Fostering a wider and deeper knowledge and comprehension about children’s rights among minors, their families, teachers and community is the socio-educational initiative promoted by Fondazione L’Albero della Vita since 2006. The project involves primary and first and second-grade secondary schools throughout Italy.

Active and aware young people

Fondazione L’Albero della Vita focuses on schools, place of interaction par excellence, to promote a culture based on rights and integration and an active and aware citizenship among new generations.

Starting from school, in collaboration with Fondazione Patrizio Paoletti, Fondazione L’Albero della Vita proposes different programmes for different targets (students, teachers, families and communities) in order to reach social integration through dialogue and exchange of views.

In the light of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the project New Planet (Pianeta Nuovo) aims to:

  • foster cultural integration in social contexts characterised by immigration
  • promote a better communication, training listening skills and understanding identity and diversity in a new and proactive way
  • encourage social participation and activism among minors by understanding roles and social responsibility

Different educational paths

In order to reach these objectives, New Planet proposes specific educational paths involving primary and first and second-grade secondary schools. For development, global citizenship and peace education for primary school students, games and imagination play a key role. Consequently, these educational programmes are divided into:

  • “virtual” journey through countries of the world and children’s fundamental rights
  • international twinning of schools
  • educational kits, which can be customisable by teachers
  • group as a resource: understanding one’s own and others’ emotions
  • awareness-raising labs and in-depth discussion on human rights
  • cooperation council: a space-time to share ideas and emotions
  • listening space: counselling activities targeted to students in distress

Learning to deal with emotions

In the framework of prevention and fight against social distress, school disputes and bullying, which are frequent especially during preadolescence, New Planet (Pianeta Nuovo) focuses with children attending first-grade secondary school on dealing with emotions and on the concept of school as a place of social interaction:

  • learning about emotional intelligence through the story of Orlando Furioso (The Frenzy of Orlando)
  • “Planet Star” school: different ways and environments to meet each other

20,000 students involved

From 2006 to date, the project New Planet has involved more than 20,000 students, both Italians and foreigners, from primary school to high school, together with their teachers.