The urban peripheries are full of potential (economic, social, and educational) and at the same time, they are full of risk for the younger generations. Current narratives paint these areas exclusively in negative terms, pointing out the need for large-scale interventions from the police and even from the armed forces in specific areas. Often ghettoised, left on the margins, considered as obligatory transit points for reaching the centre, urban peripheries are the “dumping ground” for various social problems. This complex urban fabric is also where flows of migrants arrive and specifically, those who remain on the geographical and social confines of the West. Behind the door. Possibly closed. In a heterogeneous, changing complex situation, European and transnational welfare systems are not able to prevent exclusion on the margins. It is therefore necessary to review the framework of risk/degradation that is the setting for urban peripheries, and to relaunch the idea of young people and peripheries as an educational and political challenge. Changing perspectives means reducing the reiteration of border aspects and exile that feature so much in the description and quality of life of these areas. In this sense, community empowerment is effective in recognising the value of young people “at risk” and set out de-construction and intercultural animation strategies. In this paper we will outline the intermediate outcomes of the “Urban Re-generAction: young ideas for urban peripheries.
Experiences of active, solidarity-based citizenship for/with young generations” (July 2017-January 2019) project. This project is trying out an intervention model that is present, education-wise, in the national territory, promoting forms of active citizenship among young people to combat social and relational problems. Urban Re-generAction involves 16 cultural/educational centres in the peripheries of 14 Italian regions, reaching 400 adolescents “at risk”. The scientific supervision and education-related coordination of the project allow us to orientate and observe the reinforcement and critical aspects of the inclusion process. The paradigms of reference concern the development of communities, intercultural communication, and participated planning. To this end, in 2015, the European Council set the member states the aim of increased participation from young people in democratic and civic processes in Europe, inviting them to promote active citizenship and the participation of young people in plural, tolerant societies. The prospects of pedagogy for liberation and autonomy extend our critical gaze to the actual possibility for young people to participate that is more than mere rhetoric. The construction of a critical conscience, of the possibility/freedom for expression and shared learning in the experience, points to the need to support local communities in planning places where young people are not just “users at risk” and recipients of intervention, but pro-active participants. Our aim, therefore, is to understand the pedagogical strategies and educational methods that allow social operators to work for the community, with the community, and together with the community, to test projects that valorise young people as resources for social innovation and intercultural dialogue. To become the driving force behind inclusion, it is necessary to get to know and recognise situations, extending the prospect of “we care”, contrasting the marginalisation of peripheries in the city and human life. The research itinerary, including with reference to European paradigms, is looking at the way in which intercultural tensions arise and inclusive strategies are born - from analysis of the contexts, to the creation of transformative social networks based on proximity/solidarity – with young people involved at the forefront. These processes will identify new languages and lifestyles to narrate the urban peripheral areas to break down some of the stereotypes that radicalise positions of risk/security, while neglecting those of improvement/cooperation at local level.

The analysis of the ongoing project take place through auditing and monitoring tools used with educational équipe. Qualitative assessment devices have been used (questionnaires and interviews) able to collect recipients’ feedback (word clouds; verbal and graphic brainstorming; mind maps; roadmaps for the inclusion processes…). Face-to-face training has been carried out in parallel with all social operators, integrated with an online platform to share materials/ideas on the themes of the project. From a research viewpoint, the collection of qualitative data allows us to assess the critical nature and effectiveness of the strategies put in place, listening to the thoughts of all the stakeholders and social agents involved. At the same time, quantitative data have been collected to describe the target of adolescents and the implementation contexts. Observation and assessment have mainly looked at the following areas: 1) empowerment of the educational skills of local teams: knowledge, analysis of needs, capability for social intervention, construction of partnerships and sustainable/combining networks in the area (data collection and monitoring strategies: blended training; method supervision for the teams; in-depth interviews); 2) critical construction of communication processes: starting with “emergency” communication, which creates a distorted image of urban context and young people “at risk”, there is an intercultural reinterpretation of community courses (data collection and monitoring strategies: description of the “quality supply line”, the activities of citizenship through the use of word clouds and roadmaps to redefine new narratives for the urban context and active citizenship); 3) focus on youth: young people take part in the regeneration of the urban and relational context of the peripheries, accentuating understanding of the actual use of citizenship as a transformative strategy of themselves and their setting. This occurs through awareness of themselves and the area; exploration of urban spaces with opportunities for participatory; renewed narratives for the periphery, written by young people, the protagonists of a regeneration experience for de-localised communities; the exchange of good practices between contexts; dissemination of educational and citizenship processes (data collection and monitoring strategies: questionnaires, in-depth interviews, critical re-appraisal of communication/narrative products achieved by young people, seminar and presentation contest to conclude the experience, final appraisal). The participatory-research that we will be presenting is firmly connected to the ongoing project logic and the implementation of the circle, from pedagogical theory and educational practice, will be further reinforced by considerations shared with social operators and feedback from the young people involved.

The aim of the research is to describe and define the educational processes that are effective in promoting inclusion among young people through active citizenship. The chain of social planning will be reconstructed with the aim of understanding the most effective methods to support the development of communities and the dissemination of intercultural “triggers”. The actions and strategies considered most sustainable by the team will be screened with a view to new plans, including on a European scale. It will be necessary to assess the outcomes of the project to launch possible lines of research-action that can boost inclusive logic with young people “at risk”, starting from the recognition of resources available at individual and community level. Starting from the expected results of the project, we aim to look deeper at the pedagogical aspect and to describe educational strategies put in place to: increase a sense of community and affiliation in recipients, and the ability to cooperate; to boost better awareness in young people “at risk” of the possibility to be involved through the implementation of a sense of active citizenship (from awareness of the urban context to the realisation of new experiences); reduce the problems of social exclusion and implement the level of planning and realisation of collective activities; launch and/or consolidate networks between peripheries and the media, to communicate new faces for the “urban borders” and the piloted actions of citizens; support, through 16 local teams, the acquisition of transversal skills and enabling core organisations to work and map out the dynamics of the networks formed, promoting processes of inclusion and the spread of best practices. Documentation of the method used will be essential to point out the inclusion hubs, intercultural communication channels, and the promotion of citizenship and solidarity between and with young generations.

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