Professor Muhammad Yunus, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, met with a high-level delegation of Italian political and civic leaders on Sunday to begin an ambitious new project that would introduce his social business model to three Southern Italian communities.
Enzo Cursio and Valerio Giambersio, co-founders and executive directors of the City of Peace for Children Basilicata Foundation, respectively; Rachele Furfaro, president of the FOQUS Foundation in Naples; Renato Quaglia, director of the FOQUS Foundation; and the Honourable Gianfranco Miccichè, a member of the Sicilian Parliament and former minister in the Berlusconi administration, were among the delegation.
The initiative will apply Professor Yunus's social business principles to drive urban regeneration and sustainable local development in Naples, Potenza, and Palermo, according to a Yunus Center press release.
It directly targets marginalised neighbourhoods, creating concrete pathways out of social and economic exclusion for residents who have long been left behind.
"This Mediterranean-born initiative represents a new paradigm for addressing urban challenges through social innovation," Professor Yunus said at the meeting.
From the beginning, the project has aimed to be a repeatable model that other towns and areas can modify and expand upon.
Under the direction of the Genera Consortium, which consists of the FOQUS Foundation, the City of Peace for Children Basilicata Foundation, Energaia SRL, and the Social Cooperative "Il Salone dei Rifiutati", implementation will start in September 2026. Before moving on to Palermo's Ballarò neighbourhood and Naples' famous Quartieri Spagnoli, work will first begin in Potenza.
