Il Ce.Sto Cooperativa Sociale

The Social Cooperative Il Ce.Sto has been engaged since 1987 in promoting the processes of integration within the population of the historic center of Genoa, with a particular attention to minors and second-generation immigrants, in strict cooperation with other subjects in the neighborhood (inhabitants, local businesses, schools, institutions). The maze of alleys that form the historic center of Genoa is in fact at the heart of Ce.sto's social work. Aiming at safeguarding the liveability of the neighbourhood and, above all, at preventing and finding a solution for poverty and social distress, Ce.Sto wants to be a center for social aggregation and territorial integration and for the promotion of dialogue, respect and tolerance. To achieve this objective, Ce.sto provides free social services to the whole community, in particular through the tools of informal and non-formal education, seminaries and workshops. Prerogative is always given to those who are most vulnerable,children and young people which we see as the future of the community. Ce.Sto has managed over the years to build a safe space for children and youth of different social and cultural backgrounds, by stimulating and encouraging positive relationships between people, mutual encounter, knowledge and solidarity, providing paths and tools to enhance and strengthen the potential of individuals and the whole community. The Aggregation Centre for Minors, founded in 1981, is the first and most “ historical” service of the cooperative: an educational place of constructive growth for children (6/11 years) and teenagers (11/18 years) of the Historic Center, where they experience positive relationships. Key feature for the educational intervention on the territory is the tool of “street education” in order to establish relationships of value with individuals or groups. Since 2011 Ce.Sto has been involved in the reception and integration of asylum seekers: we work with approximately 150 asylum seekers (between CAS and SPRAR services) who are housed in small apartments for rent, deliberately scattered around the city centre with the aim of promoting networking and a real integration with the community. In 2012, Ce.sto took over the management of the Luzzati Gardens, an area of the city left in conditions of degradation and abandonment for a long time in the heart of the historic center and since then has become the centrepiece of an urban regeneration project. The Luzzati Gardens are a "widespread square", for the promotion of rights and culture for everyone. The overall objective is to develop an area of cultural integration and social aggregation available to the neighbourhood while offering a healthy alternative to the so-called “movida” that characterizes the nightlife in this part of the historic center with all the related problems: trash and waste, violent episodes, drug dealing, alcohol abuse and substances even among the very young. At the Luzzati Gardens the keywords are: culture, interculture, peaceful coexistence and active citizenship, achieved through a multitude of cultural, recreational, entertainment events, workshops, seminars, both during the day and at night. Since 2017 Ce.sto also manages a Community for Unaccompanied Foreign Minors that hosts 16 underage kids, supporting their path of integration and education. Finally, since 2018, with the acquisition of Massoero 2000 Onlus, Ce.sto guarantees support to homeless people. To date the social cooperative works on local and national projects financed by public administrations (municipal, regional and government), private donors such as banking institutions, foundations, social enterprises, etc. and has been involved in different European projects, including EVS and ESC as a hosting organization. Ce.Sto strongly believes in the sustainable development of services and activities tailored to every individual’s personal needs, with particular (but not exclusive) attention to the situations of social distress, thro