{"id":289413,"date":"2025-08-14T11:16:28","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T09:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/langhe.net\/289413\/nessuno-resti-indietro-building-educational-communities-alta-langa\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T14:57:53","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T12:57:53","slug":"nessuno-resti-indietro-building-educational-communities-alta-langa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/langhe.net\/en\/289413\/nessuno-resti-indietro-building-educational-communities-alta-langa\/","title":{"rendered":"Nessuno Resti Indietro: a Project to Build Educational Communities in Alta Langa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How do you build an educational community<\/strong> in a fragile area like Alta Langa? How can we start by listening to children<\/strong> to imagine new spaces, relationships, and shared possibilities? <\/p>\n\n

Nessuno resti indietro<\/em> is a project born precisely from these questions. It is promoted by the Circolo Arci Cinema Vekkio<\/a> of Corneliano d’Alba, a cultural and educational promotion association active for over twenty years, in collaboration with the Ambiente & Cultura<\/a> association and with the direct involvement of the Comprehensive Institutes of Bossolasco-Murazzano<\/strong> and Cortemilia-Saliceto<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

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Putting children and adolescents at the center, recognizing them as full citizens, bearers of concrete needs and desires.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

The heart of the project is clear: putting children and adolescents at the center<\/strong>, recognizing them as full citizens, bearers of concrete needs and desires. Through workshops, assemblies, participatory mapping, and public meetings, a network has been activated<\/strong> of schools<\/strong>, families<\/strong>, teachers<\/strong>, educators<\/strong>, and local entities, with the aim of bringing out \u2013 and realizing \u2013 the ideas of the youngest for a more open, inclusive, and sustainable community. <\/p>\n\n

In this interview<\/strong>, we have gathered the voices of those who conceived, experienced, and carried out this experience firsthand: Giorgio Crana<\/strong> (president and manager of Cinema Vekkio), Claudio Gorlier<\/strong> and Alberto Contu<\/strong> (professional educators and founders of Cultura in movimento<\/em>). A multi-voice narrative<\/strong>, between enthusiasm, challenges, dreams, and concrete possibilities for the future of our communities. <\/p>\n\n

How Did “Nessuno resti indietro” Come about?<\/h4>\n\n

Giorgio<\/span> \u2014 Our club, Cinema Vekkio, has existed since 1998 and, over the years, we began to question the meaning of the educational work<\/strong> we were doing in Corneliano and Piobesi. In 2016, our method \u2014 the result of years of street work and many experiences shared by Alberto<\/strong> and Claudio<\/strong> \u2014 took shape with a name: Cultura in movimento<\/a>. The following year, satisfied with the path we had taken, we decided to step out of our comfort zone and bring that method elsewhere. <\/p>\n\n

\"Nessuno
Nessuno resti indietro – Cultura in movimento Van<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

From there, we started operating in new contexts<\/strong>: among these, also managing the library in San Damiano. In Alta Langa, we had already participated in other calls, but when the opportunity arose to participate in a new project dedicated to children<\/strong> \u2013 always an interesting challenge \u2013 we immediately got involved. <\/p>\n\n

In particular, we had already had a good experience with a national call promoted by Arci. We knew that, although complex, projects with the youngest can generate significant results<\/strong>. So we presented a proposal to the Comprehensive Institute of Bossolasco and Murazzano, which was already expressing the desire to build an educational community in the area. <\/p>\n\n

The idea found support<\/strong> and we managed to involve the other comprehensive institute of Alta Langa, that of Cortemilia-Saliceto. We were also helped by a valuable recommendation: that of Marina<\/strong>, a teacher and our long-time volunteer, who works in Bossolasco and Murazzano. <\/p>\n\n

From there, we also involved other entities, such as the Ambiente e Cultura association<\/strong>. A long co-design process<\/strong> began that led us to define the proposal, participate in the call, win it, and finally start the activities. <\/p>\n\n

Today, after two years, we can say we have built a real community<\/strong>: a team made up of adults, but also of many boys and girls from middle schools. A result made possible thanks to the work of Alberto and Claudio. Now we are preparing to enter the third year. <\/p>\n\n

What are the Themes and Objectives of the Project?<\/h4>\n\n

Alberto<\/span> \u2014 The specific objective is to create what is defined as an “educational community<\/strong>“. Usually, this term refers to a network of adults and associations that deal with education, sociality, and youth. <\/p>\n\n

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We tried to go beyond the traditional definition of \u201ceducational community\u201d by ensuring that girls and boys are not just recipients, but true protagonists of the project.<\/p>\nALBERTO cONTU<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n

We, as Giorgio mentioned, also thanks to established relationships and some input from outside, have tried to go beyond this more traditional definition<\/strong> by ensuring that children and teenagers are not just recipients, but true protagonists of the project<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

One of the fundamental axes is indeed the method of educational inquiry<\/strong>, which we carry out together with them, to activate democratic<\/strong>, educational, and social<\/strong> processes, starting from their reflections and needs.<\/p>\n\n

Claudio<\/span> \u2014 Our position is clear, and we declare it from the start: we consider young people as active subjects<\/strong>, full citizens<\/strong>, exactly like adults. That’s why it seemed coherent \u2014 and above all effective \u2014 to start from their point of view<\/strong> to understand what the real needs of the educational community were, in this case in the Alta Langa territory. <\/p>\n\n

It’s an area that experiences phenomena of abandonment<\/strong>, poor connections<\/strong> between villages, and fewer and fewer spaces<\/strong> and proposals for young people.<\/p>\n\n

Instead of building a network of adults proposing activities \u201cfrom the top down\u201d \u2014 a model that often generates an excess of ineffective initiatives \u2014 we deliberately chose to start from the young people, from their ideas, to try to truly revitalize this community<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

How Did You Structure the Direct Work with the Young People?<\/h4>\n\n

Claudio<\/span> \u2014 The starting point, which we always begin with, is the approach<\/strong> we adopt in the classrooms \u2014 in this case, we spent 90% of our time there.<\/p>\n\n

In the first year, we carried out a structured educational path<\/strong>: we held about four meetings with a total of ten classes belonging to the two comprehensive institutes (from first to fifth grade), plus two after-school programs. In total, we involved about 250\u2013300 young people<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

The work began with an inquiry into places of the heart<\/strong>, those spaces experienced daily by children and full of meaning. Each place was represented by them in a postcard<\/strong> and narrated through personal stories. A map was also created<\/strong>, although these spaces are not always mappable. <\/p>\n\n

In parallel, the Ambiente e Cultura group created the Great Map of Alta Langa Treasures<\/em>, a more classic map<\/strong>, designed for adults, children, teachers, and educational figures. It collects content<\/strong>, experiences<\/strong>, and educational resources<\/strong> that emerged during the project, with the idea of offering a shared point of reference. <\/p>\n\n