The Return to Italy 2023-2028 program lands in Lazio

Someone says that there are 80 million Italian descendants abroad, other accounts reach 150 million but the reality is that there is an Italy outside national borders. We discovered this reality when 8 years ago we noticed that our portal was read by young residents of Canada, the USA and Australia and since then we have been busy understanding the dynamics of these young people.

This is why we are part of the promoting committee of the project Rete Destinazione Sud Return to Italy 2023-2028 and we are on the platform of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dedicated to the theme of Tourism of the Roots.

We have worked a lot throughout Italy with the Town Ambassador award, but our headquarters are in Lazio and it is here that we have been able to get to know the communities abroad more closely, interviewing and rewarding both emigrants and their descendants.

For this reason we could not miss the establishment of the provincial coordination of Latina and Frosinone of the Return to Italy 2023 - 2028 project promoted by Rete Destinazione Sud with its very active president Michelangelo Lurgi according to whom: "The synergy between public and private represents an important weapon for the development of inland areas and villages in order to ensure sustainable and long-lasting development. The Return to Italy 2023-2028 project can become a lever for the repopulation of these territories through the development of new tourist channels hitherto unexplored.”

The event was hosted in the beautiful Sala delle Ceremonie of the municipality of Priverno, located right in one of the most beautiful squares in Italy, and ended in the medieval village of Fossanova where at 3 in the afternoon the very kind managers of the Forno del Procoio they waited for a well-deserved lunch/dinner (if you happen to be in Fossanova don't forget to have a taste experience in their restaurant!).

Michelangelo and all his staff organized two meetings in Lazio: the first in Viterbo where about twenty mayors signed the project, including: Marco Perniconi mayor of Bomarzo, Sandra Pandolfi mayor of Calcata, Aldo Maria Moneta mayor of Canepina, Pietro Nocchi mayor of Capranica, Angelo Borgna mayor of Caprarola, Edoardo Giustiniani mayor of Cellere, Piero Rossi mayor of Graffignano, Francesco Di Biagi mayor of Latera, Maurizio Lacchini mayor of Marta, Roseo Melaragni mayor of Piansano, Mario Mengoni mayor of Ronciglione, Stefano Biagiotti mayor of Valentano, Adelio Gregori mayor of Vallerano and Fabio Latini mayor of Villa San Giovanni in Tuscia.

The day after, the meeting in Priverno was organized by the super efficient mayor Anna Maria Bilancia and, despite the problems due to bad weather, the room was packed with people interested in the project such as Luigi Franceschi of Cethegus Scpa, Claudio Nardocci president of UNPLI Lazio, Letizia Sinisi of ItalyRooting Consulting, Ljubljana Restaini coordinator of the Consulta Small Towns ANCI Lazio and Quirino Briganti of the Compagnia dei Lepini.

We were given the floor to present the Town Ambassador Award and talk about the many awardees who are already ready to promote their roots and territories of origin. We talked about young people and projects that can involve them in an active role through digital channels and TV.

Many mayors have joined the Return to Italy 2023-2028 programme, including: Domenico Guidi mayor of Bassiano, Roberto Zannella mayor of Campodimele, Giovanni Fantaccione mayor of Castrocielo, Mauro Bussiglieri mayor of Collepardo, Mauro Primio De Lillis mayor of Cori, Giuseppe VIllani mayor of Esperia, Francesco Piccirilli mayor of Falvaterra, Gianluca Taddeo mayor of Formia, Cristian Leccese mayor of Gaeta, Ferdinando Magnifico mayor of Lenola, Claudio Sperduti mayor of Maenza, Gerardo Stefanelli mayor of Minturno, Federico Carnevale mayor of Monte San Biagio, Andrea Dell 'Omo mayor of Norma, Angelo D'Ovidio mayor of Pastena, Francesco Ambrosino mayor of Ponza, Anna Maria Bilancia mayor of Priverno, Angelo Pincivero mayor of Prossedi, Mario Lucarelli mayor of Rocca Massima, Barbara Petroni mayor of Roccasecca dei Volsci, Paolo Fallone mayor of San Giovanni Incarico, Giuseppina Giovanoli mayor of Sermoneta, Lidano Lucidi mayor of Sezze , Luciano De Angelis mayor of Sonnino, Salvatore Vento mayor of Spigno Saturnia, Roberto De Vellis mayor of Strangolagalli, Fiorella Gazzellone mayor of Terelle, Giuseppe Caputo mayor of Ventotene, Vincenzo Iannetta mayor of Viticuso.

And this is only the first step. But now we are happy that we are no longer alone in wanting to build new bridges with the young descendants, with these guys so full of love.