Angelo Ferro

Since his youth, Angelo Ferro, now 75 years old, has shown interest in socio-economic issues and longevity. In 1955, he co-founded the Opera Immacolata Concezione Foundation with Father Antonio Varotto and Nella Maria Berto. Over the years, the Foundation has established itself as one of the leading European not-for-profit organisations, employing over 1,500 people from 29 different countries.

He has worked for 30 years as professor of International Economic Policy and International Economics at the University of Verona, and has a strong entrepreneurial background, as chairman of one of the world's leading food plant groups and member of several boards of administration of quoted companies, mostly in the publishing and banking sectors. Thanks to his long-lasting experience, he has a comprehensive understanding of the application of business methodologies and approaches to the not-for-profit field, in the pursuit of a sustainable balance between social community requirements and economic criteria.

A concrete example of this combined approach is the Civitas Vitae centre in Padua: a 12-hectare area, where residential, health, education, and social service facilities coexist in harmony with playgrounds, sports and youth employment services, supported by strong intergenerational relations. 

ROUND TABLE - The experience of the Civitas Vitae centre of Padua: longevity as a resource for social cohesion

The intervention will focus on the evolution of longevity, seen as the unstoppable lengthening of our lifespan, and on recent innovations to convert it into a social cohesion resource. This complex phenomenon brings up new requirements, such as helping senior citizens to become aware of their function as producers of relations; ensuring that the perceived challenges of increased co-dependency and disability are met with a community-based approach; overcoming the isolation of elderly homes to prove that "life goes on," with the help of a range of structures and services (from the Childhood Intergeneration Centre to the Toy Museum, the Traffic Education Park, the Talents Workshop and so on). By following this approach over the past 30 years, Civitas Vitae has become a real provider of social cohesion.

The experience of the Civitas Vitae centre of Padua: longevity as a resource for social cohesion

The intervention will focus on the evolution of longevity, seen as the unstoppable lengthening of our lifespan, and on recent innovations to convert it into a social cohesion resource. This complex phenomenon brings up new requirements, such as helping senior citizens to become aware of their function as producers of relations; ensuring that the perceived challenges of increased co-dependency and disability are met with a community-based approach; overcoming the isolation of elderly homes to prove that "life goes on," with the help of a range of structures and services (from the Childhood Intergeneration Centre to the Toy Museum, the Traffic Education Park, the Talents Workshop and so on). By following this approach over the past 30 years, Civitas Vitae has become a real provider of social cohesion.