Aurora in Movimento is an itinerant project, run by the UISP Torino (Italian Union Sport for All) in collaboration with other local organisations (Associazione Arteria Onlus, ASD Balon Mundial Onlus and Orizzonti di libertà) working on youth engagement and sports.
In the project, six young people living in the area were recruited. After having received community engagement training, they put theory into practice by engaging with the local community. During the activities these ‘young leaders’ (this is the nickname they have) spoke with community members (both young and old) and encouraged them to participate in the activities.
The sports activities were organised from 6.30 to 8.30 PM in autumn and wintertime and from 8 to 10.30 PM in spring and summer time, four days per week in different areas of the neighbourhood, such as gardens (the Giardini Alimonda), small squares (Piazza Borgo Dora), and other recreational areas next to the river. Some of the chosen areas had been labelled as problematic (dark corners or benches where marginals loitered), while other areas, e.g. gardens, were frequented by different groups of citizens (elderly people, mothers with children, youth).
A wide range of activities were offered (volleyball, basketball, light fit, table-football, darts, hip hop, street games for children, etc.) along with other complementary open-air activities, such as the Italian language course for adults while children played sports. A first of its kind five-man football competition of the neighbourhood took place and additional group activities were organised, such as walks along the Dora river, tactical urbanism activities (i.e. citizen-led neighbourhood building activities) and community engagement next to one of the pedestrian bridges. All these group activities aimed at strengthening social ties within and across communities.
Yalla Aurora is one of the Tonite projects that carried out structural interventions by renovating and opening private indoor spaces to local communities. In particular, this project renovated an abandoned former laundry next to a local mosque, which is located in a street (via Chiavasso) that had been empty for years.
The project is run by The Islamic Association of the Alps and by a smaller organisation founded by a group of refugees, Generazione Ponte. Project members were able to involve other young people and students, Italians and foreign-origin youth, without a specific connection to the religion. The renovation of the space started in November 2021 and ended in May 2022. The citizens' engagement began by promoting an initial public presentation, and then seven co-design meetings open to the entire community were held. The meetings focused on how to organise the spaces inside the hub, which activities to promote within the hub and in public spaces and, finally, how to communicate the activities. The hub offers a study/coworking room, cultural meetings (from cinema to reading club), language courses and, more generally, a space for the local communities. In addition, the hub has been used to organise conferences and events.