Radically Adolescent Community Fund 2nd edition

There are 27 proposals selected

Festivals, trips, sporting events, reading corners, murals, but also street parties, shows, traveling cinemas, and world cuisines: these and many other activities designed by young people from Bologna aged between 14 and 20 were selected for the second edition of the Radicalmente Adolescenti Community Fund.

A project promoted by the Municipality of Bologna and the IU Rusconi Ghigi Foundation, co-financed by the PN Metro Plus 2021–2027, with the aim of supporting the ideas of young people in the city's neighborhoods.

Out of the 60 proposals received at the end of the call—involving over 200 young people united by the desire to imagine and build concrete improvements for Bologna—27 initiatives were selected based on their capacity for involvement, innovation, creativity, feasibility, and sustainability.

The selected groups will receive a financial contribution to realize their ideas, as well as a support path that includes training, peer-to-peer exchange, and public feedback moments. The ideas range from the care of gathering places to tournaments, cultural events, concerts, theatrical performances, music festivals, boxing, and events open to the local area.

From April 2026, the training course "from idea to project" will kick off: a short cycle of meetings to transform the selected ideas into concrete projects, coordinated by the IU Rusconi Ghigi Foundation. This is dedicated to the selected groups to acquire useful tools to transform their ideas into concrete, sustainable projects capable of generating a positive impact on the city's neighborhoods.

After the public presentation scheduled for late May, all projects will be implemented by the end of 2026 in the various city districts.

The 27 winning projects

Borgo Panigale - Reno District

• Reading Corner – Centro Cresco Borghini: A reading room to organize group readings, book presentations, book crossing, creative writing workshops, and the reading of newspapers and magazines.

• Olmi HC – Giardino degli Olmi: A music festival, ranging from rap to punk hc.

• (Non) Sono una signora: An interactive and workshop-based theatrical show that involves the audience in an emotional and participatory journey on the theme of respect, to stimulate awareness and reflection in daily relationships.

Navile District

• Il Torneo del Boccio – via Francesco Zanardi 230: A football tournament with side events such as table football tournaments, freestyle challenges, live music, and food stands.

• Angolo 360 – Bonobo (via Antonio di Vincenzo 16/a): Setting up a space within Bonobo (the operational headquarters of Skate After School) entirely for children and teenagers to read books or magazines, watch movies, videos or documentaries, play, study, or socialize.

• Bolognina Boxing Camp vol.II – Corte 3 (via Niccolò dall’Arca 34): Three days of boxing matches, music, and socializing in the heart of Bolognina, with free training open to all, led by World Champion Pamela Noutcho.

• TEENATHLON: Urban Sport Condiviso: Sports tournaments and challenges in Bolognina to involve boys and girls aged 12 to 16 who share common passions like sport: mini-tournaments on basketball and five-a-side football pitches, a bike ride along the Navile, and a triathlon-style competition.

• Play Day – Oratorio San Savino: Play Day is a participatory day for young people: a Play Zone with group games and sports activities, a Music space with jam sessions and DJ sets, urban art workshops, writing, improvised theater, a chill area, and an outdoor cinema.

San Donato - San Vitale District

• Graf K-Pop Dance – piazza Spadolini: A Korean pop culture festival, which also includes a k-pop dance choreography contest with a jury of experts.

• Giovane boxe al parco – Parco Pasolini: An evening of boxing and music at Parco Pasolini: about ten mixed Olympic boxing matches where, during the intervals, musical groups and actors take to the ring to entertain the audience.

• Giovani in rotta | storie di connessioni – via Scipione dal Ferro 4: An exchange project between young people from Bologna and Rome which, through video-making, interviews, and shared passions like sport and music, tells and compares the adolescent experiences of two different neighborhoods.

• Cucine dal mondo – Camere d’Aria: A shared cooking project that proposes the preparation of recipes from around the world to encourage meetings and cultural exchange.

Savena District

• Try PomeriGioca – via Abba 6: A project that aims to open the youth center to new peers, strengthening its identity with a mural and involving the neighborhood through "PomeriGioca" events consisting of games, workshops, and moments of sharing.

• The Silent Square – Piazza Grigoris Lambrakis: An inclusive and sustainable summer music event in the square, combining a silent party, live music, and DJ sets.

• Benessere e salute: tutto quello che dovresti sapere sul tuo corpo – Sala Circolo Fossolo (Viale Felsina 52): A project of open and inclusive meetings with experts to promote body knowledge, sexual health, and emotional and relational education among adolescents, both inside and outside of sports.

Porto - Saragozza District

• NOI SIAMO DOC – Live Experience – Mezz’aria Community Hub: A project that combines a traveling cinema and a final festival to bring students' short films to the neighborhoods and celebrate them with a large participatory event in Bologna.

• METRON FESTIVAL: A festival for Metron magazine organized into four meetings on social media, well-being, fashion, and writing, culminating in the creation of a special issue of the magazine.

• Parole oltre i muri: A participatory mural dedicated to Carolina Picchio, as a symbol of the fight against cyberbullying and the promotion of a culture of peer respect.

• Cine-Ravone – Parco Emanuele Petri: An open-air film festival aimed at enhancing public space through cinema as a tool for cultural aggregation and active participation.

Santo Stefano District

• ATTIVIAMO LA LUNE – Lunetta Gamberini: A project that livens up the Lunetta Gamberini Park with accessible and free sports activities, social moments, music, and debates.

• Festa di strada Tanabata – via Sant’Apollonia: A Japanese-inspired street party with workshops, games, manga, screenings, and participatory moments like Tanabata, to immerse the neighborhood in Japanese culture.

• YOUTH GAMES ALLA LUNETTA – Lunetta Gamberini: A day of sporting and cultural events including a basketball tournament, table football, ping pong, and stalls for drawing or playing video games.

• Libri al buio – Giardini Margherita: A "blind date with a book" stall at the Giardini Margherita, where books wrapped with clues invite people of all ages to discover new reads in a curious and surprising way.

CITY-WIDE

• OrientaDay: A job orientation event in an interactive talk-show format, designed as a meeting point between approximately 400 students from various high schools in Bologna and the top management of local industrial excellences. A proposal that stems from the experience of the Orienta web-app and is presented for the first time as a public event.

• FESTA SCONFINATA: A large party open to the city, designed by young migrants to create opportunities for socialization, storytelling, inclusion, and dialogue between cultures.

• Sintonie Fest: A three-day art festival that combines music and visual arts through workshops, performances, and screenings, ending with an event designed to explore the dialogue between sound and images in green spaces.

• Il Podcast dei Vez (Season 3 + Live): A project relaunching "Il Podcast dei Vez" with a new season and a live event at Cinema Medica, involving especially the student audience. A well-established format that offers young people opportunities for inspiration and discussion through dialogues with guests from the world of culture and entertainment.

The Community Fund represents one of the tools of the Radicalmente Adolescenti strategy, through which the Municipality of Bologna invests in the protagonism of the new generations, promoting spaces, opportunities, and active participation in city life.

The Radicalmente Adolescenti Community Fund is an initiative co-financed by the PN Metro plus 2021-2027 and promoted by the IU Rusconi Ghigi Foundation and the Department of Education, Instruction and New Generations of the Municipality of Bologna.