We arrived in Parliament, at the Montecitorio press conference room to tell our story and that of the bond between Settefrati and his descendants abroad.
It was inevitable that a project that saw the collaboration between the Italian community of Settefrati, the Canadian community of Toronto and the American community of Stanford could become a point of reference for parliamentarians elected abroad.
In fact, the honorable Fuchsia Nissoli Fitzgerald, elected to the chamber in the North American constituency, learned about our project directly from the Toronto community and wanted to organize a conference in the Montecitorio press room on May 23 to learn more about her.
Tony Malizia, president of the Canneto Society of Toronto and on the board of the Ontario Latium Federation, had warned her. Both organizations are active partners of the Felicita Back Home project for the regeneration of the village of Settefrati.
The first to introduce the issue of the importance of root tourism was Dr. Giovanni de Vita, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who illustrated how the ministry declared 2024 the Year of Roots Tourism and allocated 20 million of the PNRR to projects that can facilitate the return of Italian descendants.
The Honorable Fucsia focused on the life of Italians abroad and how the descendants of the third and fourth generation, who grew up with the memories of their grandparents, want to know their roots but should be involved with innovative formulas that go beyond the rigid ones of the Comites .
Often they are young people who want to build new ties in Italy but the cultural and linguistic barriers present themselves as insurmountable boulders and after a short visit as tourists they return home overseas without having really enjoyed the advantage of having a double culture and a double soul.
In this sense, the Town Ambassador Award, given to those who maintain an active role in building bridges between the two oceans and the Settefrati regeneration project can play a fundamental role and become a best practice.
Mayor Riccardo Frattaroli recalled how Settefrati has the number of registered residents in the register of foreign residents equal to the number of residents in Italy and that the Felicita Back Home project for the regeneration of the village is also a great project for the creation of new ties between generations.
In fact, the designer Claudia Bettiol told the genesis of the project and of all the partners and how it was born immediately as an intercontinental, between the two shores of the ocean, intercultural but also intergenerational.
In fact, the project is based on activities that must be carried out together by young descendants and young residents. For once, the first generation of emigrants plays the role of mentor by creating opportunities for the young people who will then shape the new relationships on their own, according to the mood they will live.
The dynamics of young people have totally changed, so Settefrati aims to attract digital nomads who can live as temporary citizens in their village of origin. They will be able to discover not only the daily life of young Italians, but also the opportunities to build new bonds by investing in small businesses linked to the territory.
And this passing of the baton between generations is the real issue being debated in communities abroad and the one that represents the future of relations between Italians and Italian descendants.
In closing, Gianni Lattanzio expressed his hope to start immediately with the experimentation of this model so that they can be the signal for the construction of new bridges between Italian citizens and their brothers abroad.
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