On November 5, 2024, Sara Pilia, a member of the EXIT project as a representative from ARCI, joined a conference titled “Communities at the Centre – projects and Needs in Inner Areas and the Role of Civil Society” in the city of Ascoli Piceno (Southern Marche, Italy).
The conference is part of a bigger project that involves the area of the Marche Region hit by the earthquake in Central Italy in 2016, which includes many peripheral areas, some of which are included in the definition of “Inner Areas”. The main objective of this project is to bring at the same table public administrations, local policymakers, civil society actors, and the private sector to discuss the many challenges and possible strategies to counteract the long-term effects of the earthquake and of territorial inequalities altogether, exacerbated by the disaster and its management.
In this specific conference, the discussed topic was the role of Civil society organisations (CSOs) in sustaining and enriching the welfare system promoted by public entities towards an ‘Inclusive welfare’ model. The speakers, representing the Public sector (welfare office), local policymakers, and civil society, sketched how the collaboration between the three actors can help to increase the positive impact and efficiency of the public funds spent on reducing inequalities.
The provincial coordinator of the Public Social Services Office highlighted the ability of the civil society actors to get very precise information on local community members, and on the nature of intersecting drivers of vulnerability, and praised CSOs for their expertise in designing quick responses to specific needs. At the same time, the public sector has access to a wider set of data – including restricted private data, and usually has a wider territorial view than civil society or local administrators, but (needed) bureaucracy slows down its adaptations to quick-changing needs.
On the other hand, local administrators have policy-making power at the local level and the ability to influence policy-making at higher levels; however, they are usually more vulnerable to quick-shifting political fortunes, which may reduce their eagerness to embark on long-term strategies. In this context, efficient cooperation among these different actors can definitely open up new scenarios.
Sara Pilia, representing ARCI, a strong civil society actor in the area and partner of the EXIT project, mentioned the EXIT results on the drivers of inequality, highlighting in particular those referring to inadequate policy frameworks, fragmented governance, and poor inter-agency collaboration (see the Policy Brief, pp. 14-16). Developing from the mentioned data, the reflection was extended to the right of the citizens living in disadvantaged areas to be constantly involved in the decision-making process. In this task, the CSOs play a crucial role, as they are not only involved in proximity services and flash responses, but also in informal education activities on a great variety of topics, including democratic participation.
Local communities that feel neglected or ‘misunderstood’ by policies and decision-makers can be engaged in discussions where they can both voice their complaints but also get more information on administrative and political reasons behind (un)welcomed choices, and channel their opinions and counter-suggestions in a structured way towards policymakers, and support their wanted changes in a democratic and participatory way. In the context of social media, where policies are sometimes communicated in a quick, sensationalistic way, sitting down together in a physical space and studying political decisions and their impacts on a specific context reduces disaffection for politics and strengthens civic participation.
The results of the EXIT project raised great interest among participants, and it was agreed to set up further meetings to present future results of the project.
