Short documentary shows how 2000 children are changing Naples

This article is by Davide Rambaldi, Communications Coordinator at Eurochild, Europe’s widest network of organisations and individuals working with and for children with 211 members in 42 countries.

Eurochild released DAY - Changing the City, a powerful short documentary that sheds light on how children and young people can actively shape their communities—even if they cannot vote. The documentary showcases the achievements and ideas of three young people from municipalities II, IV, and VI in Naples, Italy, who are participating in the Democratic Activation of Youth (DAY) Project, highlighting their aspirations to improve their local areas.

Through their personal stories, we hear some of the issues more than 2000 young people worked on alongside local governments such as fighting school dropouts by improving public transport in the city's outskirts, advocating for the creation of a skate park, enhancing waste management and recycling, and removing architectural barriers in public spaces.

Watch the documentary now on YouTube

The Context

Naples has almost 1 million inhabitants, it’s divided into ten municipalities and it’s the Italian city with the highest number of young people. #ProgettoDAY, funded by the EU and led by Eurochild member from Italy Fondazione l'Albero della Vita in collaboration with CIDIS, Eurochild and Comune di Napoli, engaged children and young people (aged 14-18) from nine schools in three Naples districts with poor social and economic indicators concerning early school leavers, educational, poverty and social exclusion.

After being elected by their peers, young delegates from each school consulted their classmates to choose thematic areas to discuss with the local authorities. In all three Districts involved in the project, around 600 students chose Environment, Urban cleanliness and Education as macro-areas of intervention. This allowed the delegates to create Civic Agendas with proposals to improve their communities that were submitted to the local authorities.

The specific objectives of the project were:

• To pilot a child participation mechanism in the metropolitan city of Naples

• To increase youth soft skills and awareness on children's rights to participate in the policy-making process

• To advocate for children and young people's participation in the decision-making process

• To facilitate connections and integration with EU-level child participation mechanisms and peer-peer mutual learning

Young people's efforts culminated in high-profile presentations in Naples, Brussels, and the Italian Parliament’s Chamber of Deputies, where they advocated for expanding the project nationwide during discussions with local, national, and EU policymakers.

For more information, contact us at info[AT]eurochild.org