Cittadinanzattiva (Active citizenship) is an Italian non-profit organization founded in 1978. It is independent from political parties, trade unions, private companies and public institutions. It is recognized as a consumer organization since 2000.
Mission
Cittadinanzattiva’s main objectives are the promotion of civic participation and the protection of citizens’ rights in Italy and in Europe. It considers citizens a fundamental resource for democracy who play an active role in society and should have the opportunity to participate in everyday policy-making.
Strategy
Cittadinanzattiva’s strategy is threefold:
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empowerment of individuals and organizations, i.e. strengthening of their capacity to defend fundamental rights, take care of the common goods and participate in policy-making. The main instrument to reach this goal is the training of citizens in the use of civic tools such as Charters of rights, advise services, monitoring, promotion of good practices, etc;
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production of civic information, i.e. data on the situation of citizens’ rights collected and analysed by citizens themselves. The main sources of civic information are the monitoring activities and the advice and assistance services of Cittadinanzattiva, PIT salute (welfare and health) and PIT servizi (general interest services);
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advocacy, which includes the protection of single citizen’s rights (PIT salute and PIT servizi), as well as the promotion of citizens’ rights in general. It is mainly implemented through a constant dialogue with public institutions and political parties.
Fields of activities
The fields in which Cittadinanzattiva is particularly active are health, with the Tribunal for Patients’ Rights, consumer and users’ rights, with the Citizens’ Advocates, education and training, with the School for active citizenship, justice, with Justice for Citizens' Rights, European citizenship, with Active Citizenship Network and Corporate Social Responsibility .
Organization
Cittadinanzattiva counts around 115.000 members (individuals, associations, groups and networks). It operates at the local level through 250 “Active Citizenship” Assemblies electing their representatives to the respective regional Congress (19) and subsequently to the national Congress. The headquarters, located in Rome, coordinate and support the national and European activities.
Funding
The organization is funded mainly on the basis of projects, by private and public bodies, as well as by donations from the general public. The complete list of funding sources can be found on Cittadinanzattiva’s website. However, the primary and most substantial form of funding comes from its members themselves in terms of time, activities and services they provide to the organization at the grassroots level.
