Factory, 27 million to open civic spaces for young people. Abodi: «This is how they become protagonists»

An incentive for amateur sports clubs and third sector bodies that want to open stable meeting, training and orientation places for young people between 14 and 35 years old. It is «Fabbrica – Civic spaces for youth», the 27 million euro public notice presented in Ascoli Piceno, Italian City of Youth 2026, by the Minister for Sport and Youth Andrea Abodi. The resources come from the Fund for Youth Policies and are managed by the Department for Youth Policies and Universal Civil Service, with the support of Sport and Health.

The Civic Space is defined as an «open, accessible, safe, inclusive territorial presence», in which sport acts as an educational lever alongside cultural, training, social and orientation activities. The announcement looks above all at the territories, with the aim of offering young people opportunities to stay in the places where they live. The program takes up the experience of community civic spaces and ReGenerations.

According to Abodi, together with the latter it brings to "over 50 million" the resources for initiatives aimed at young people, who for the minister must not be "only recipients of public policies, but protagonists of choices". For the president of Sport and Health, Marco Mezzaroma, in small towns and provinces a place to go "is often missing, or too far away", while sports clubs and the third sector "are already there".

The financeable projects will be between 120 and 150, with a duration of 18 to 24 months and a contribution of between 150 thousand and 250 thousand euros each. Amateur sports associations and clubs registered with the Rasd and third sector bodies established as associations or foundations and registered with the Runts can participate. Applications are submitted on the Sport and Health platform from 12pm on 4 November to 12pm on 18 December 2026. With the available funding, the average contribution per project ranges from 180 thousand to 225 thousand euros.