Sector Sustainable cities
12 Projects
7 Countries
82,319 Direct beneficiaries

Sustainable, resilient, livable, green, inclusive, smart: all these definitions underline how every city is first of all a place where people live.

If the person is at the center and is the real protagonist of his or her own development, to speak of a sustainable city is to do "community building"- that is, to foster the development of open and welcoming communities, to respond to the needs of the vulnerable, always considering the person as part of a family and community. The aim is therefore to promote linkages in the various spheres (educational, health, food, cultural, labor, economic, leisure, environmental) by activating synergies with partners in the area, public, private, profit and nonprofit, university. For community building, a privileged tool is co-design between the parties from the ideation phase to the implementation phase, up to the evaluation process, according to a holistic and integrated approach in its different cultural, social, economic, labor, environmental and territorial aspects.

Why the community is important

An integrated and systemic approach, combining attention to the individual with a comprehensive view of the community in the area. Growth of all factors in the area is always best, taking into account the three pillars of sustainability: socio-cultural and educational, ecological and environmental, and economic and labor.

People in a community, in a neighborhood, to meet their needs move and organize themselves. They attempt to respond to various problems by deploying alternative measures and often informal resources, by coming together: this is the heritage of a community. In this attempt one can find the real wealth of the community, the real protagonism. That is why it is necessary to map these resources, enhance them and foster their growth.

Why support associations within the community?

Within the community, people freely initiate initiatives designed to meet the needs of daily life. It is essential to support these initiatives because they are:

  • embedded in the local reality and always present within the community 
  • moved by the common good
  • fundamental element for sustainability