Italy
This territorial framework provides fertile ground for SINCRONY’s exploration of inclusive participation, connecting local government initiatives and school-based experimentation in democratic education.
Two pilots are based in the city of Cesena and explore two complementary dimensions: civic participation and educational inclusion.
The
school
The I-PARD pilot takes place at the Liceo Linguistico Statale “Ilaria Alpi” in Cesena, a secondary school deeply committed to intercultural education, inclusion, and civic engagement.
The school offers programmes focused on mastering multiple foreign languages, integrating linguistic, humanistic, and scientific disciplines in a holistic curriculum.
Rooted in a lively social and cultural environment, the Liceo promotes openness, curiosity, and cooperation as key educational values. Its students come from Cesena and neighbouring towns, reflecting a socially diverse catchment area that mirrors the region’s productive and multicultural landscape.
Within this framework, civic and citizenship education plays an essential role. The school’s institutional curriculum, aligned with the 2024 National Guidelines for Civic Education (Ministerial Decree 183/24), encourages students to connect constitutional principles with everyday life, through themes such as sustainability, digital citizenship, and social responsibility.
These activities are not treated as separate subjects but as opportunities to practise dialogue, co-decision, and community awareness: the same principles at the heart of SINCRONY’s participatory approach.
The pilot
The pilot is coordinated by the University of Bologna SINCRONY team, in collaboration with teachers and students who will take part in participatory workshops exploring inclusion, wellbeing, and democratic dialogue in everyday school life.
The Liceo’s emphasis on communication, respect for differences, and teamwork makes it an ideal partner for SINCRONY’s educational experimentation.
The
organization
The initiative seeks to make young citizens co-authors of local governance, enabling them to express their needs, ideas, and priorities for the community through structured dialogue and collective decision-making.
Workshops and deliberative sessions are organised in collaboration with schools, youth associations, and local institutions, creating a civic learning environment where participation becomes both a right and a shared practice.
Within SINCRONY, this I-DPP pilot explores how intergenerational deliberation and inclusive facilitation tools can strengthen the relationship between young people and local authorities, fostering new models of democratic engagement in everyday governance.
The operational management of Civis anch’io has been entrusted by the Municipality to an external facilitation agency, while the University of Bologna SINCRONY team provides methodological and scientific support, ensuring alignment with the project’s research framework and participatory approach.
For further information:
I-DPP pilot UNIBO
The
associations of donation
Within the SINCRONY framework, this pilot explores participation in the context of structured voluntary associations that combine long-standing organisational cultures with the need to engage younger generations. These associations represent historically rooted forms of civic engagement, often characterised by stable governance structures and strong intergenerational traditions. At the same time, they are currently facing challenges related to youth recruitment, internal renewal, and the transformation of participatory practices.
The pilot, conducted by the University of Bologna team, aims to support a process of reflective co-design involving both young members and senior volunteers. Through facilitated workshops and deliberative sessions, participants are invited to examine how decision-making processes function within their associations, how inclusive these processes are perceived to be, and how organisational practices might evolve to better recognise youth agency.
The activities are conducted in collaboration with local branches of AVIS, AIDO, and ADMO in the regional area. University of Bologna SINCRONY team provides methodological guidance, participatory tools, and research supervision with the aim to help associations improve their governance processes.
In this setting, SINCRONY investigates how traditional volunteer organisations can become laboratories of democratic innovation, where intergenerational dialogue is not limited to symbolic recognition but translated into concrete spaces of shared decision-making.
