The world saved by kids (and from books): because culture is not an island!

The world saved by kids (and from books): because culture is not an island!
The innovative Reading Literacy project among the winning proposals in the Procida Italian Capital of Culture dossier 2022

NAPOLI – Procida Italian Capital of Culture 2022. It's official, the "absolutely impenetrable and independent" technical commission commissioned by MiBACT and chaired by prof.Stefano Baia Curioni, professor of Economic History at Bocconi University in Milan, has chosen the island in the Gulf of Naples as the national flag bearer of what the Minister for Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism himself, Dario Francescini, defined the year ofRestart and of theRebirth.  First island to apply since the initiative was inaugurated in 2014, Procida was able to defeat the competition from Ancona, Bari, Cerveteri (Roma), L'Aquila, Parish Church of Soligo (Treviso), Taranto, Trapani, Verbania, Volterra thanks to the planning strength of a dossier – edited byAgostino Riitano, former Director of the promoting committee of Matera European Capital of Culture 2019 – participated from below which in its guidelines of public-private support and inclusiveness can represent an element of discontinuity in the territory and represent a model for sustainable processes, with a poetic imprint.

Culture at the center of one's idea of ​​development and openness towards others, evidenced by the slogan«Culture does not isolate» that among the countless flagships – 44 cultural projects, 330 days of events 240 artists involved e 8 regenerated cultural spaces – which provides one, in particular, tailored to younger citizens, like himover a thousand children and teenagers involved in the project in recent years«The world saved by kids», cultural journey, educational and social program of Reading Literacy conceived and curated by the Cultural AssociationKolibrì Naplesfor the municipal administration of Procida(in collaboration, among others, with the historic magazineAndersen – The world of childhood eShake Theater, national training body recognized by the MIUR). «It's a beautiful collective victory, which rewards visionary planning in a system of community cohesion, but above all it redeems the culture of the "little ones", in a metaphorical and real sense: it's the Morantian world saved by kids, but also by the beauty of dreamers, of poets, of the artists, of educators" commented Donatella Trotta the day after the proclamation, President of the Kolibrì Association.

The Morantian-inspired project, which evokes the poetic-prophetic manifesto of the same name (and political) written byElsa Morante in '68, represents, Indeed, an innovative project of early reading education that, dal 2017, involves the entire educational community of the island of Procida – closed garden natural and place of choice for the writer – in a bottom-up transformation process that has involved excellent partners such as the Campania Region for three years in a row, the Banco Napoli Foundation for Child Care, the Naples Prize Foundation and the Suor Orsola Benincasa University, alongside the entire community of the Phlegraean Island - the Municipality's Department of Culture, Marina di Procida Spa, the IC.1°CD.Capraro and II.SS.Caracciolo-da Procida schools, the Isola di Graziella cultural association, The municipal library "Don Michele Ambrosino", the two bookshops on the island, Graziella and Nutrimenti and symbolic twinnings with other Italian realities - and that in 2018/2019 it has extended to the mainland, involving a large network of Naples and its province, embracing center and periphery. «Despite the limited public funding we have always believed in the value of projects like this, aimed at children and to stimulate their active participation - underlines the Mayor Dino Ambrosino - The continuous awareness-raising work aimed at the educational community that this project carries out is very important, and represented an original element of novelty among others, contributing to the success of a small village for the first time".

«This victory represents the culmination of a dream that began a long time ago, in which culture occupies a central role within the process of cultural renewal and growth and a reversal of the trend in terms of investments for small towns – comments Nico Granito, former Councilor for Culture –. The World Saved by Kids represents the most far-sighted challenge, in which the very young are the prerequisite for creating lasting conditions of sustainable development. Events are ephemeral, while the care of a new sensitivity in the little ones is one of the bricks on which the "capital of culture" can always be built, not just for a year". The new Councilor for Culture echoes this, Michele Assante from Leccese: «Everything we have done and do is for future generations. We believe in our kids and this project is tangible proof of this" he underlines. A project focused on the dissemination of good practices linked to what Gianni Rodari defined as "the civilization of childhood" and a path towards the supply chain of specialized books for children - the only publishing branch in Italy which records a constant positive sign in sales - divided into three fundamental moments: training of trainers, that is, teachers from nursery to high school, who receive training credits recognized by the Ministry of Education; close encounters with authors: seminars with children's writers relating to a quadruple chosen year by year; and laboratory activities with school children, with specialized operators and educators, creat rework tutor(t)ive of the written page through all the languages ​​of creativity. An experience in which he has participated over the years, the Vice Principal of IC.Capraro Pina Cucurullo: «I think that Procida is the Italian capital of culture 2022 is the fruit of a shared idea already tested in some forms of work, which constitutes the modern vision of the island to be achieved with the participation and awareness of the citizens".

The edition 2020/21, in his training course achieved thanks to the funding ofCEPELL – MiBACT Center for Reading and Books, has so far been able to successfully take on the challenge of remote transposition, on the ZOOM platform, of activities that originally all took place while constantly experimenting with new ways of involvement, discussion and training for "distance socialization" which he still sees as an excellent partner, at this stage, the Suor Orsola Benincasa University with the professorPaola Villani as a trainer e, among the students, beyond 60 students of the courses of study in Educational Sciences and Cultural Heritage, in a busy calendar of author meetings, Focus Group with participatory Feed Back, webinars and workshops in schools entitled, not by chance: «Education for freedom: the world saved by kids (and from books)».