Italian city of youth, Naples hands over the baton to Potenza.

Potenza is the Italian City of Youth 2024. On Friday afternoon, in the Council Room of Palazzo San Giacomo, there was the passing of the baton from the Municipality of Naples which had boasted the title last year. The winning city was awarded by the Minister for Sport and Youth Andrea Abodi and by the president of the National Youth Council Maria Cristina Pisani. The event was attended by the mayor of Naples Gaetano Manfredi, the councilor for youth policies and employment Chiara Marciani, the president of the National Youth Council Maria Cristina Pisani, the extraordinary commissioner of the Italian Agency for Youth Federica Celestini Campanari and the representatives of the five finalist cities of the 2024 edition: with Potenza, Catania, Jesolo, Pisa and Teramo.

The Prize is avery important initiative promoted by the National Youth Council in collaboration with the Department for Youth Policies and the Universal Civil Service of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and the Italian Youth Agency, which aims to stimulate the active engagement of young people in local policies and decision-making processes at a territorial level, recognizing and enhancing the commitment of Italian cities in this area.

Every year it is awarded to the city that has stood out for its particular attention and care for the needs of the younger generations. Particular attention in this edition of the Award was given to the project that best of all focuses on strengthening the skills of young people with the aim of encouraging greater participation in the decision-making processes of institutions and to encourage the development of its territory through paths aimed at promoting culture, legality and environmental protection. This is also in light of the European Year of Skills, proclaimed on the proposal of the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, which ends on 8 May.

“It was a very important experience – recalled Mayor Manfredi – because it helped us to better finalize our programming towards young people. It stimulated the Municipality to create the Youth Forum that was missing in our institutional architecture, we opened other youth centers and carried out a series of mentoring and stimulus initiatives towards the new generations to seek out new talents and create opportunities. I hope that the work done can be an example and support for the city that takes up the baton of Naples".

“The projects of the Municipalities must be developed and made available to young people through participation, opportunities, listening – underlined Minister Abodi -. This is what we are also trying to do through the Universal Civil Service, the Community Network and Civic Spaces Project which is dedicated in particular to children who are in difficulty. I consider this day as a trampoline to take a leap to the next level by indicating the work that must be carried out and developed from today not only by the winning city, but also by the others that participated in this competition".

“The Italian City of Youth award – explained councilor Marciani – gave us the opportunity to further enhance the youth component of our city. On paper we are the youngest city in Italy and therefore, through the project, we wanted to give more voice to the young people of our city to ensure that their opinion and point of view can always be brought to the attention of our Administration. And then we have many projects in all sectors, from creativity to art, from sport to culture. We want there to be many opportunities to ensure that our young people can experience all neighborhoods, all areas, in the easiest way possible."

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“Naples is an example for all of Italy for promoting the participation and involvement of young people. It is giving space to youth organizations to decide together what future to outline for the city. It was very hard to choose the winning city of this new edition because we received some very valuable projects. With all those who work in the world of young people we are trying to offer an image of institutions that really have the desire to dialogue and initiate paths of democratic participation and co-decision", said the extraordinary commissioner of the Italian Youth Agency Federica Celestini Campanari.

“Potenza has demonstrated with its project that it has a clear vision on how to enhance the energies and ideas of young people, transforming the city into a living laboratory of social and cultural innovation. This is an example of how cities can become protagonists of change, promoting civic activism and youth empowerment – ​​said the president of the National Youth Council, Maria Cristina Pisani –. I want to thank all the cities that participated and I hope that they can still take full advantage of the path started with this candidacy, to show how youth engagement can actually make a difference in building stronger, more resilient and inclusive communities".