Young people from Cagliari, Pisa, Treviso, Prato, Macerata, Torino, Mantova, Pescara, Rome, fielded time, travel, and energy to construct the gathering titled: “Democracy for all: flip the pyramid.” The seminar was held on October 5, 2014 in the assembly hall of Sophia University Institute (SUI) following the enriching LoppianoLab 2014 programme, which focused on several important current issues in Italy.
The approach was the same one followed by all the other courses of the programme, whether theoretical lessons or practical workshops in the various regions of Italy: respecting, listening and sharing, in order to have above all an experience of fraternity, and from there to discover the validity and the dignity of the political paradigm at each of its levels.
The programme included a series of life experiences, practical involvement, projects and the need for a politics that is truly new and can already be seen in the experiences of administrators (two of them from North and Central Italy offered an encouraging contribution), informed citizens, young people actively involved and in positions of candidacy as representatives in institutions, and adults who generously placed themselves at the service of young people and their research.
To summarize the interventions which were rich and diverse, we present a brain-storming session by the young people from the School of Turin. It is a set of their own comments on some of the main points of the discussions.
Sovereignty. “Participating means to collectively exercise one’s own share of sovereignty, in a manner that is non-viloent, constructive and informed. (Chiara Andena)
Duty. The duty to participate, to go beyond the crisis, defeatism, immobilism and refusal to fight and to give up.” (Matteo Dematteis)
Growth and willingness. “The contrast between differing points of view, life experiences and cultural baggage brings personal enrichment which is indispensible for personal development, all of this joined to the willingness to search for ever-new perspectives.” (Katia Follina)
Discovery. “If I look at the world from my point of view, I’m given three dimensions. If I look at it with the eyes of others, I’m given an infinite number of dimensions.” (Marco Titli)
Competency. “For me, participating means getting down to work, each according to his or her inclinations, personal interests and personal knowledge. However, participating together means integrating each one’s talents in order to expand points of view and make them more inclusive and in accord with the perspective of fraternity.” (Federica Mensio)
Communality. “Realising that we belong to a greater whole empowers us. This new awareness makes us collectively active and capable of making a positive mark.” (Paolo Cataldi)
Hope. “Discovering that a young person who is involved in politics with completely different political orientations from mine can still spend their lives for the same ideals, not only gave me hope for a better present and future, but reminded me that one should never close the door on dialogue, no matter how differing the points of view may be. (Elena Destefanis)
Struggle and Resistence. “Resistence is a non-violent form of fighting where mutual listening, sharing ones thoughts and ideas, freely, without prejudgements are weapons of mass construction.” (Matteo Bracco)