Pordenone Intermediate Meeting
The Italian city of Pordenone hosted a meeting for the CITICESS Family to collaborate on our challenges, take final steps toward better social policies in our cities, and explore local good practices.
Local Good Practices
The thematic part of the meeting began with a presentation by Rossella Di Marzo, Ambito Director, and Lucilla Moro, PO for Social Inclusion, on vulnerability and social marginalization: from essential levels to proximity planning (PUA, families, preparatory work, and supportive housing). We learned about the structure of social services in Italy, how the multi-level approach works, and the four levels of LEPs (Basic Levels of Services).
The social workers of Pordenone also presented good practices from their region. They introduced us to a co-housing project launched in 2023, which integrates a strong community aspect to help tenants feel less isolated and build a supportive network. Social workers planned integration activities and events together with the tenants. Given its positive impact, they plan to replicate the project in the future.
Workshops
In the afternoon, the partnership worked together on policy improvements.
The first workshop focused on sustainable stakeholder engagement, where partners discussed their challenges and solutions:
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The Hungarian team emphasized the importance of a core group working together consistently, engaging on a weekly basis.
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The Aarhus team shared their preference for an informal approach, ensuring mutual interest in the project and prioritizing one-on-one meetings to tailor engagement to stakeholders' different needs.
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The partnership also discussed how to effectively address politicians, highlighting the importance of storytelling—as politicians, like everyone else, often respond more to stories than to numbers.
The second day continued with pilot co-design sessions, where partners explored ways to adapt good practices from one another.
Ballyhoura is developing a method based on Heerlen’s Breakthrough Team model, combined with the social safety approach, to support an extremely disadvantaged area with an 80% unemployment rate.
Galați is designing an annual stakeholder program inspired by Budapest’s Cavalcade Program, targeting the elderly, disabled, and low-income families through a series of events, culminating in a final large-scale event.
Zaragoza plans to apply for a pilot project inspired by Aarhus’ Staircase to Staircase model, aiming to support 17 families with complex problems.
The communication team prepared a presentation and workshop about Storytelling, which covered the principles and structure of a good story.
Study Visit
The meeting also included visits to local institutions:
Family Center – Provides free activities, including pedagogical support, psychology consultations, Italian conversation classes for foreigners, and family-friendly events such as movie afternoons for parents with young children.
HUB381 (Youth Center) – Offers after-school activities, specialized consultations, and projects to prevent school dropout. We observed a music workshop where a famous musician collaborated with children to create a song, as well as a video art project. The HUB team also organized a quiz game, allowing us to team up and play with the kids.
With all these experiences our work continues to use the knowledge of the partner cities to make sustainable, impactful changes in our own cities.