Let’s go back to 2006, we are in Naples: nestled under the Capodimonte hill there is the Rione Healsà. A neighborhood that was avoided by the Neapolitans themselves. But here a group of young people, led by Father Antonio Loffredo, a rebellious and enlightened parish priest, have set up what is called the “Miracle of the Rione Sanità”. Together they transformed it into one of the most beautiful and successful experiences of social entrepreneurship not only in the South, but in all of Italy.. How did they do it?
Eighteen years ago six young volunteers, born and raised in Sanità, decided to found, together with Loffredo, the social cooperative La Paranza Onlus. They started with the management of the Catacombs of San Gennaro and San Gaudioso and then continued with the valorisation and reopening of various artistic and cultural heritage assets of the neighborhood which had remained in a state of abandonment for too many years. «The management of the Catacombs», he explains Vincenzo Porzio the cooperative’s communications manager, “today it’s just one of our activities. That’s why after 18 years only the catacombs “brand” is a bit too small for us. We also want to make everything else known.”
The members of the La Paranza social cooperative today are 70. In the cooperative, from its foundation in 2006 to today, employment growth has gone from 5 to 70 workers, 50% of whom are selected from the very young people who frequent the educational centers in the neighborhood; the average age of the cooperators is 33 years; approximately 40% improved their qualifications after the cooperative experience; 75% chose to live in the district.
“To celebrate our eighteenth birthday,” he continues Portion “we launched the call”Signs of Change“, and co-design workshop dedicated to redefinition ours visual identity, created in collaboration with 17Studio e il patronage of Europa Nostra”.
The event will be held at Sanità District Of Napoli dal October 15-18, 2024 and will offer designers, graphic designers, illustrators and creatives from all over Europe aopportunity unique of training and of collaboration. During the four days of experience at the Rione Sanità, the selected young people will participate in a co-design workshop which provides for a free training it’s a design method which values teamwork and interactivity.
Why the call was also launched to all creatives in Europe is easy to understand: «The tourists who visit us», explains Porzio, «really come from all over Europe, and not only. Then the Rione Sanità has an incredible attractive force in bringing together positive energies. Our bond with Europe is also close, as a cooperative we have also won l’European Heritage Award – Europa Nostra Award 2022in the category “Champions of Heritage».
During the workshop, led by 17studio, an independent studio founded by Enrico Ausiello and Roberto Ciarambino and specializing in visual identity system design, motion design, art direction and communication strategies, a will be applied metodologia “learning by doing” which stimulates the creative process of the participants, maximizing the chances of success.
«This workshop is not just an event, but a concrete opportunity to do things together and participate in a creative process that can faithfully and graphically the identity of our cooperative starting from what it has achieved in the Rione Sanità and with the precious contribution of young Europeans. At Rione Sanità the relationship between people has always represented an added value and we hope that it will also characterize this experience”, he explains Porzio: «We will not change the name of the cooperative, but the logo will. It will be nice to see how others choose to interpret it graphically and visually. our value system. In Rione Sanità, when you put together great people and great thinking heads, it is incredible to observe what comes out of this collective intelligence. We have always been convinced that the work of the group is much stronger than the work of the individual. In short, to put it in the words of Pope Francis, “in a cooperative one plus one equals three”. And we expect this from the workshop”.
All the details to participate in the call are available on the site
www.cooperativalaparanza.it
The workshop is sponsored by Europa Nostra, the European voice of civil society which represents in all respects the largest heritage network in Europe committed to the protection and promotion of cultural and natural heritage. The Media Partners are VITA social enterprise and Apogeo Records.
