Featured in La Sicilia at the European Year of Youth launch
La Sicilia reported on the launch of Italy's European Year of Youth Ambassador Network, the National Youth Card, and the Sicilian ambassadors selected for the programme.
On 29 March 2022, La Sicilia published Una carta virtuale per favorire la digitalizzazione dei giovani fra 18 e 35 anni in its Catania edition. Written by Luigi Provini, the article connected the launch of the National Youth Card with the presentation of Italy’s European Year of Youth Ambassador Network in Rome.
From access to participation
The article described the National Youth Card as a digital gateway for people aged 18 to 35 to access opportunities and services across areas such as culture, sport, education, training, events, and tourism. It also placed the card inside a wider policy effort: making public opportunities easier for young people to discover and use.
That emphasis on access was closely connected to the ambassador role. Information only becomes useful when it reaches people in a form they can understand and act on. The network was created to help bring European programmes, active citizenship, and opportunities such as Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps closer to schools, universities, and local communities.
Representing Sicily in the ambassador network
The article named me among the Sicilian members of the national network and included a photograph from the 24 March launch at the Ara Pacis Auditorium with European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel and fellow ambassador Natascia Arcifa.
The coverage captured an important starting point: young people were not presented only as beneficiaries of policy, but as participants expected to organise activities, create dialogue, and help their peers navigate European opportunities.
The same launch was covered by Fanpage.it in a video interview with then Minister Fabiana Dadone, focused on involving young people directly in decisions about their future. You can also read my fuller account of joining the ambassador network or open the supplied newspaper page at full size.