Associazione di Promozione Sociale Warrols

Warrols is an Italian cultural and social organization born in 2013 with the aim to promote business ideas and start-up for youth people and disadvantages people in order to develop a social and economic regeneration within the local community. The organization achieves these goals by running different activities, such as supporting small-medium enterprises; promoting networks between local stakeholders; running projects for the local re-qualification. In particular, the main projects achieved by Warrrols were about promoting an urban incubator with the goal to “reactivate” the historical city centre of Putignano (a town from Southern Italy), by giving the opportunity to create business and social activities for young people by recuperating old abandoned buildings of the city centre. Another project achieved had the goal to design and develop sustainable streets furniture created by young people with minor opportunities. Another one, had the goal to manage and bring the knowledge for the development of business of young and disadvantage people by the use of seminars, workshops and other similar activities. From 2016, Warrols has started to apply European Calls with the aim to extend the activities and the results achieved at a local level to a European level, particularly in order to make young people closer to European issues. The association is trying to make more attractive its projects in order to involve more and more people; for that reason it wants to elevate these projects at a European dimension, having the opportunity to amplify its action and make results more visible. The ambition comes from the desire to put in contact the local community -which is quite peripheral in terms of geographical and economic position and which normally ignores European dimension - with people from different background and cultures, trying to develop the European awareness and the capacity to share practices, information and traditions. Since 2016, Warrols has got grants for 4 European projects in the frame of the Erasmus+ programme. In particular, two EVS projects, one training course and one project in the frame of the KA2 - Cooperation for Innovation and the Exchange of Good Practices. The organization focus his energy mainly on young disadvantage people -who normally are excluded from society and job world- who need a support whenever they want to come up and build up an idea and put it in action. On the same level, Warrols effort is based on giving support, knowledge and tools to other young organization for a better quality of their action. Finally, the main functions of Warrols on society is to "reactivate", to facilitate and to give access in terms of participation and active citizenship. Warrols is also strongly convinced that the support of young volunteers is a great contribution for a civic and cultural local development. Warrols has builded a good network over the years, in particular it has a good and regular relationship and partnership with different Municipalities, with the Region Office of its region and with different types of non profit organization at a local, national and European level. Another added value of the association is to disseminate its projects and results at different levels, being well integrated in the media local context: newspapers, local TVs, webradios.