"Anch'io sono la protezione civile" (I too am civil protection) is an annual national programme of summer school camps organised by the Italian Department of Civil Protection that introduces young people aged 10–16 to Italy's civil protection system through a one-week immersive experience combining practical exercises, educational activities, and direct contact with civil protection professionals and volunteers.
Map
"I too am civil protection" school camps
General Information
ISIG
An annual Italian programme that trains young people each year in disaster risk awareness and civil protection through immersive week-long camps.
Now in its 15th edition (2025), the programme operates across more than 340 camps distributed throughout Italy from June to September, targeting students aged 10–16 from primary and lower/upper secondary schools. Camps combine theoretical sessions, practical exercises, simulations, and recreational activities centred on civil protection topics including natural risk knowledge, municipal emergency planning, environmental protection, and volunteering. Participants engage directly with professionals and volunteers from across Italy's National Civil Protection Service — including Firefighters, Police, 118 emergency medical services, the Italian Red Cross, and Coast Guard — making preparedness knowledge tangible and personally meaningful.
Since its first edition, the programme has reached and trained over 100,000 young people across Italy. A significant number of former participants have subsequently joined the civil protection volunteer community, making the initiative a meaningful long-term pipeline for civic engagement and volunteer renewal within Italy's national preparedness system.
Italy is one of Europe's highest-risk countries for natural hazards, exposed to seismic activity, floods, wildfires, landslides, volcanic eruptions, and extreme weather events across its entire territory. The Italian National Civil Protection Service is a well-established, multi-level system that coordinates prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery, with responsibilities distributed across the national Department, Regions, Municipalities, and a wide network of voluntary organisations.
Despite strong institutional capacity, non-structural prevention — particularly public risk awareness and preparedness behaviour among citizens — remains an ongoing challenge. Young people represent both a vulnerable group during emergencies and a strategic audience for building long-term resilience culture. The "I too am civil protection" programme was developed within this context, as a structured, nationally coordinated instrument for youth civic education on civil protection and disaster risk, which also serves to introduce the next generation to the volunteering system that underpins much of Italy's operational response capacity.
The core function of the initiative is non-structural prevention through youth education: building disaster risk awareness and civil protection knowledge among young people, promoting active and responsible citizenship, and fostering a civic culture of preparedness and environmental stewardship. It also serves as an introduction to civil protection volunteering.
Hazard Type
Geographical Scope - Nuts
Geographical Scope
Population Size
Population Density
Needs Addressed
Despite Italy's advanced institutional civil protection system, public risk awareness and preparedness at the household and community level remains variable, particularly among young people who have not directly experienced major emergencies. Specific gaps the programme addresses include:
- limited youth knowledge of local natural hazard profiles and of what civil protection does and how it works;
- low awareness among young people of municipal emergency plans and of the behaviours that reduce risk;
- limited pathways for young people to engage meaningfully with civil protection and community resilience before they are adults;
- a structural need to renew and expand the volunteer base on which Italy's civil protection system depends operationally.
The programme specifically and exclusively targets children and young people aged 10–16 (primary and lower/upper secondary school students). Young people in this age bracket are both a key risk group during emergencies — due to limited independent decision-making capacity and dependence on adults — and a strategic target for resilience education, as early exposure to civil protection concepts has long-term impacts on preparedness behaviour and civic engagement.
The programme operates within Italy's nationally coordinated civil protection framework, with the Department of Civil Protection under the Presidency of the Council of Ministers holding central authority over design, standards, and funding. Regions co-organise and co-finance within their jurisdictions, and accredited voluntary organisations deliver camps on the ground, but all operate within parameters set and monitored centrally by the DCP.
Italy has a comprehensive, institutionalised civil protection system with clearly defined legislative frameworks, multi-level coordination structures, national and municipal emergency plans, a large and formally organised volunteer network, and established public communication mechanisms. The programme operates within and reinforces this advanced preparedness architecture. It does not address a gap in basic preparedness infrastructure but rather deepens and sustains preparedness culture, particularly among future citizens.
Italy's civil protection infrastructure is well-developed, including operational centres, early warning and monitoring systems, national volunteer networks, trained personnel across emergency services, and coordination platforms at national, regional, and municipal levels. Camps make direct use of this infrastructure — participants visit Civil Protection installations, interact with operational structures (Firefighters, Carabinieri, 118 emergency medical services, Coast Guard, etc.), and handle actual civil protection equipment.
Engagement is aimed at transmiting knowledge of the civil protection system, natural risk profiles, and correct preparedness behaviours in an interactive, emotionally engaging format that creates personal connection to civil protection values and community responsibility. Two-way communication between participants and civil protection practitioners is central to the pedagogical model.
Practical exercises and field simulations; demonstrations by operational structures (firefighting, canine units, search and rescue, first aid, radio communications); visits to civil protection installations and equipment; interactive theoretical sessions on local risk and emergency plans; orienteering and territory exploration activities; recreational and group dynamics activities that reinforce team cohesion and collective responsibility.
Decision-making on programme design, content, and standards rests entirely with the DPC and accredited implementing organisations. Participants do not influence programme design. However, within the camp experience, participants are actively invited to reflect on their own role in civil protection, to connect learning to their daily lives and local environment, and to consider future engagement. The degree of influence is therefore primarily self-directed: participants leave with the understanding and motivation to take personal preparedness actions and, for some, to join the volunteer system.
Long-term empowerment is built through knowledge transfer on natural risks, emergency planning, and civil protection behaviours that participants carry forward into their households and communities. The programme's most significant empowerment outcome — explicitly evidenced — is the transition of former participants into the civil protection volunteer community, creating a sustained, active contribution to Italy's resilience system. Over 100,000 young people have been reached since the programme's inception, with a documented (though not quantified) proportion entering volunteering.
Vulnerable Groups
Governance
Emergency Preparedness
Infrastructure Readiness
Engagement Level
Empowerment Level
Implementation
- A combination of experiential, immersive learning with direct access to civil protection professionals and systems. Rather than classroom-based instruction, participants engage in practical exercises, simulations, territory-based activities (orienteering, search and rescue, canine unit demonstrations), and real-time interactions with operational structures — making preparedness knowledge tangible and relatable for a young audience.
- National scale and territorial capillarity: over 340 camps annually across virtually all Italian regions, each embedded in a specific local territory and adapted to local hazard profiles and emergency plans. This ensures both national reach and local relevance.
- The pipeline from participant to volunteer as a deliberate long-term design feature. The programme explicitly positions camps as a gateway to civil protection volunteering, and documented evidence confirms that many former participants have subsequently joined the volunteer community — creating a sustained generational renewal mechanism for Italy's volunteer-based response capacity.
- The use of play and recreation as pedagogical method: camps are explicitly framed around the pairing of "divertimento e formazione" (enjoyment and education), reducing barriers to engagement for young people and increasing retention of preparedness content.
Italian
The Department of Civil Protection (Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Rome) leads and nationally coordinates the programme. Operational delivery is carried out by voluntary organisations of civil protection — formally registered at national or regional level — which apply annually through regional civil protection authorities to host and run individual camps. Regions act as intermediate governance and co-funding actors. This is an institutionalised governance model specific to Italy's national civil protection framework.
The Department of Civil Protection is Italy's national authority for civil protection and disaster risk management, with extensive institutional experience across prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery at all scales. Participating voluntary organisations are formally registered, trained, and operationally active within the National Civil Protection Service, ensuring that camp content is delivered by practitioners with direct field experience.
- The Department of Civil Protection (DPC) serves as the promoter, national coordinator, and funder of the programme.
- Regional civil protection authorities co-organise and co-finance camps within their jurisdictions, selecting and accrediting participating voluntary organisations.
- National and local civil protection voluntary organisations (formally registered with regional lists) design, organise, and deliver individual camps, and are reimbursed by the DPC for eligible costs.
- Operational structures of the National Civil Protection Service participate as educational partners, including: Fire Brigade, Police, Financial Police, Coast Guard, emergency medical services, Italian Red Cross, and Forest Rangers.
- Municipal and regional representatives contribute content on local emergency plans and territorial risk.
- Participants are students from primary and lower/upper secondary schools aged 10–16, selected by the implementing voluntary organisations.
- The DPC launches the annual call for the programme, setting guidelines, eligibility criteria, and application procedures.
- Regional civil protection authorities receive and evaluate applications from registered voluntary organisations wishing to organise camps.
- Accredited organisations plan and design their individual camps, including programme content tailored to local hazard profiles and local emergency plans.
- Operational partners (emergency services, municipalities) are engaged and their participation confirmed.
- Participants (aged 10–16) are selected and enrolled by the organising voluntary organisation.
- Camps run for approximately one week (5–7 days) between June and September, combining: theoretical sessions on civil protection and natural risks; practical exercises and simulations; hands-on activities with civil protection equipment; visits to civil protection installations; meetings with emergency service professionals; recreational and team-building activities.
- The DPC manages reimbursement of eligible costs to organising organisations.
- Results and participation data are compiled nationally and communicated publicly (e.g., through the national interactive camp map and institutional communications).
The programme is funded through the national civil protection institutional budget. The DPC provides financial reimbursement to organising voluntary organisations to cover eligible camp costs. Regions may co-finance. Families may optionally contribute a maximum of €50 per participant. Human resources are primarily civil protection volunteers (approximately 3,000 involved nationally in 2025) and DPC/regional civil protection staff for coordination. Physical resources include civil protection equipment, vehicles, and installations used for demonstrations and exercises, contributed by the participating operational structures.
The programme runs annually, with each edition constituting a full cycle: preparation and accreditation (spring), delivery (June–September), and reporting/reimbursement (autumn). The programme has operated continuously since its first edition and is now in its 15th year (2025), reflecting a long-term, institutionally monitored commitment.
Experience of the Implementing Organisation in DRM
Target Audience
Resources Required
Timeframe & Phases
Participation Results
- Experiential, immersive formats are significantly more effective than classroom-based instruction for building genuine risk awareness and personal identification with civil protection values among young people.
- The combination of enjoyment and education reduces resistance and increases retention.
- The volunteer pipeline is the programme's most strategically significant long-term outcome: designing preparedness education as a gateway to active civic engagement creates compounding resilience value that extends well beyond the camp week itself.
- National coordination with regional and local delivery is essential for combining quality standardisation with territorial relevance — camps that reflect local hazard profiles and introduce participants to their own municipality's emergency plans generate more actionable and personally meaningful learning than generic content.
Maintaining consistent programme quality across over 340 camps delivered by a large number of different voluntary organisations across all Italian regions is an inherent coordination and quality assurance challenge. The DPC and regional authorities address this through formal accreditation requirements, standardised guidelines, and financial reimbursement conditional on compliance with programme standards.
Reaching young people from the most disadvantaged or isolated communities — who may have the least prior exposure to civil protection concepts and the most to gain from the programme — requires deliberate geographic distribution of camps and outreach through schools and local organisations. The programme's national geographic spread and the involvement of regional authorities as intermediaries helps ensure reach beyond major urban centres.
Sustaining participant interest and translating the camp experience into lasting preparedness behaviour and civic engagement is a broader behavioural challenge. The programme addresses this through immersive, enjoyable, and socially engaging formats that create strong positive associations with civil protection — and through the explicit pathway to volunteering that allows motivated participants to stay connected.
Safeguarding and physical safety of participants during practical exercises: Activities involving civil protection equipment, field exercises, and operational demonstrations carry inherent physical risk for young participants. Mitigation: use of accredited, trained voluntary organisations as camp leaders, involvement of professional emergency service personnel as supervisors, and age-appropriate activity design.
Content relevance and accuracy: Civil protection knowledge must reflect current risk scenarios, updated emergency plans, and accurate scientific information. Mitigation: direct involvement of operational structures and municipal/regional civil protection authorities who contribute current, locally grounded content.
Uneven volunteer capacity across organisations: The quality of the experience depends significantly on the capacity and experience of the implementing voluntary organisation. Mitigation: regional accreditation process and implementing organization's guidelines, though variability across camps is an acknowledged implementation reality.
Sustainability of volunteer engagement: Running camps requires significant voluntary effort. Creating new volunteers through a pipeline function partially mitigates the risk of volunteer fatigue or attrition over time.
Risk & Mitigation Plan
Scalability and Sustainability
The programme operates on an institutionalised governance model, embedded in the annual planning and budgetary cycle of the Department of Civil Protection and the regional civil protection authorities. Sustainability is structural: the programme is a mandated activity of the national civil protection system, not a project dependent on external funding or temporary political will. The DPC reimburses voluntary organisations for eligible costs, reducing financial barriers to participation for implementing organisations. The programme's self-renewing volunteer pipeline — whereby participants become future volunteers and future camp leaders — creates a human resource sustainability mechanism embedded in the programme's own design.
Within Italy, the programme scales through the annual accreditation of additional voluntary organisations and the geographic extension of camps to new municipalities and regions. The consistent national framework allows expansion without loss of programme coherence.
The model is theoretically transferable to other countries with established civil protection or emergency management systems, national voluntary organisation networks, and institutional capacity to coordinate a distributed summer camp programme. Effective transfer would require adaptation to local governance structures, volunteer system organisation, hazard profiles, and educational norms.
The core design logic — immersive youth learning, direct practitioner engagement, experiential exercises, and a volunteering pipeline — is broadly applicable.
Technology plays a functional but non-central role. Participants engage with civil protection communications technology (radio equipment) as part of practical learning. The DPC publishes an interactive national map of camp locations updated weekly, enabling transparency and public access. Social media has been used in past editions to create visibility and community around the programme (e.g., dedicated hashtags). The innovation is primarily pedagogical and organisational rather than technological.
No consolidated public budget figure for the programme has been found in the sources reviewed. Based on available information, direct costs per camp include: voluntary organisation staff time for planning and coordination; logistical costs for accommodation, catering, and transport of participants during the camp week; materials for practical exercises and educational activities; and coordination costs at regional and national level. These are reimbursed by the DPC to implementing organisations within an eligibility framework. Families may optionally contribute a one-off maximum of €50 per participant, on a voluntary basis, to support the organising voluntary organisation.
Ongoing operational costs are primarily: DPC and regional civil protection authority staff time for annual coordination, accreditation management, quality oversight, and reimbursement processing; volunteer time across approximately 3,000 civil protection volunteers annually who deliver and support camps; and the in-kind contribution of operational structures (emergency services, municipalities) who provide personnel, equipment, and facilities for demonstrations and exercises. These costs are distributed across the National Civil Protection Service system and absorbed within the institutional budgets of the participating entities.
- Embedding a youth preparedness programme within the formal institutional structure of the national civil protection system is the primary sustainability mechanism.
- Annual iteration with accumulated learning from previous editions, consistent national branding and visibility, and the demonstrated impact metric of volunteer pipeline growth all reinforce political and institutional commitment to continuation.
- The low per-participant cost relative to the long-term civic value generated (risk-aware citizens, future volunteers) makes the programme resilient to budget pressure.