The Alliance for the Golden Years stems fromthe Ravasi Garzanti Foundation’scommitment to building a new urban welfare system dedicated to longevity. It is a civic and generative pact that goes beyond a simple assistance program to transform vulnerability and needs into opportunities for community, solidarity, and social innovation.
A Pact for the Golden Years
TheAlliance for the Golden Years was founded on the belief that longevity is not an individual matter, but a collective responsibility.
The Manifesto is at the heart of this commitment—a civic pact that brings together institutions, philanthropic organizations, the nonprofit sector, professionals, communities, families, older adults, and caregivers to build a city better able to provide care.
This is not a statement of intent, but a shared direction, a way to transform healthcare into a system, making it more accessible, coordinated, and closely aligned with people’s lives.
Together, care becomes a system.
A civic pact that brings together institutions, businesses, philanthropic organizations, the nonprofit sector, professionals, communities, families, older adults, and caregivers—so that no one is left alone in their later years.
It is based on an open approach to leadership—one that is capable of listening from within, adapting as things unfold, and coordinating resources, services, and expertise to generate value that no one could produce on their own.
It is not just widespread assistance: it is social architecture, built on a shared vision, proximity, co-design, culture, training, and applied research.
It complements and reinforces public initiatives, making the processes more accessible and easier to understand.
Milan has chosen shared care as a model for the common good, offering a model for other regions.
It's a collective issue.
Old age is a common good, a shared responsibility, an opportunity, and a resource that belongs to everyone and is for everyone. Longevity concerns the first thousand days of life just as much as the last.
We aim to empower the city and its surrounding areas to support people throughout their entire lives, combating forms of marginalization and growing loneliness.
When the public sector, philanthropic organizations, businesses, and citizens work together, well-being increases and communities are better prepared.
A society for all ages is both a demographic reality and a civic goal.
Recognizing healthy longevity means strengthening an intergenerational bond that connects the past with the future: an investment, not a cost.
Words shape the welfare system.
Languages shape policies and relationships. It’s not just words: dance, theater, music, and the arts reshape our imaginations.
Let’s choose words that transcend stereotypes and restore dignity, competence, and joy to older adults.
Communication styles—verbal, multimedia, artistic, and physical—guide the way we design services and support both caregivers and those receiving care.
Changing languages opens the door to new rights, shared responsibilities, and new forms of engagement and participation.
A convergence of knowledge and a shared vocabulary are prerequisites: without a common language, it is impossible to build an alliance.
Security stems from the context.
We build active communities where ongoing interaction among services, service providers, families, citizens, and older adults fosters mutual learning within a framework of shared responsibility.
Co-design is the method: every service is developed by listening to those who use it, with shared mechanisms for evaluation.
Research guides, listens, and evolves. Skills grow over time, through relationships, and through the convergence of different forms of knowledge.
Digital technologies, when made available and managed appropriately, make it easier to access services, while always taking care not to exclude those who have not yet mastered digital technology.
When the environment is harmonious and vibrant, the city and its surrounding areas become places of closeness and contemporary solidarity. Empathy is the force that makes the environment safe.
The first form of treatment.
Neighborhood service centers are places that foster a sense of community; they are located in spaces that are already familiar to and used by the community, and they are able to reach even those who have not yet come forward.
They connect services, social service providers, and local resources in an integrated and sustainable manner, including in conjunction with home-based care: an essential tool for early intervention.
They develop personalized guidance, counseling, and support programs to promote people’s independence and empowerment, taking into account their life circumstances.
Social contribution that brings about change.
Community welfare stems from shared responsibility and the joy of building together.
The public ensures rights; philanthropy experiments and accelerates progress; the third sector manages; communities forge bonds; citizens, caregivers, and families contribute their experience; universities generate knowledge.
The Alliance brings these energies together in a coherent and effective way, transforming diverse contributions into well-being that is measured by tangible results in people’s lives.
A connected city is stronger.
The distributed model, rooted in neighborhoods and local communities, builds a network that is recognizable everywhere—in urban and rural areas alike.
In every part of the city, there is a civic hub with shared resources and collaborative practices.
The model is designed to evolve with experience, to be replicable, and to maintain quality even in resource-constrained settings.
It could serve as a scalable model for other regions in Italy, both urban and rural.
Every story matters.
Every person has a story and a unique way of life, which are also the result of the relationships they have built over time: an identity that deserves respect and appreciation.
Care promotes autonomy to the greatest extent possible, proactively anticipating needs before they become emergencies, and recognizes that we are all, in different ways, interdependent at every stage and in every circumstance of life.
The Alliance protects, guides, and supports without barriers, experimenting on a small scale with initiatives that can later be scaled up.
Fairness, trust, and joy are the foundation of every relationship.
Let’s build a city where people of all ages are recognized, respected, and supported.
Milan, a city that innovates, connects, and cares. You can get involved as a citizen, an organization, or a local entity. It only takes a few steps to become part of this shared commitment.
Organizations can also sign the Manifesto and actively contribute to building a network of healthcare system that is stronger, more accessible, and closer to the people.
Signing the Manifesto means sharing values, a vision, and a commitment to social responsibility, and becoming part of an alliance that prioritizes communities, local areas, and quality of life.
