In Benevento, youth participation is moving from slogan to method. The Campania Youth Network of the Movimento 5 Stelle has started a process aimed at involving younger generations directly in shaping political proposals for the city and the Sannio area, under the message: not spectators of the future, but part of today's choices.

The meeting took place in Benevento on 5 October, according to local coverage from NTR24, and was presented as the first step in a longer path of listening, discussion and drafting concrete proposals for the territory.

A meeting focused on listening and proposals

The Benevento gathering was organized by the Network Giovani M5S Campania as an open moment for exchange and idea-gathering. Rather than a one-off event, local reporting describes it as the beginning of a structured process: meet, compare experiences, collect ideas and turn them into proposals for Benevento and the wider Sannio.

No attendance figures or detailed breakdown of the audience have been published. What the available sources document is the purpose and working method: dialogue first, proposals second.

Who took part

The meeting brought together youth representatives and party officials. Those named as participants include regional contacts Francesco Pio De Fenza and Serena Marcarelli, provincial coordinator Gabriele Iarusso, Stefano Mastrocinque, and national parliamentarians Gilda Sportiello and Agostino Santillo.

Their presence signals that the initiative is intended to connect local youth activism with both regional coordination and national representation.

The issues on the table

The discussion focused on themes central to daily life in Benevento and the inner areas of Campania:

  • depopulation and the future of inland communities
  • study and work opportunities for young people
  • mobility and essential services
  • environment
  • inner areas and digital infrastructure and technology

These topics were not presented as finished policies. The sources describe objectives and areas of work, but do not document formally approved or funded proposals arising from the meeting yet.

What the Youth Network is

For readers unfamiliar with the format, the Network Giovani is the Five Star Movement's structure for people under 36. According to the movement's official page, it is designed to develop skills, connections and participation, including through young contact persons in local territorial groups.

In practice, that means the Benevento initiative fits a national model: create a youth space inside local party organization, then use it to feed ideas into broader territorial work.

What happens next — and what is still unclear

The initiative is described as an opening stage: listening, discussion and transformation of ideas into proposals for Benevento and Sannio. A detailed calendar for follow-up meetings in Sannio has not been published, and no formal proposals have yet been documented.

For residents and observers, the test will be what comes after 5 October: whether the collected ideas are published, which proposals are prioritized, and how young participants remain involved in drafting them.

For now, the message from Benevento is clear in intent. Young people are being asked not only to discuss problems such as depopulation, mobility and access to work, but to help write the responses.