Or.Co. Orientation and Guidance

Or.Co. digitsys – Orientamento Consapevole e sistemico al tempo digitale (Conscious and Systemic Career Guidance in the Digital Age) is a multi-regional project selected and funded with €1.4mln from Con i Bambini with the New Generations tender as part of the Fund for the tackling of educational poverty of children. The four year project runs up until 2023. The responsible party is the Consorzio Nazionale NOVA per l'Innovazione Sociale.

The project introduces empowerment programmes, together with schools, families, local civil society and businesses, with a specific focus on young people between the ages of 9-14 years of age at risk of dropping out of school. It takes place both in and outside of the school environment in Basilicata and Apulia and makes use of individualised approaches that combine informational, educational, psychosocial and community aspects as well as networking.

Or.Co. Is up and running in the five provinces of Matera, Potenza, Lecce, Taranto and Bari.

Covid-19 has forced a reshaping of the local activities, giving rise to several new services in the area, which are designed as free, public services but at the same time alternative, innovative and multimedia based in nature.

OrCoRadio - the #InDubbio format

OrCoRadio is a webradio service that addresses pre-teen and teenage issues and its first format #InDubbio is aimed at parents and professionals in the field. OrCoRadio podcasts interviews of experts on topics such as emotional education, the use of social media, sexuality, addictions, hikikomori and career guidance (podcast available on Spreaker). A guide for parents of teenagers has been created on these topics and will be online from end of May 2021.

SPAF - Family Support Service

SPAF is a free online psychological support service for families. You can find the virtual helpdesk on Facebook, which provides information and support for parents in a number of different ways. From Tuesday to Saturday, there are two psychologists online each day contactable via e-mail or Messenger to schedule personal, confidential meetings. The page also regularly publishes information, tips and advice on everything that comes along with parenting. Through online meetings and webinars, an exchange has also been created with parents on various topics including emotions faced during the COVID period. SPAF arose from the need to create a supportive community for the well-being of children, parents and families as a whole, making use of new technologies, digital and everyday work platforms and direct contact in local areas. Find out how SPAF works.

The Centre for Educational Services (CSE)

Located in the province of Lecce in Apulia, the Centre for Educational Services (CSE) is a hub where all of the projects and educational proposals offered by the local area can come together under one roof. It is an "operational" centre where organisations can come together and form new partnerships and projects to combat educational poverty, offering new opportunities in the area and creating a cohesive group of organisations that think and act together to improve the socio-cultural inclusion of children and teenagers. Webinars on relevant topics are also planned.

About Or. Co. digitsys

Or.Co. activities take place in schools and in the local area. Some of the initiatives, including the majority of classroom activities, aim at developing awareness, self-esteem and relational skills of children and teenagers who are growing up in areas with high school drop-out rates, creating educational career guidance opportunities.

A second set of initiatives focuses on local areas, with the aim of strengthening educational communities, not only supportive communities for children but also for parents and families, by building a network of associations, schools, companies and local authorities, and launching initiatives such as events, training courses, parental support, one-to-one assistance and workshops. The overall goal is to combat the phenomenon of educational poverty and to overcome barriers young people face in learning, experimenting, developing and allowing their abilities, talents and ambitions to flourish freely.

You can find the Or.Co. project on Facebook and on the Con i Bambini programmes portal.

The Or.Co. project won the tender from Con i Bambini as part of the Fund for the tackling of educational poverty of children. The fund was created as a result of an agreement between the Fondazioni di origine bancaria represented by Acri, the National Forum of the Third Sector and the Government. It supports initiatives aimed at removing economic, social and cultural barriers that prevent children from making full use of educational programmes. In order to implement the Fund's programmes, the social enterprise Con i Bambini was created in June 2016: a non-profit organisation and wholly-owned subsidiary of the CON IL SUD Foundation.

The coordinating partner is the Consortium NOVA.