On April 2nd, coinciding with World Autism Awareness Day, "The Farm School for Arts and Crafts" officially opened with Education Minister Bussetti and Rome's Mayor Virginia Raggi in attendance.
On the site Per Noi Autistici, Gianluca Nicoletti explains the initiative:
This is only the beginning, but we are proud to say we are creating something that does not yet exist. We believe there is no precedent for a project so structured, led by a Ministry with the backing of Rome itself, partnering with the autism research team at a prestigious university like Tor Vergata. Agricultural professionals from two farming institutes that are genuine modern, efficient agricultural enterprises. Communication specialists who will build a strong brand around the products created by these young people's labor.
The project brings together a multidisciplinary team unlike any other:
- The M.I.U.R. (Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research) – "Directorate General for Student, Integration and Participation" has backed the project and will oversee it.
- Insettopia Onlus, which designed the project, will coordinate communications through its creative team Cervelli Ribelli (which includes Kulta–Scuola Channel). A formal protocol has been signed with the association: "The Farm School: Communicating and Sharing Neurodiversity" (MIUR Cabinet Office, Ministerial Acts, prot. n.0000O15, 20/02/2018).
- University of Tor Vergata serves as partner through its "Autism Tor Vergata" team, operating in the Department of Systems Medicine within the sections of Child Neuropsychiatry and Psychiatry. They will set the strategic direction for activities and monitor effectiveness and real benefits in terms of participant wellbeing and skill development.
- The City of Rome will support the project by funding specialized support staff across multiple sites. In coordination with the Metropolitan City, it will facilitate access to spaces for agribusiness workshops.
WHAT WE WANT
To create free spaces for our "rebel minds"
- We aim to build a model of social experiment that creates real spaces for inclusion in society and work for neurodivergent people.
- We want to show that a person with a "different brain" need not face marginalization and exclusion from civil society as their only destiny. Instead of being hidden away, neurodivergent young people will become ambassadors, helping to build a brand that gives value to their products precisely because they come from "eccentric" minds.
- We want to restore the meaning of school as preparation for life, helping families work together to invest in their autistic children while they are still young. We want to provide practical tools to turn uncertainty about the future into possible resources in the present.
- We want our project to be a vehicle for spreading civic awareness: we will use all forms of communication to share how social value can be created by bringing together diverse "ways of seeing the world."
HOW WE WILL DO IT
Training young people and families to build enterprise
- We will create within two schools—themselves real working farms—a "special community" where we organize productive time for young people with relational, cognitive, and behavioral challenges, working alongside their typically developing peers, with support from trained specialists.
- We will develop a model of inclusion in a supported environment, with training areas to build adaptive skills and personal and social independence, equipping young people to navigate the wider world.
- We will actively engage neurodivergent individuals by training them in work within socio-occupational labs that create market value, developing a prototype of social micro-enterprise.
- We will deploy the skills and tools needed to build a sustainable entrepreneurial network that benefits families and creates ongoing support for siblings of neurodivergent youth.
WHERE WE WILL START
Two agricultural institutes in Rome
- The primary location will be the "G. Garibaldi" Agricultural Technical Institute (Via di Vigna Murata), a 76-hectare natural sanctuary within Rome's urban landscape. For a century, it has trained qualified technicians in agribusiness and environmental stewardship. At Garibaldi we will establish an integrated laboratory space for an AGROLAB focused on heritage grain varieties ("Senatore Cappelli," "Saragolla," "Verna")—producing durum pasta and making compotes and vegetable sauces from crops grown on site. We will also create an herb and vegetable garden and an orchard.
- The secondary branch of the "Emilio Sereni" Agricultural Technical Institute (Via della Colonia Agricola) already runs specialized programs for neurodivergent young people. We will build on this established foundation, leveraging existing expertise. At Sereni, work activities will take place in common areas alongside regular school activities (respecting the institute's educational mission). Specifically in the greenhouse, kitchen garden, outdoor growing areas, and the attached brewery. (Both the Garibaldi and Sereni institutes are directed by Principal Patrizia Marini.)
WHAT WE WILL PRODUCE
Healthy, beautiful products for the table and as gifts
- Technical work in preparing and packaging agricultural products (compotes, vegetable sauces, dried pasta, etc.)
- Vegetable production for sale on-site, creating a direct sales point and/or home delivery service.
- Work at the brewery attached to the Sereni site, including labeling, packaging, and other tasks suited to individual abilities.
- Medium-term goals: launching an e-commerce platform for product sales. Additionally, an agritourism venture offering tastings of locally-sourced products at whichever school location best supports the project's success.
HOW WE WILL TELL OUR STORY
- The project falls within the "Rebel Minds" concept (Insettopia Onlus–Kulta–Scuola Channel), which focuses on celebrating difference and embracing diversity.
- The "Farm School for Arts and Crafts" will also be a significant communications initiative centered on honoring individuality and uniqueness, celebrating those unafraid to share their own perspective and eager to value how they see the world.
- "The Farm School for Arts and Crafts" will become an excellent and innovative model of Corporate Social Responsibility through projects and activities in farming, horticulture, food processing and packaging, and brand development—with the added value that products are created through the commitment and work of neurodivergent young people.
- We will plan targeted dissemination materials, participation in institutional events, specialized workshops, "labs" for building inclusive corporate culture and diversity management, and original, branded infotainment.
Source: Per Noi Autistici