Cassano Magnago - The Community Foundation of Varesotto at Villa Oliva: VilLab is a model to support - Gallarate/Malpensa - Varese News

A symbolic place of the architectural heritage of the Varese area that becomes a home and a point of reference for over seven hundred young people . It is Villa Oliva , in the heart of Cassano Magnago , home of VilLab ETS (third sector body), an association born on the initiative of a group of university students and which in a few years has become a virtuous experiment in aggregation , orientation and social innovation.

The leaders of the Fondazione Comunità del Varesotto also recognized its value, visiting the facility with president Federico Visconti . «The true modernity of this initiative is a pact between generations – underlined the economist, former rector of the Liuc University of Castellanza -. Here there is trust, there is responsibility, there is an idea of ​​a community that knows how to look ahead». The mayor of Cassano Magnago , some councilors and the president of the association Mattia Mosconi , 24 years old, played host: «We have seen a community grow, a place where you can study, but also share projects, ideas, visions. And more and more often we receive requests from other territories: “How do you do this thing here?” They ask us. It is a sign that this model works and can be replicated».

The model, in fact, is simple but powerful: study rooms open all day , in a context of beauty, silence and care , in an eighteenth-century building made accessible thanks to a pact between young people, the municipal administration and the third sector. A pact that, as Manuele Battaglini of the Lotta contro l'Emarginazion e cooperative recalled, «is not magic, but the answer to a real need: safe spaces where you can study and feel part of a community».

Born in 2018 at the instigation of Davide Giani , the idea found concrete form with the entry into the network of the Community Foundation of Varesotto , in particular thanks to the Gemme project, which supported the transition of the group from an informal initiative to an ETS. "That moment was fundamental: it allowed us to grow, structure ourselves, learn to manage accounting, communication, institutional relations" said Mosconi.

Today VilLab is an association that offers cultural events , moments of socializing and university orientation, such as OrientaDay , which every year attracts hundreds of high school students. An example that has already generated effects on the territory. «In Cardano al Campo, Gorla, Albizzate they ask us how to replicate it – explains Mosconi – and this means that we have become a real point of reference, not just an ideal one”. The strength of the project, Visconti highlighted, also lies in the ability to bring together different generations : «This project has its distinctive feature in modernity that is expressed in a pact between generations: on one side there are the young people with their creative drive and their enthusiasm, on the other there is an open administration. The attitude with which the city has welcomed this proposal is equally important».

And the Cassano Magnago administration – present with the mayor Pietro Ottaviani and the councilors for Youth Policies and Social Affairs, Anna Lodrini, and for Culture, Alessandro Passuello – does not hide its satisfaction: «For three mandates, the administration has focused a lot on young people and cultural events: at the end of June there will be an event linked to a national classical music competition , with participants from all over Italy. We have also just concluded the theater season. All this comes from the trust that we all place in young people. And these kids deserve it because we have recognized their sense of responsibility».

The network built and constituted by the Foundation, the Municipality, cooperatives, schools , universities, is the basis on which VilLab looks to the future . New projects are already in the pipeline, including a film club and initiatives with other local associations. "We are not special - concluded Battaglini - but we fill a void that exists everywhere. And this makes us necessary".