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CLEANAP CLEANS UP:
INCLUSIVE PLACE-KEEPING IN
NAPLES, ITALY
2012 Krusevo Youth Conference 23.09.2012
Introducing myself
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Andrea Varriale
Master’s thesis on public spaces (e.g. gardens,
squares, pedestrian areas) in Naples, Italy.
Outline
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The issue(s) of Naples
CleaNap as guerrilla gardening
CleaNap as manager of a «smart city» project
CleaNap as a youth organisation?
Conclusions
The problems
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Youth unemployment (age 15-24) in Naples is
extremely high: 79%.
 Italy:
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39,5%; Macedonia: 52,5%.
Densely inhabited (8.100/km²)
 Skopje
890/km²; Belgrade 3.541/km²
The Problems
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Dysfunctional transport system)
 «Last
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Dirt
mile problem»
CleaNap
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Born in 2011, during (yet another) garbage crisis
and in the «hot climate» of municipal elections.
 Upsurge
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in civic movements
Different initiatives (guerrilla gardening, recycling,
bike-sharing).
The philosophy behind all the initiatives:
 Increase
the quality of life in Naples
 Spread a sense of responsibility for the city
 Involving neighbourhoods
CleaNap: Guerrilla
gardening
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Concrete problems:
 Neglected
public spaces
 Lack of civicness, little sense of responsibility
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The initiative:
 Choose
a place and coordinate actions (mainly via a
Facebook page)
 Do the «attack»
CleaNap: Guerrilla gardening
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Video
Success and failure
 Sometimes
dwellers or visitors do not «pick up» the
spirit of the initiative (everything goes back to normal).
CleaNap with Bike sharing
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Will start in March 2013
 Network
of 24 bike sheds
 200 bikes
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Won a «Smart City and
Communities» contest
 80%
of costs covered
 20% crowdfunding
CleaNap as a youth
strategist
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Defining youth organisation:
 Age
of participants and of beneficiaries
 Usage of social media
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CleaNap is a bottom-up, a-political, and entirely
«civic-oriented» association.
No policies, but initiatives.
CleaNap does not even aim to be a youth
organisation!
But…
CleaNap as a Youth
Strategist
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…it is in practice a youth organisation since:
 Its
members and most of the volunteers are young
people
 The
funding for «smart cities» is limited to applicants under
30 years old
 Makes
large use of social media to coordinate
initiatives.
 Bike-sharing app for smartphones
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Thank you