New appointment with the press conferences of the mayoral candidate Federico Basile who this morning, in the “Vittorio Emanuele” Gallery, presented the assets of the electoral program dedicated to the theme “Youth and Cities: the plan for the Messina of the future”.
A focus entirely aimed at the new generations, job opportunities, urban regeneration, services, culture and the active participation of young people in the construction of the city.
Basile’s vision: continuity and new objectives
“We have built an electoral program with over 66 points divided into 18 chapters – explained Basile – involving civic and associative realities through a process of discussion on the issues of the municipality of Messina, the integrated area of the Strait and the metropolitan city. Today we talk about young people and the plan we have built to continue the implementation of concrete policies aimed at the new generations. Measures designed not only to prevent young people from leaving, but to put everyone in a position to choose Messina as a place in which to live, work and build their own future.”
Basile claimed responsibility for the work carried out in recent years by the administration, which the new electoral program represents continuity with.
“We have brought normality back to a city that before 2018 was not in a position to plan, since 2022 we have created a department specifically dedicated to youth policies. Today we can raise the bar and strategically continue a path already started”.
Business support: Future Fund and Start Up
Among the proposals illustrated, the “Fondo Futuro Messina Under 40”, a non-repayable fund of at least 5 million euros to support youth investments in city neighborhoods and villages. “The objective is to transform urban voids into new economic engines through the recovery of warehouses, shops and abandoned buildings to be used for artisanal and productive activities led by under 40s,” said the mayoral candidate.
There is also ample space for the “Messina Start Up City Competition” project, already launched with the publication of a coworking tender, designed to encourage the birth of innovative startups and encourage the permanence of business ideas and private investments in the city.
Internationalisation, living and mobility
On the front of internationalization and the right to live, Basile announced the creation of an “International Welcome Office” in collaboration with the University, to support foreign students and researchers in bureaucratic, housing and city integration paths, together with a social housing program with rent-controlled accommodation and the recovery of unused properties through agreements with private individuals.
Among the strategic points is also the “Youth Transport” plan, with the strengthening of evening and night trips and the introduction of dedicated shuttles between university centres, residential areas and the central station.
Culture, creativity and active participation
Great attention is also paid to culture and creativity with the “Officine della Creativity” project, which will be built in the spaces of the Ex Fiera di Messina: a hub dedicated to art, music, theatre, independent cinema, design and digital productions, co-designed with youth associations and local artistic collectives. Urban art interventions are also planned in the suburbs and the introduction of the Under 25 Participatory Budget, with shares of the municipal budget allocated to projects conceived and voted for by young people from Messina.
Training and Green Jobs
On the topic of sustainability and green work, Basile illustrated the birth of the “Green Jobs Academy”, dedicated to training in the sectors of energy efficiency, photovoltaics, waste management, urban agriculture and sustainable mobility, with qualified courses, paid internships and professional certifications.
Also present at the meeting was the technical-scientific committee which contributed to the drafting of the electoral program of the mayoral candidate Federico Basile.
The technical contribution and testimonies
University professor Michele Limosani spoke on behalf of the Committee. Also present was the former councilor for youth policies, Liana Cannata.
Limosani highlighted how the program aims to create employment opportunities in the strategic sectors of energy, hydrogen, shipbuilding and agri-food: “We need to invest in work but also in free time, culture, mobility and meeting spaces. Our young people need concrete opportunities”, said the teacher.
Liana Cannata instead recalled the path started with the Department of Youth Policies, the first Youth Consultation and the YoungMe project: “We have created concrete tools to accompany young people towards work and entrepreneurship. The 148 job grants envisaged by the YoungMe plan, together with the Opportunity Days and the orientation paths, represent a model that we want to strengthen and which finds space in these proposals now designed in continuity with the work done so far”, she explained.
Also speaking were the candidates from the youth lists in support of Federico Basile “Cateno per i Giovani” and “De Luca mayor of Sicily” Iris Foramo, Antonino Catanzaro and Maria Lucrezia Pandolfo.
The final speech by Cateno De Luca
The meeting was closed by the leader of South Calls North, Cateno De Luca, who reiterated the strategic value of investing in the new generations.
“The work started in 2018, continued in 2022, deserves to now finally reach the definitive strategic phase, the result not of an improvised path but arrived after 8 years of hard work. – said De Luca – I thank my candidates. When I launched the “Ti Amo Sicilia” study center I said that I decided to feed on young people. Many did not understand and thought it was a phrase thrown out there but instead it is a precise choice. We are feeding each other with enthusiasm and purity”.
“When I enter the contexts in which they move I look at them, I observe them, I see the reactions, the spontaneity they have and this is fundamental to continue sowing, because politics has become too hypocritical and instead every sentence of theirs makes me proud and makes me feel a great responsibility to commit myself together with them”.
“We made the decision to make two lists by having young people from Messina participate in the elections to the City Council, because we have to give them space, but now. While we wait for the future, young people get old and leave. Instead, we go ahead and teach these “grown-ups” a lesson and make them understand that politics is not just mathematics and the quality of the proposal will make the difference”, concluded De Luca.