Futurama: Students from Erice and Palma di Montechiaro Explore CommonsHood and Tackle Circular Economy

The exploration of digital civic technologies continues for the students of Erice (TP) and Palma di Montechiaro (AG), guided by trainers from the University of Turin and the Community Foundation of Agrigento and Trapani.

The Futurama project is selected by Con i Bambini as part of the Fund for combating educational poverty among minors and co-financed by the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Foundation.

What is Blockchain and How Can It Be Applied to Everyday Life?

During the educational courses designed for the Futurama project, students focused on discovering and understanding the potential of digital civic technologies as tools to amplify and stimulate active citizenship. Specifically, the fourth-year classes of the Sciascia e Bufalino Secondary School in Erice (TP) and the Odierna Secondary School in Palma di Montechiaro (AG) explored blockchain and how its features and applications can help imagine and design community actions to improve their daily lives.

This complex technology was made accessible through the use of the CommonsHood app, developed by the Computer Science Department of the University of Turin, designed to put blockchain in everyone's hands to design alternative and community economies.

The CORAL and A PICCIRIDDA Experiments

Starting from the pilot case of the "Library of Objects" from the C.O.S.O. project - Organized Community for Object Exchange, a community circular economy experiment underway in Turin, the trainers guided the students in designing their own Library of Things. Two experiments were born, one per class: in Palma di Montechiaro, it was named CORAL, a resilient and "recycling" community economy like coral; in Erice, the digital library was named A PICCIRIDDA, reflecting the students' desire to "feast" on objects, rethinking how to make space for lending and reuse. Like C.O.S.O., both CORAL and A PICCIRIDDA have their own regulations, their own currency (Coral and Piggy), and their own categories of lendable objects. The students were able to test their idea using two customized versions of the app, one for each project.

Engaging the Community

The educational journey didn’t only take place in the classroom. On May 28 and 30, the students presented their projects to other classmates, representatives from local organizations, and trainers from the University of Turin and the Community Foundation of Agrigento and Trapani. This was a highly formative moment, involving the students in another fundamental phase of the design and use of civic technologies: community engagement. They experienced firsthand the beauty of stimulating thought and creativity, adapting and rethinking the project based on contextual needs, and conveying to everyone the importance of active citizenship, which can truly become disruptive when it involves young people.

The Futurama project is part of the Pathways for Transversal Skills and Orientation (PCTO).

If you want to continue following the activities of the Futurama project, you can check the project sheet (here's the link), visit the project blog (here's the link), and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. To participate or get more information, contact Daniela Avanzato at d.avanzato@fcagrigentotrapani.it.

The Futurama project has been selected by Con i Bambini as part of the Fund for combating educational poverty among minors and co-financed by the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Foundation. The Fund was created through an agreement between banking foundations represented by Acri, the National Forum of the Third Sector, and the Government. It supports interventions aimed at removing economic, social, and cultural barriers that prevent minors from fully benefiting from educational processes. To implement the Fund's programs, the social enterprise Con i Bambini was established in June 2016, a non-profit organization wholly owned by the CON IL SUD Foundation. www.conibambini.org