ESC: “La Città dell’Utopia" project

Arci Servizio Civile Piemonte APS (ASC Piemonte) is a Social Promotion Organization and an accredited body for the Servizio Civile Universale (Universal Civic Service - SCU), local branch for the Piedmont of Arci Servizio Civile Nazionale APS. It is a second-level organization that counts 86 non-profit organizations among its members and has partnership agreements with 15 public administrations (mostly small and medium-sized municipalities) operating in the sectors of assistance, environmental heritage and urban regeneration, historical, artistic and cultural heritage, education, cultural, landscape and environmental promotion, sustainable and social tourism and sport, environmental protection, civil promotion and cooperation. Servizio Civile Universale is the voluntary choice to dedicate some months of one's life to the service of unarmed and nonviolent defense of the homeland, to education, to peace among peoples and to the promotion of the founding values ​​of the Italian Republic, through actions for the communities and for the territory. The SCU is a common good and a civic right that represents an important opportunity for personal, civic and professional growth and training for young people, who are an indispensable and vital resource for the cultural, social and economic progress of the country. The Civic Service is Universal because of the following reasons: - shared between institutions, organizations, citizens; - contributes to the social, economic, cultural and environmental recovery of the country, in a civil and nonviolent way; - accessible to all the young people who ask to do so, in a progressive way; - equips young people with practical, social and transversal skills that are included in formal repertoires and acknowledged. In line with the objectives of the SCU, ASC Piemonte works for: the promotion of the values ​​of peace and nonviolence, of active citizenship of the civil service as a form of citizenship education and an innovative contribution to public policies; the enhancement of civic service experiences both in Italy and abroad, in particular in the Piedmont area; increasing opportunities for young people to carry out the Civic Service. ASC Piemonte deals with the entire chain necessary to activate Civic Service projects on behalf of its associates and partners that are directly involved in SCU projects as “implementing organisations”, directly carrying out the activities the volunteers are involved in. The main activities of ASC Piemonte concern activation, programming, design and management of SCU projects in their various phases: accreditation for the Register of the Universal Civic Service (Albo Unico del Servizio Civile Universale) at the Department of Youth and Servizio Civile Universale (DGSCU, under the Prime Minister’s Office); the planning, the collection of documentation for the projects, the promotion of the call for young people; the selection of the candidates; the correct implementation of SCU projects; the training of operators of the implementing organisations and monitoring of the progress of the projects. The strengths of ASC Piemonte are: sectoral and territorial planning attentive to the specificities of the various organizations; ongoing training; attention to the competences’ assessment. Thanks to the participation in the pilot project by Forum Nazionale del Terzo Settore about the valorization of the skills specifically developed by the young volunteers in SCU, ASC Piemonte has get theoretical and practical tools about that. The main target groups of ASC Piemonte are: young people between 18 and 28 years (Italian and non-Italian citizens, resident in Italy); non profit organizations; public entities. Furthermore, since 2020 ASC Piemonte has identified strategies aimed at facilitating the participation of young people with fewer opportunities, in particular: young people with disabilities, with low education, with economical difficulties, with temporary personal or social fragility. In addition to the above, ASC Piemonte is a beneficiary of SCU projects by hosting volunteers at its headquarters and organizes different types of information and awareness events. ASC Piemonte also adheres to the following networks: - Arci Servizio Civile Nazionale APS (identical aim and objectives); - Tavolo degli Enti di Servizio Civile in Piemonte - TESC (coordination between Civic Service bodies in Piedmont: comparison, training, lobbying); - Forum del Terzo Settore Piemonte (coordination between no profit organizations in Piedmont: discussion, training, lobbying); - Forum per l'Educazione e la Scuola in Piemonte (association of NGOs and teachers promoted by the territorial sections of the main national professional associations of the school).