Cosenza’s candidacy for the title of Italian City of Youth 2026 was made official this morning during a press conference in the council room of Palazzo dei Bruzi. An ambitious path strongly desired by the municipal administration, which must be formalized by next February 15th with the official presentation of the dossier entitled “Confluences”. The project was illustrated, in its general lines, by Salvatore Giordano, president of the Cosenza Youth Municipal Council, a body elected in November 2024 and protagonist of the participatory preparation of the dossier. “Confluences” is divided into different macro-areas of intervention – educational, scientific and technological, civic, cultural, social and environmental, up to the European and international dimension – with the aim of building an integrated and inclusive vision of the role of young people in the city. The President of the Municipal Council Giuseppe Mazzuca opened the press conference and defined the candidacy as “a wonderful adventure that we strongly wanted together with the Municipal Administration and Mayor Franz Caruso”. Mazzuca extended particular thanks to councilor Alessandra Bresciani, delegate for relations with the municipal youth council, and to councilor delegate for culture Antonietta Cozza, for the decisive support provided in the preparation of the candidacy. “We are among the first municipal administrations in Italy to have established the Youth Municipal Council – underlined Mazzuca – and we did not do so for pure appearance, but to enhance a concrete work that today is there for all to see. We are running without presumption, but with the conviction of having the right credentials”. The heart of the press conference was the speech of Mayor Franz Caruso, who expressed great enthusiasm for the candidacy and for the path of valorisation of young people started in recent years. The mayor recalled the initiative held the previous day at the Liceo Scorza, which symbolically marked the start of Cosenza’s adventure towards the title. “I greatly appreciated the quality of our young people – said Caruso – for the passion and competence with which they tackle the problems of the area. Being among them means grasping an authentic perspective: that of young people ready to take over the reins of city government and do even better than those who precede them”. The Mayor then underlined the importance of the desire, expressed by many young people, to stay in Cosenza to improve it: “This imposes an additional duty on us as institutions: to create the conditions so that they can stay, rewarding merit and without forgetting the most vulnerable groups”.
During the meeting, councilor Alessandra Bresciani read the message of support from European parliamentarian Sandro Ruotolo, while councilor Antonietta Cozza gave voice to the message from parliamentarian Anna Laura Orrico, both absent due to previous commitments.
Closing the conference was once again Salvatore Giordano, who reiterated the spirit of the project: “Confluences is an intervention that starts from the bottom, through schools, to listen to the needs and ideas of the boys and girls of Cosenza and the area. We want all young people, from the youngest age up to their university years, to actively contribute to this candidacy. The idea is to make young people protagonists of the city, through a creative laboratory that truly brings them back to the center of attention”.