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Ascoli Piceno has been awarded the title of City of the Young 2026, a recognition that highlights municipal strategies aimed at empowering youth and reshaping local development. The announcement, made in Rome during the closing of the sixth edition of the prize, celebrated a proposal that moves beyond conventional interventions by embedding young people into decision-making structures and giving them a visible role in the city’s future.
The winning entry, presented under the banner “Ascoli 2026: Next Gen Lab dalla ricerca all’azione”, convinced judges not only for its technical robustness but for its practical roadmap to make Ascoli Piceno an attractive place for students, emerging professionals and new skills. At the core of the proposal is a participatory governance model designed to combine research, local data and continuous dialogue between institutions and youth stakeholders.
The project framework: participation and data at the center
The backbone of the plan is the Osservatorio della Gioventù, conceived as a permanent body that brings together representatives from schools, the university, youth associations and municipal offices. This entity will produce evidence-based guidance for policy choices, using local surveys and monitoring tools that make the administration’s actions responsive to real needs. The approach is explicitly data-driven, meaning decisions will be informed by collected indicators rather than ad hoc initiatives.
By embedding young voices in governance, the city aims to shorten the gap between training and employment and to reintroduce a meaningful portion of young people currently classified as NEET into productive pathways. The plan frames youth policy as a lever for broader social and economic renewal, not merely a set of isolated services.
Operational nodes: hub, mobile lab and territorial outreach
Three operational pillars translate the strategy into tangible places and services. The first is the hub “Stazione Futuro”, an initiative to transform a symbolic station area into a center for training in green and digital skills, co-designed with young people so that courses and labs reflect local demand. The hub is imagined as a catalyst for urban regeneration and social interaction.
The second pillar is “Il Pullman del Futuro”, a mobile unit that will travel to outlying districts and hamlets to deliver workshops, storytelling activities and digitally enabled learning opportunities. This mobile offer aims to counteract isolation in peripheral areas and gather direct input from residents.
Governance, partnerships and the institutional context
The competition is promoted by national institutions committed to youth issues: the project was evaluated within a framework supported by the Consiglio Nazionale dei Giovani, the Dipartimento per le Politiche Giovanili e il Servizio Civile Universale of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Agenzia Italiana per la Gioventù and the Consulta ANCI Giovani, with the sponsorship of the Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi. Officials underlined that the award is intended as a practical stimulus for municipalities that act as laboratories of social innovation.
Local leaders framed the victory as a starting point rather than an endpoint. Mayor Marco Fioravanti described the recognition as an opportunity to turn the proposal into an active agenda for the city, while councilor Annagrazia Di Nicola stressed that young people will be treated as architects of policy through a model of radical co-design. Observers from national youth bodies, including Federica Celestini Campanari and Edoardo Italia, highlighted the systemic value of rewarding projects that place youth protagonism at the heart of territorial transformation.
Competition and replicability
Ascoli Piceno prevailed in a final that also featured two strong contenders: Rome with its “Generazione Roma” initiative, focused on strengthening youth participation in public decisions and urban reclamation, and Cosenza with “Confluenze 2026-2029”, a project inspired by the city’s waterways to design an integrated governance model spanning education, research and civic engagement. The jury recognised that each finalist brought a distinct model of local innovation.
Organisers framed the prize as a tool to stimulate scalable practices: the components of Ascoli’s plan — a standing youth observatory, a skills hub and a mobile outreach vehicle — are presented as replicable elements that other municipalities can adapt according to size and context. The award underlines the idea that investing in youth policies is an investment in long-term development.
Looking forward, the challenge will be turning the designed instruments into functioning services and demonstrating measurable impacts on employability, civic engagement and urban vitality. If implemented as planned, Ascoli Piceno’s model could become a reference point for how mid-sized towns combine heritage, innovation and social inclusion to create opportunities for younger generations.