"Lights in the Park" told at the update press conference
"LUCI was conceived not to make yet another beautiful social project, one of the many of which our country is rich - underlines Don Enzo Capitani - but to become a new model of making social policies".
"Responding to growing social needs with innovative tools": this is how Don Enzo Capitani, director of Caritas, explained the innovativeness of the social impact investment project "Luci nel Parco" at the press conference on 13 September last, in Grosseto, together with a chorus of participating institutional and associative subjects (see logos above). The project, conceived by the Ethical Foundation together with Caritas, the Tuscany Region and Confindustria Toscana Sud, is inspired by the Third Sector Reform of 2016, aiming to overcome the welfare logic of traditional social policies to try to act upstream of needs, on causes. "Luci nel Parco" provides for the regeneration of an unused public building within the Maremma nature park, entrusted in concession with public notice, for purposes of social integration and economic development.
What's new compared to the past? “LUCI envisages all those traits of innovation envisaged by social impact design” explains Paola Caporossi, founder of the Ethical Foundation. Among them: the multi-stakeholder nature of the promoter, the intention to produce a measurable and wide-ranging social impact, the innovative method of financing, replicability, the development of administrative capacity of local authorities. "LUCI was conceived not to make yet another beautiful social project, one of the many of which our country is rich - underlines Don Enzo Capitani - but to become a new model of making social policies". The goal - explains Riccardo Breda, president of the Chamber of Commerce - is to produce a benefit for the entire community: thanks to the "innovative synergy between the credit system, social workers and institutions, it allows not only to recover spaces for the community for charitable purposes , but develops a truly innovative third sector business model in the field, capable of contributing positively to the local economic system". The main activity to which the project will give life is that of sustainable catering, insisting the property on the land of the regional farm. The bio-osteria will be managed by the Social Cooperative "Solidarietà è Crescita" which will offer work to individuals "in difficulty" and will, over time, generate a profit: a small percentage of this will go to feed a fund dedicated to future impact projects. “The inspiring principle – explain the promoters – is that whoever has received, in turn donates and invests in the community”. The second activity is the musical one: young people - but not only them - will have at their disposal rooms equipped for musical rehearsals and will be able to perform in the evening in the show area of the bio-tavern. "In return - explains Giovanna Ciniero, vice president of LU.CI Aps - they undertake, for the same inspiring principle mentioned above, to teach a musical instrument to those who cannot afford the cost of a music course". The third activity is of an educational and cultural nature: a school to teach public administrators, volunteers, non-profit and profit organizations to plan investments with a social impact, also with the support of local trade associations. How is the launch of the project financed, up to the delivery of the rearranged and equipped premises for the aforementioned 3 activities? Without even a public euro. Private savings intervene: individual citizens from all over Italy who have chosen not to give "charity", in the classic sense, but to allocate a small part of their profit in favor of the Luci project and activities. As? A bank rooted in the area intervened as a private financial partner, drawing inspiration from the recent regulations on the Third Sector. “It is a deposit account – explains Bugli – that anyone can sign up for with denominations of one thousand euros and up, therefore within everyone's reach. The individual subscriber receives a six-monthly coupon, a percentage of which is donated to Luci, also receiving a tax benefit”. The six-monthly donations from all subscribers will cover Luci's financial plan, conservatively estimated at three hundred thousand euros for turnkey delivery and the start of operations.
