FA BENE SICILIA
The Agrigento area has a struggling labour market, especially for people in difficulty and fragile situations (young NEETs, unemployed adults, migrants, people with disabilities, ex-offenders, etc.). On the other hand, the territory holds a strategic asset for its economic and social development: agri-food. Many typical products that enhance and tell the story of the territory to the world, but at the same time a supply chain often distorted, bent to market logic and with little respect for the environment, workers and local communities. Fa Bene Sicilia aims to give food its community value by using it as a tool to promote social cohesion, sustainability of local communities and job placement in the agri-food chain for people in fragile situations.
Territory
Agrigento
Objective
The Community Social Cooperative "Fa Bene Sicilia" was founded in 2021 with 3 founding members and a common desire: to promote local development by adopting sustainability and social cohesion as fundamental values. Fa Bene Sicilia is a social enterprise that through its ethical e-commerce of agri-food products promotes quality and sustainable production and in which commerce is instrumental to the job placement of people in fragile situations. Those who buy the products participate in small social "revolutions", support people in difficulty, promote "good and fair" work and an ethical and sustainable agri-food chain.
Activities
The social enterprise "Fa Bene" 4 times: for families, the community, producers and the environment.
The social cooperative operates in fair trade, addressing end consumers through its e-commerce www.fabenesicilia.org, the Ho.Re.Ca. sector (Hotellerie – Restaurant – Café) and companies for corporate gifts for holidays, celebratory occasions and corporate events.
It addresses them with a catalogue of authentic Sicilian food and wine and natural cosmetics products from companies qualified only after a careful evaluation process that measures in producers: product quality, production process quality, ethics and legality, environmental and social sustainability.
It is its way of supporting the local supply chain, not indiscriminately, but only enhancing those Sicilian producers who operate according to certain socioeconomic impact criteria.
By purchasing from Fa Bene Sicilia, individuals and companies enable the training and job inclusion of people in fragile situations, through the placements carried out in the logistics activities of the social cooperative.
The role of the Community Foundation
The Community Foundation promoted and developed the "Fa Bene" project, preliminary to the birth of the social enterprise. It accompanied and supported the birth of the social cooperative with a donation, involvement in network social projects and constant support in terms of know-how transfer and network generation. The birth of the Fa Bene Sicilia Community Social Cooperative is the concrete application of the paradigm of social generativity: we bring it into the world, we take care of it and then we let the new reality go.
Impact
1 ethical and solidarity e-commerce developed
28 local producers involved and qualified as "sustainable"
270 short supply chain products
12 non-profit partners
2 new jobs
2 professional integration paths
Other projects that regenerate communities
DEDALO
Our goal is to counter educational poverty and early school leaving among children aged 5 to 10, offering empowerment opportunities through an innovative, creative and replicable educational process, in collaboration with the community and the territory with a view to urban regeneration.
Discover the project
ALICE STEM
ALICE STEM aims to inspire and guide 500 high school students in the city and province of Palermo and in the province of Agrigento towards STEM careers, with particular attention to electronic engineering. The project seeks to overcome gender and territorial barriers through innovative methods, interconnected technology laboratories and an inclusive and competent educational network. Thanks to a strategic alliance between schools, universities and guidance and innovation centres, ALICE offers personalised counselling, transdisciplinary learning experiences and advanced tools to support young people in building their professional future.
Discover the project
STIV
The project aims to promote a sustainable management of European agricultural resources, placing viticulture as a driving sector in the ecological transition. Through the use of artificial intelligence and innovative digital tools, the initiative intends to provide new skills to agricultural professionals and improve the training offer in vocational education and training (VET). With a collaborative approach between European institutions, agricultural producers and educators, the project seeks to strengthen the European network in viticulture, increase individual competitiveness and ensure an inclusive and sustainable transition towards new models of agroecological management.
Discover the project
ECOTOURS
Our aim is to promote sustainability, competitiveness and economic regeneration of rural and coastal areas in Europe through circular tourism.
Discover the projectDEDALO
Our goal is to counter educational poverty and early school leaving among children aged 5 to 10, offering empowerment opportunities through an innovative, creative and replicable educational process, in collaboration with the community and the territory with a view to urban regeneration.
Discover the projectALICE STEM
ALICE STEM aims to inspire and guide 500 high school students in the city and province of Palermo and in the province of Agrigento towards STEM careers, with particular attention to electronic engineering. The project seeks to overcome gender and territorial barriers through innovative methods, interconnected technology laboratories and an inclusive and competent educational network. Thanks to a strategic alliance between schools, universities and guidance and innovation centres, ALICE offers personalised counselling, transdisciplinary learning experiences and advanced tools to support young people in building their professional future.
Discover the projectSTIV
The project aims to promote a sustainable management of European agricultural resources, placing viticulture as a driving sector in the ecological transition. Through the use of artificial intelligence and innovative digital tools, the initiative intends to provide new skills to agricultural professionals and improve the training offer in vocational education and training (VET). With a collaborative approach between European institutions, agricultural producers and educators, the project seeks to strengthen the European network in viticulture, increase individual competitiveness and ensure an inclusive and sustainable transition towards new models of agroecological management.
Discover the projectECOTOURS
Our aim is to promote sustainability, competitiveness and economic regeneration of rural and coastal areas in Europe through circular tourism.
Discover the project