ITALY: Salesian vocational training center launches renewable energy initiative
Borgo Ragazzi Don Bosco pilots first in a series of environmental interventions
ITALY
(MissionNewswire) Borgo Ragazzi Don Bosco in Rome, one of several Salesian vocational training centers across Italy, is using renewable energy thanks to a large photovoltaic system that was recently installed as a result of collaboration with Banco dell’Energia and Edison. The project, known as “Sustainable Energy for Youth”, was inaugurated with Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, heads of Banco dell’Energia and Edison, and the Salesian community attending.
The Borgo Ragazzi Don Bosco sustainability project is a pilot project and the first in a series of environmental interventions for Salesian centers in central Italy. The aim is to transform Salesian centers into hubs of shared sustainability, where the production of clean energy becomes a tool to free up resources that will be reinvested in education and support for the most vulnerable.
The project involved the installation of two separate photovoltaic systems to power the day care center, church, and theater and vocational training center.
Father Emanuele De Maria, rector of Borgo Ragazzi Don Bosco, said, “For us, this project is much more than a new state-of-the-art facility. It is a cultural investment in the area. Thanks to the newly established system, we strengthen our commitment as promoters of environmental sustainability and as supporters of social initiatives benefiting the most vulnerable young people.”
For Gualtieri, this project demonstrates how environmental and social objectives can work together, enabling other projects to be launched in the Centocelle and Quarticciolo neighborhoods.
Salesian programs across Italy help youth who are unable to attend school and others who drop out to work at the few jobs available to them. A growing number of children work as laborers on farms and others have turned to the sex trade to help support their families. Those in poverty often live without adequate shelter, hot water, regular meals and health care.
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Photo courtesy of Don Bosco Green Alliance
Don Bosco Green Alliance – Borgo Ragazzi Don Bosco shifts to Renewable Energy
Salesian Missions – Italy
World Bank – Italy
