The Italian Network

As reported in the 30 years section, on 27 May 1991 the "La città dei bambini" project was born in Fano. In the following years, many Italian Mayors felt the urgency of adopting a new philosophy of governing their city, placing the figure of the child at the center of the political agenda.

The Italian Network was formally founded in 1996, with the aim of developing a sense of belonging to the project, promoting discussion and sharing of experiences. In the same year, the international laboratory "La città dei bambini" was established within the Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies of the CNR. The Laboratory aims to provide training, support and coordination to the cities that join the project.

The Italian cities that have joined the project over the years are almost 100. By joining the project, the Mayors have undertaken the commitment to guarantee child protagonism in decision-making processes and return the city's spaces to children, even if, over the course of the time, in some cities the project stopped following the change of municipal administration.

Among Italian cities, significant and long-lasting experiences stand out, such as Fano (PU), San Giorgio a Cremano (NA), Pesaro, Malnate (VA) and Rescaldina (MI), marked by a strong commitment from the municipal administration and by a solid project laboratory.

The recently joined cities, which formally entered the Italian network, are: Mendrisio (2020), Macerata (2022), Luino (2022), San Vincenzo Livorno (2022), Portici (2023) and Isera (2023).

In some Regions collaborations and exchanges of experiences have been activated, in Lombardy, ANCI Lombardy has promoted meetings and materials for the promotion of the Project, which have produced new memberships while maintaining the relationship with the Laboratory of Rome.

In Italy the Lazio regional network has been active since 2014 as part of the project "Lazio, the Region of girls and boys".

To strengthen coordination at a national level and connect it to the other project networks (Lazio, Italy, Spain and Latin America), the International Laboratory promotes meetings and training seminars aimed at the representatives of the recently joined cities (administrators, coordinators and representatives of the Project) , produces study materials on the Project, such as the three Manuals (recently reprinted by the publisher ZeroSeiUp), one for each of the project activities and activates research on children's participation and autonomy.