A conference with Giuseppe Battarino on Tuesday 17 November as part of the Giovani Pensatori project, featuring a discussion with local secondary school students

Learning to shape the future of one's own city by starting with assets confiscated from organised crime: this is the guiding principle behind the second educational conference of the third edition of “RigeneraBene – The Social Reuse of Confiscated Assets for Urban Regeneration”, which the University of Insubria will host as part of the 18th edition of the Giovani Pensatori (Young Thinkers) project.

The event will take place on Tuesday 17 November in Como, at the Chiostro di Sant'Abbondio, from 9.30 am to 1.30 pm in Room S.2.6. It will be moderated by Roberta Pezzetti, lecturer in the Department of Economics (DiECO) at the University of Insubria, which is promoting the event together with the Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences (DiSTA), the Department of Law, Economics and Cultures (DiDEC), the provincial ACLI associations of Como and Varese, Libera Varese, and the ENAIP Centres of Como, Cantù, Busto Arsizio and Varese.

“The aim of the conference,” explains coordinator Stefania Barile, “is to provide the Young Thinkers with the knowledge and tools they need to develop projects for the social reuse of confiscated assets as a means of regenerating their own cities: understanding what it means, from a legal and social perspective, to return property seized from organised crime to the community, learning about existing successful experiences, and imagining projects capable of giving these places new life, employment opportunities and solidarity.”

The event will open at 9.30 am with institutional greetings from Alberto Fontana and Giuseppe Molteni, councillors representing the Municipalities of Como and Cantù, respectively. At 10 am, Giuseppe Battarino, former magistrate, legal scholar and writer, and adjunct lecturer in Public and Institutional Communication in the Department of Human Sciences and Innovation for the Territory at the University of Insubria, will provide the legal and institutional framework with a presentation entitled “The Recovery of Confiscated Assets and the Purpose of the Criminal Justice System”. At 10.45 am, the programme will continue with a discussion involving the Young Thinkers from upper secondary schools in Como and Cantù.

At 11.20 am, the focus will shift to communication and historical memory, with journalists Paolo Moretti and Martina Toppi, creators of the podcast “La Tela del Ragno” (The Spider's Web), which explores fifty years of 'Ndrangheta activity in the Lake Como area, Milan and Switzerland, beginning with the kidnapping of Cristina Mazzotti. Their contribution will demonstrate how reporting on organised crime can help raise awareness and encourage civic engagement.

From 12.20 pm, the conference will highlight experiences of people and organisations actively involved in civic initiatives. Father Giusto Della Valle and Angelo Rusconi from the Rebbio Solidale Association, together with court-appointed administrator Luca Corvi, will present the experience of Cascina Tavorella. From 12.50 pm, Father Massimo Mapelli and Elena Simeti from the UnaCasaAnchePerTE Association will share the experience of Libera Masseria di Cisliano. These two initiatives demonstrate how properties confiscated from organised crime can be transformed from symbols of illegality into places of community life, hospitality and employment.

The conference will conclude between 1.20 and 1.30 pm with Stefania Barile, who will introduce the RigeneraBene Ideas Competition, aimed at secondary school students and organised in collaboration with the Municipal Administrations of Como and Cantù. The competition offers students an opportunity to apply their creativity and skills and experience first-hand how a property confiscated from organised crime can be returned to the community.

The project will continue with study days on 15 January in Como and 22 January in Varese, workshops at confiscated properties in the local area in mid-March 2027, and seminars presenting students' projects in May.

Information and reservations: sbarile@uninsubria.it