Two new realities are underway to support job placement in the province of Pavia, created with the assistance of HUB Voghera – Cooperativa 381. The GRUP is growing and supporting innovation in the area in the field of sustainability. Today in Voghera the Boards of Directors of two new entities that intend to join the GRUP – Community of associations and cooperatives united by common values and practices to support solidarity and sustainable growth – met for the first time. The Social Cooperative Society COLERE COMUNITÀ BIOFILA ETS, (CO.CO.BIO.), of mixed type (A and B), of which Juliana Moreira is President and Founder together with Danila Quistapace Vice President, Monica Guioli Councilor and Monica Veronese Member. The cooperative will deal, through the inclusion of disabled people and people in disadvantaged conditions, with services to the community and with integrating artisanal transformations into the supply chain for a type of sustainable and regenerative agriculture which has the aim of promoting the well-being of the soil, plants, animals, humans and the entire planet; this means that the well-being of the community and the members of the cooperative itself cannot be separated from the well-being of the ecosystems. We therefore aim to transform high quality and nutritious foods, avoiding the use of products that are harmful to the health of all organisms, from the smallest to the largest.
The young people who make up the mixed-type (A and B) Organic Social Agricultural and Peasant Social Cooperative Welfare Farm ETS are all under 40, of which Ramona Timofte is President and Founder together with Francesco Scognamiglio as Vice President and Valentina Muresu as advisor. The cooperative will deal, through the inclusion of disabled people and people in disadvantaged conditions, with the recovery of abandoned and underused land, with the planting, care, maintenance and sale of vegetables and fruits coming from the seeds and plants of the Germplasm Bank Plant of the University of Pavia Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, directed by Prof. Graziano Rossi, within a No-Dig conservation vegetable garden/nursery. Recognition by the Lombardy Region will also be required to carry out Agritourism activities with, Educational Farm and Social Farm.
“Everyone deserves an opportunity, because each of us can make a difference and each of us is fragile in our own way, especially in this historical moment. Our cooperatives will be an open “Family”, ready to welcome, as Saint Orione said: “Everyone who has a need, any type of need, anything, even those who are in pain must be welcomed into our homes” … to be able to share!” he has declared Luca Benicchi project manager HUB Voghera which accompanied the birth of the two cooperatives.
Throughout Europe there has long been a constant growth, both numerical and dimensional, of social enterprises and non-profit organizations of social utility that participate, in diversified ways, in systems to combat poverty and social exclusion. The search for innovative forms to guarantee effective and adequate personal services for a demand attentive to the quality of services, the growing attention towards participatory welfare paths and the growing role entrusted to local communities in taking care of disadvantaged or of those with reduced contractual contracts (welfare community) has materialized in our country with the development of the third sector in general and of social cooperation in particular, the main instrument recognized by national legislation to promote social cohesion, local welfare and employment inclusion of so-called subjects “disadvantaged” also through a market, in which the province of Pavia has always shown great excitement. For some years, an area of interest has opened up towards the role that artisanal, agricultural and service activities can take on in social inclusion practices and in the therapeutic and/or rehabilitative paths of people with various types of hardship and disadvantage: for example the so-called social agriculture. No “recipes” or specific “instructions for use” will be suggested in order to promote the products of social agriculture and the services offered on the market. In an era marked by uncertainty and many global turbulences that have a profound impact on local dynamics, it does not appear useful to outline predetermined paths while adopting strategic lines to be implemented to resolve a growing problem:
1. Counter environmental degradation through the regeneration of the territory and the care of natural and social ecosystems for the well-being of the soil, plants, animals, communities and people.
2. Enhance local productions obtained through characterization (genetic, chemical, metabolic, technological) of fresh and processed products, reintroduction into cultivation of ancient varieties suitable for sustainable, entirely organic cultivation.
3. Support employment of techniques and agro-ecological practices sustainable while preserving theagro-biodiversity local in order to enhance marginal areas, with particular reference to mountainous ones, evaluating their effectiveness through clear and measurable indicators.
4. Promote social inclusion and job placement o the professional retraining of young people, women and people with disabilities or in disadvantaged conditions.
5. Disseminate and train farmers, artisanal processors and catering and hospitality operators in the area with respect to the potential offered by the cultivation methods adopted, the short supply chain and traceability to disseminate the results obtained from the project.
6. Promote active participation through networks and other forms of local aggregation, shared with local services, other non-profit organisations, for-profit companies and public bodies.
7. Carry out cultural, social, educational and recreational activities, for the enhancement of the environment, landscape heritage and rural historical traditions; to transfer knowledge on the biological cycles of animals and plants, on the production, transformation and conservation processes of products; inform/educate about conscious-fair-trade consumption; approach the culture of cooperation through experiential activities.
8. Increase l‘social interaction experiential between people and their environment with a view to active intervention in the reintegration and development of local communities and the rural fabric from a biophilic perspective.
The GRUP capitalizes on the experience and friendship of community members to generate a model of sharing and co-planning of initiatives and projects by historic third sector entities operating in the Pavia area, Oltrepò and Lomellina. The fruit of this long collaboration allowed the GRUP to design the project ”S2o.le (Solidarity – Sustainability – Works – Work – Empowerment)” supported thanks to the significant contribution of the Cariplo Foundation, as part of the Emblematici Maggiori programme. The S2o.le project intends to launch a process of generative territorial social innovation that places local values, treasures and resources at the center in order to improve the ability of vulnerable people to enter the job market, to revitalize the local heritage, to stimulate fair tourism with innovative strategies and generate opportunities for territorial cohesion. An ambitious project, developed over three years, brings together the partners Ottolini Family Social Cooperative with Oltre Confine SCS Onlus, Acli Provinciali di Pavia APS, APOLF, La Parish of SSMo Salvatore, Babele ODV, and the Social Cooperatives: Gli Aironi, 381 Onlus and Come Noi which aim to give concreteness and strength to the GRUP network through its presence in the area and the membership of new members.
Website: https://www.progettosolepavia.it
Fondazione Cariplo supports socially useful projects linked to art and culture, environment, personal services and scientific research in Lombardy and in the provinces of Novara and Verbano Cusio Ossola. Since 1991 it has promoted community life, supporting non-profit entities that operate in the area and are closest to people’s needs. Distances within our communities are increasing, making them more fragmented and fragile: today more than ever there is a need to shorten these distances to have strong and inclusive communities, to support people’s lives and to have robust institutions, in capable of reconciling different needs and directing resources and choices towards a better future for everyone and in which everyone can recognize themselves. In these 30 years of life, the Cariplo Foundation has made it possible to carry out 35,600 projects, donating over 3.6 billion euros to the territory. Further information on the website www.fondazionecariplo.it
Service by Emanuele Bottiroli
