On Monday 23 May at 4.00 pm, the Town Ambassadors of Settefrati and the Felicita Back Home project for the regeneration of the wonderful village of the Comino Valley will be presented in the Montecitorio Press Room.
The honorable Fucsia Nissoli Fitgerald - elected in North America to represent Italians abroad – is the promoter of the 'landing' at the Italian Parliament. She is strongly committed to creating links between North American communities and those of their villages of origin.
Fucsia is very close to all Italians overseas, and when Tony Malizia, Town Ambassador of Settefrati and president of the Canneto Society of Toronto, told her about the project he had worked on, she was immediately enthusiastic.
The Settefrati regeneration project was presented to a PNRR call by the Ministry of Culture dedicated to the repopulation of villages and the idea of 'giving new roots to young people' to make them stay or return.
The basic idea of the Felicita Back Home project was to involve the young generations of descendants of Settefrati (and Val Comino) who live in Canada and the USA, to create links with young Italians and make them work together.
A new way to repopulate a town with a different type of residential accommodation: ‘temporary citizens’ or ‘digital nomads’ who choose to live for a few months in the village and in the Val Comino.
A project that starts from the culture of emigration, and from the stories of those who moved abroad, and ends up with the regeneration of the houses in the historic center. No subsidies but senior tutors to support the development of business plans for the modernization of homes and also for the creation of new local businesses.
And then, all the young people united in a great territorial communication programt that starts from Settefrati but reaches the whole Val Comino, Cassino and the towns of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park.
The project was developed by Claudia Bettiol, creator of the Town Ambassador Award, and by the energetic mayor Riccardo Frattaroli of Settefrati with the collaboration of Town Ambassadors with dual culture and nationality: Tony Malizia from Canada and Cesidio di Ciacca from Scotland.
The tutor for cultural aspects is Caroline di Cocco, a former Ontario minister who has written volumes on relations between Canada and Italy. And the tutor for the regeneration of houses is the architect Davide del Prete (Settefrati-London).
The details of the project will be illustrated in the press conference attended by, in addition to the Honorable Ducsia Nissoli Fitgerald, the embassy councilor Giovanni Maria de Vita, responsible for the 'Roots Tourism' project for the MAECI. The meeting will be moderated by Gianni Lattanzio, General Secretary of Ambientevivo.
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