LUNARIA

Association for social promotion founded in 1992 in Rome

Address: Via Buonarroti 39, 00185 Rome - Italy. Tel. +39.068841880 Fax +39.068841859

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Activities Report 2011

Lunaria is an independent and non-profit association, founded in 1992. Lunaria promotes “principles of justice, social and economical solidarity, democratic participation to community life, promotion of civil, social and human rights both at national and international level” (art. 3 of the Constitution Chart).

In order to contribute to the achievements of such principles, the organisation develops research, training, communication and consultancy actions in the following fields:

  • international economy, third sector and ethical finance;
  • immigration, fight against racism and social exclusion;
  • international voluntary service and youth exchanges.

Lunaria manages part of its activities through contributions granted by national and local public authorities as well as European institutions. On the other hand, Lunaria is also supported by members who directly benefit from activities such as international workcamps and training courses. The typology of the developed activities and the approach to its own mission prove the international orientation of our organisation and its positive attitude towards networking.

With a staff of 17 persons, Lunaria can rely on at least 20 volunteers working on a regular basis and about 450 joining international workcamps every year.

Its structure is small and light, with aBoard composed by its President, Vice-President and a third member elected by the Assembly.

Migrations and fight against racism

Lunaria has been promoting research activities, awareness campaigns and information initiatives on migrations and racism, since 1996. All our activities are supported by an intensive work of networking at local, national and European level.
Research and social analysis are considered fundamental tools to support initiatives and campaigns aimed toprotect immigrants’ rights, to fight against discriminations and xenophobia, and to promote alternative but sustainable policies. This kind of approach raised a deep knowledge of migration issues in Rome, Italy and Europe, especially about immigrants’ labour market inclusion-exclusion condition, reckoned as an important and critical barrier that obstructs immigrants access to social services (housing, education, health services, active participation).
2011-2012 / Lunaria promotes “L’Italia sono anch’io”, a national campaign to collect signatures for two people’sbills aimed at the recognition of the right of immigrants to vote in local elections and the reform of our law on citizenship. The campaign is promoted together with 18 national civil society organisations.
2011 / Lunaria published the second White book on racism in Italy thanks to the support of the Tavola Valdese and Charlemagne Foundation. The English version is available on
2011 / Lunaria launched Cronachediordinariorazzismo.org, a new website devoted to the analysis, information and communication on racism thanks to the support of the Open Society Foundation. It is managed by Lunaria in cooperation with individuals, associations and movements that fight for equal opportunities and for the guarantee of citizenship rights for all. An online database discloses the synthetic narration of cases of discrimination in our society and in the world of media, politics and within our institutions.
2010-2011 / Lunaria carried out Show racism!, a project supported by Fondazione Intercultura. The work-plan included a non formal education programme in 10 classes of 3 high schoolsin Rome on the theme of discriminations and racism; an after school workshop on the use of participatory cartography to map racism in Rome; a final public event which involved students and teachers who took part in the project.
2009-2011 /

Lunaria co-ordinated Multimedia in Cape Verde, a project supported by the European Commission-United Nations Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI). The project aimed to promote the access to ICT technologies based on free software and trash-ware equipment for the people of the Cape Verde island of Sao Nicolau, with the objective of enhancing social inclusion, communication between Cape Verde youngsters and Cape Verde 2nd and 3rd generation migrant youth in Italy and promoting local entrepreneurship.

International Voluntary Service
Every year, Lunaria sends over 400 Italian volunteers to international voluntary service short-term initiatives abroad and facilitates the hosting of as many foreign volunteers in its initiatives carried out in co-operation with local partners in Italy. This is possible thanks to the co-operation with several associations belonging to the umbrella structure of the Alliance of the European Voluntary Service Organisations, of which Lunaria is member. This network gathers more than 50 bodies that promote international voluntary service world-wide. On the Italian side Lunaria co-operates with several local governments and socially-oriented associations willing to include a short-term project of voluntary service with international volunteers in their activities. We are engaged in the promotion of long and medium-term voluntary service such as the EU’s European Voluntary Service for young people and the promotion of individual and collective projects for adults and senior volunteers, for which we have been awarded by the European Commissionthe prize as the best Grundtvig project for the period 2000-2006.
2011-2012 / Slic II. The project co-ordinated by the Austrian Red Cross, promotes the active citizenship of senior citizensto community life thanks to informal education activities.
2011-2012 / EYV Hellas ANCE, the project, co-ordinated by the Greek network ANCE,aims to promote the participation of immigrants and nationaldisadvantaged people to social life in order to favor their social inclusion.
2011 / Good Old Times – How to enjoy the past thinking about the future.
The project, supported by the Grundtvig programme, aimed to protect the environment thanks to reforestation work performed by senior volunteers in an archeological area located in Olympia (GR) and in Sabina region (IT).
2011 / International workcamps. Lunaria has sent abroad 451 young volunteers to international voluntary projects and hosted 354foreign volunteers in Italy.
2011 / Go camp – Lunaria has involved 25 students from Venice to take part in an educational path including short term volunteering in Europe.
2009-2012 / Hemispheres – The project has allowed Lunaria to involve 30 young Italians in training and actions to raise awareness on global issues
Youth exchanges, training and initiatives
Lunaria promotes youth training, exchanges and initiatives at local, national and European level. Lunaria projects are based on the idea that learning can be conceived as a lifelong process, developed with different tools and methods. Our projects are designed as tools that facilitate the achievement of new, theoretical, practical and relational skills. These are key cross-cultural competences: the ability to work in a group, to interact with others, to learn languages and exchange knowledge in a horizontal manner and based on mutual exchange. Peer education –knowledge and experiences exchange among peers – and learning by doing – the acquisition of new skills through direct and concrete participation, are two key elements in our vocational approach.
2011-2012 /
We are all in the same ship. It is a 8-day youth exchange, supported by the Youth in Action Programme, held in San Giorgio a Cremano (Naples), involving 24 participants coming from Italy, Germany, Serbia and FYROM. The aim is to raise awareness on environment protection measures and to search for new sustainable life styles, to enhance the importance of a more natural life style against environmental pollution and climate change.
2011 /
Hand prints. Itwas a 6-day training course, supported by the Youth in Action Programme, carried out in San Giorgio a Cremano (Naples), which nvolved 16 participants coming from Italy, Hungary, Estonia, Belgium, Romania, Greece, France and Spain. The project fostered street art as a tool to promote social inclusion of youth, with an even more general aim of sharing with likeminded youth workers and peer educators new working methods to involve youngsters coming from suburbs, at higher risk of social exclusion and marginalization.
2011-2012 /
Shoot our worlds. This is a Youth Initiative, based in Rome and supported by the Youth in Action Programme;it will be lasting for 9 months and involve15 youngsters coming from some outskirts of the city: Borgata Finocchio, Tor Sapienza, Ipogeo degli Ottavi and Cinecittà. The project aims at facilitating the inclusion of youth with fewer opportunities, through workshops on non formal education and multimedia activities. The theme of the project is the urban development and how young people can become social actors of changes.
2011 /
Roots and blooms. The project was a Youth Initiative, supported by the Youth in Action Programmefor 9 months; it was carried out in Rome and its participants were 13 youth coming from some Roman outskirts: Borgata Finocchio, Tor Sapienza, Ipogeo degli Ottavi and Cinecittà. The project aimed at facilitating the inclusion of youth with fewer opportunities, coming from a disadvantaged background though creativity and active participation. The theme of the project was the oral tradition and the story telling as a way to preserve memory, the past and the traditions and as a way to describe and better understand the present.
2011 /
Migrant tools. This was a 7-day training course, supported by the Youth in Action Programme, held in Gagliole (MC). It involved 21 participants coming from Italy, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, France, Sweden and Belgium. The theme of the project was “minorities and anti-discrimination” and how it can be possible to contribute to the creation of an intercultural society based on tolerance and mutual respect. The aim of the training was to raise awareness on the daily growth of discriminations, xenophobia and racism among young people and to enable them in preventing those actions and in protecting victims.
2011 / Sharing Identities. The project, supported by the Youth in Action Programme, involved 16 youngsters of 4 European countries in non formal educational activities on intercultural relationship, migrations and plural identity.
2010-2011 /
Shaking up the world: Euro-African stories promoting youth inclusion. The project, supported by the Youth in Action programme, involved around 400 youngsters in non formal education activities, International exchanges and local workshops aimed to favour the social inclusion of youngsters living in suburban regions in Rome, Paris, Nairobi and Kampala.

Youth policies and services

2004-2012 /
Venice Youth Information Centre. Lunaria has been managing the Venice Youth information centre since 2004:
2005-2011 /

Lunaria supported the Emilia Romagna Region, Culture, Sport and Youth Project Department: technical assistance and professional advice aimed to favour the participation of the region to the European Union Youth programmes.

Sbilanciamoci!
Lunaria has been co-ordinating the campaign Sbilanciamoci! since the year 2000. This brings together 39 major Italian non-profit, peace, human rights, environment, fair trade and ethical finance organisations.The campaign publishes annual reports, meets policy makers, organises conferences to promote a different use of public resources and a new role of public actors in the economy. It analyses and reviews the choices of the national Government when composing the state budget and put forth,every year, amendment proposals for MPs from the point of view and the areas of interest of itsNGOs. Website
2011 / Rome, December 5th, National Conference, The Green Economy to get out of the crisis, in cooperation with European Green Foundation.
2011-2012 / The social quality in Rome. Defining well-being indicators, Research carried out by Sbilanciamoci! in co-operation with Rome Province. The research has the aim to analyze the budget of Rome Province using a set of well-being indicators.
2011 / Sbilanciamoci! (edited by), Libro bianco sula cooperazione allo sviluppo, 2011, (The white book on development cooperation). Monitoring the national public policies and budget addressed to development cooperation.
2011 / Rapporto Sbilanciamoci! 2012, Come usare la spesa pubblica per i diritti, la pace, l’ambiente.(Let’s change the Budget Law. How to use public money for human rights, peace and environment, Proposals by Sbilanciamoci for 2012), by Sbilanciamoci! Campaign.
2011 / Libro nero sul welfare italiano, (Black Book on Italian Welfare), by Sbilanciamoci! and the national campaign “I diritti alzano la voce”. The paper analyzes the welfare public expenditure.
2011 / Lamezia T., September 1st – 3rd, “Gioventù sprecata” (Wasted youth), National Forum of civil society organizations promoted by Sbilanciamoci!
2011 / Un piano per i giovani, (A National plan for youth, 10 proposals for the youth future),by Sbilanciamoci! The paper gives some proposals to create new jobs and social support for young people.
2011 / Come si vive nel Lazio. L’Atlante del benessere della Regione Lazio.(Life standards in Lazio region. The well-being atlas of Lazio Region), by Sbilanciamoci! The report proposes a classification of Lazio provinces using 37 indicators to measure the quality of development and social life.
2009-2011 /

UmanamEnte. The project has been co-ordinated by Oxfam Italia and supported by the Europaid programme. It aimed to support public administrators in Tuscany in defining local policies based on the human development approach.

Publications
2011 / Sbilanciamoci!, Rapporto Sbilanciamoci! 2012, Come usare la spesa pubblica per i diritti, la pace, l’ambiente.(Let’s change the Budget Law. How to use public money for human rights, peace and environment).
2011 / Lunaria (edited by), Cronache di ordinario razzismo. Secondo libro bianco sul razzismo in Italia, (Chronicles of Ordinary Racism. Second white book on racism in Italy), Edizioni dell’Asino.
2011 / UmanamEnte, Lunaria (edited by), La misurazione del benessere ad Arezzo (Measuring well-being in Arezzo).
2011 / Sbilanciamoci! and the national campaign “I diritti alzano la voce”, Libro nero sul welfare italiano, (Black Book on Italian Welfare),
2011 / Sbilanciamoci!, Come si vive nel Lazio. L’Atlante del benessere della Regione Lazio.(Life standards in Lazio region. The well-being atlas of Lazio Region).
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