Bangherang APS

Bangherang APS is a non-profit youth association, operating in the local communities of Cento, Pieve di Cento and Sala Bolognese of Emilia Romagna region, Italy. Pieve di Cento is part of a wider area formed by 15 municipalities, called “Distretto Pianura Est” and Sala Bolognese is part of “Distretto Pianura Est” which is a Union of 6 municipalities. Both of the “Distretto” are part of Metropolitan City of Bologna. After five years of constant cooperation, working together, delivering projects and activities, at the end of 2019 the two associations Ferfilò and Bel qUEl decided to merge and establish Bangherang APS. The name Bangherang represents the Motto of the lost children in Peter Pan, but it also has a literature meaning representing the kid’s voice inside each adult that never has to be lost. It was a long process in order to be formally recognized as an official fusion, but it was also an occasion to discuss and ideate a proper structure of the new organization that was able to represent every aspect of our work. The activities of Bangherang are divided into 5 areas: 1) Youth Policies 2) Childhood and Parenting 3) Inclusion 4) Europe 5) Education to Global Citizenship Bangherang APS works on the promotion of active citizenship, the values of a Smart and sustainable community, the youth empowerment and to contribute to give value at the personal competences of every subject it’s working with. Through the daily work and activities we are trying to involve the young people from our communities in order to become active citizens. Our projects could be good examples of interaction between young people and policy makers, because since the beginning of our experience we created a strong network and collaboration. All the issues that we deal with, such as social inclusion of people with fewer opportunities, active citizenship, unemployability, personal growth of young people and cultural promotion, have been always developed to increase the participation of young people and to enhance their awareness of the social context and encourage critical thinking. Bangherang APS has an agreement with local high schools frequented by more than 1200 students with which we develop courses of European project writing and with them we work on defining local problems in order to address them also with the help of Erasmus+. Bangherang manages a Youth Center and an infantry hub. The Youth Center “La Villa” is in Sala Bolognese and in this place many activities are delivered for youngsters from 11 to 25 years old. For example: courses of digital competences, theatre, video making, coding, writing etc. Within this building we also host activities of other partners working with youngsters. Bel qUEl and now Bangherang has managed the Youth Center since 2014. The infantry hub is in Pieve di Cento and it’s called “Lab 63”. It is a building that it’s designed specifically for kids from 0 to 13 years old. Bangherang implements activities for children related to fields like education, family support, creative workshops and literature activities. Ferfilò and now Bangherang have been managing the Hub since 2017.