(Finance) – ThePermanent Observatory of Young Publishers opened today celebrations for 25 years of activity in an event in the presence of President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, who also answered one’s questions delegation of around 1000 students Italians from secondary schools, representing those who participate in the projects promoted by the Observatory, born as an independent association to build a better future by helping young people develop their critical thinking to be increasingly autonomous, independent and free citizens.
Elena from Castelfidardo (AN), Marco from Cairo Montenotte (SV), Caterina Messina from Genzano di Roma, Tommaso from Padua, Sofia from Trento and Cecilia from Casale Monferrato (AL) are the students who went on stage, one by one, with a little emotion, they asked their interesting questions to which President Mattarella responded on topics such as the importance of media literacy, the development of a critical spirit, risks and opportunities linked to the growing use of Artificial Intelligence in our society, the super partes role of the President of the Republic in our democracy, young Italians and their future in the country, young people and politics.
“I’m happy about this opportunity for dialoguein an Assembly celebrating the 25th anniversary of the birth of‘Observatory. An initiative which, since its inception, has aimed to develop the critical spirit of young people, through the proposal of a reading of plural sources of information: the newspaper in the classroom, to have aware and demanding citizens”, underlined the Head of State.
“If we are able to employ overtime potential of innovations to address the transitions necessary to guarantee us a sustainable and inclusive future, for fight inequalities and economic and cultural poverty, to pursue the individual and social well-being and peaceful coexistence, then yes, AI and all the other applications that will derive from new discoveries will be at the service of humanity. – continued President Mattarella – As President Ceccherini said, the main objective must be develop people’s intelligencebecause it is accompanied by awareness and consciousness, which machines lack. The invitation that comes from this assembly is doubt and debate. That is to say to deal with the different ideas and opinions. This is a path that awaits you in your life in which your critical spirit will be invaluable. Be vigilant guardians of the values of our community, so well summarized in our Constitution.”
During the event, the President of the Permanent Observatory of Young Publishers Andrea Ceccherini retraced the main stages of the path of a reality that today involves, as partners, 16 newspapers, 21 banking foundations, 8 large companies committed to social responsibility and contributes to training almost a million Italian secondary school students every year in the field of media literacy with the “Il Quotidiano in Classe” project, the initiative, now in its 25th edition, which brings more sources of information into secondary school classrooms (Corriere della Sera, la Repubblica, Il Sole 24 Ore, Quotidiano Nazionale, La Nazione, Il Resto del Carlino, Il Giorno, La Stampa, Il Messaggero, Il Mattino, Il Gazzettino, Gazzetta del Sud, Il Giornale di Vicenza, L’ Arena, Bresciaoggi, Gazzetta di Parma) of different orientations with which young people get used to understanding what happens in the world and in their communities and to comparing different points of view. In this way they develop their critical thinking towards the media, grasping the value of quality information as an educational and democratic tool.
Beyond that, “YoungFactor” the economic and financial literacy initiative, because understanding economics and finance is fundamental to being free and truly responsible for one’s own future. The project born in 2014, carried out in collaboration with Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit, with which young people explore current economic challenges and develop their economic-financial skills, in class and in meetings with journalists, experts and the highest representatives of the banking world and European financial institutions. With this project, a leader in Italy, young people become more in control of their own means and their choices.
Finally the environmental and energy challenge which is one of the biggest for this generation. E-Project is the project, promoted in collaboration with Enel, which helps students move from protest to proposal. With this ecological and energy literacy program, the Observatory awakens theirs awareness about climate change and provides them with tools to propose solutions and really make a difference for the future.
Concluding his speech, President Ceccecherini illustrated the new international and multimedia project of the Observatory “Doubt and Debate” of which Tim is main partner in Italy, which empowers young people to be increasingly informed citizens in a digital age driven by algorithms and marked by misinformation and the spread of fake news. Through technological and media literacy, young people strengthen their critical consciousness, essential in the era of artificial intelligence, and learn to look at the world through the eyes of others, opening themselves up to different points of view, to combat polarization.
Doubt and Debate allows classes to access dynamic lessons and exclusive content, thanks to international media partnerships of the highest standing and reputation (CNN, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, in Spain El Pais, Cinco Dias, ABC, LAVANGUARDIA, SER and in Italy Rai, Mediaset, la Repubblica, La Stampa, Il Sole 24 Ore, Il Giornale).
“In a time when many are investing in artificial intelligence, we at Osservatorio Permanente Giovani-Editori want to invest in human intelligence, to keep man at the center and technology at his service. And not the other way around – he stated Andrea Ceccherini, President of the Permanent Observatory of Young Publishers– It is with this spirit that we have been working in Italian schools with teachers from our country for 25 years training young people to develop that critical thinkingwhich makes man freer, with the prospect of helping the new generations to walk on their own feet and think with their own heads, to keep their lives more in control”.
At the end of the answers to the students’ questions, President Sergio Mattarella concluded with his speech: ”