation, collaboration & innovation in social value creation: Foundation has extensive experience in bottom-up & participatory approaches, social economy & generativity; Beehive is a newly established incubator focused on SouthWorking & digital training that relies on the power of exchange & networks; Coltivatori di Bellezza counts on several experts in design thinking, web design & development.

Personnel costs: 18.700 EUR
Consumables: 2.000 EUR
Platform development: 8.100 EUR
Training (on-site & digital): 5.200 EUR
Office expenses: 1.000 EUR