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Aversa (Caserta) – “Young people need to become active citizens who take care of their city”. This is how Mauro Baldascino addressed the students of the “Enrico Mattei” Institute, protagonists of the conference ‘Aversa and its links – The Third Sector for the educational community’ which took place at the Sagliano retirement home.
In the presence of the bishop of Aversa, Angelo Spinillo, the director of the regional Caritas, Don Carmine Schiavone, teachers and various representatives of associations and social enterprises, the four mayoral candidates answered the students’ questions on the third sector and the dialogue between the actors of the territory which carry out an educational and training function for young people.
“My experience and expertise in this area – began the centre-left mayoral candidate – has often led me to be a speaker at conferences on the third sector in the past. The latter and the other educational agencies, the family, the school, the church, must be networked and overcome that conflictual logic to enter the logic of collaboration. The means to create this already exists and is called the Educational Territorial Pact, Aversa, an educational city. Born last year, it was the first step in a journey that needs to be improved. The aim is to combat educational poverty and allow our young people to become active citizens who take care of their city, for example by volunteering or taking care of common goods. This becomes a way to be true citizens and build a community.”
Even on the question regarding strategies aimed at enhancing the work of the Third Sector in the area, Baldascino was clear. “For me the third sector is fundamental. In my experience – he replied – I have come to hypothesize a decisive role for the social economy. In the Third Sector there are organizations that by their nature deal with socially useful activities, therefore they have skills and experience, and the well-being of the community is in their corner. The theme is how to involve the Third Sector within public administration policies. Today there are very powerful tools, deriving from the Third Sector code, which are those of co-programming and co-planning. It means that together we decide policies, together we decide the things to be done continuously to create greater well-being.”
Finally, when asked by the students about relations between generations, Baldascino admitted, arousing broad consensus, that “you young people are a resource and that your problem is not yourselves but us adults. We fail to be credible points of reference. We must try to get you out of the selfish and competitive logic and into a logic of collaboration and sharing. If we give you the opportunity to do this – he concluded – you will do splendid things”.
