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Ermete
with Margaret Rush (M.Borrelli Naples Fund- UK)
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Social Work and Administration |
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Founded in 1950 by Mario Borrelli to help
Naples' street-children ("scugnizzi"), giving them a home
and an education, the "Casa dello Scugnizzo" (House
of the Urchins) became, in the 1970s, an innovative
Community Centre. It served, and still serves, not
only children and their families, but also women,
old people and immigrants, with a coordinate project
of social and educational intervention to promote
community development.
At present, the Casa dello Scugnizzo Foundation)
(FOCS) is a registered nonprofit social
organization. Its social, educational and
recreational services are promoted and managed by
the FOCS itself or they are public projects, funded by the City
of Naples, Department of Social Welfare.
Appointed in 1997, Ermete Ferraro has been for 8
years the President and CEO of the FOCS and he
has also been the Social Coordinator of the 'Mario
Borrelli'
Community Centre. At present, as a past-president
and member of the Board of Directors, he's now a
member of the General Council of that Foundation. |
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Peace Research, Education and Action |
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Ermete Ferraro
was one of the earliest Neapolitan conscientious
objectors and, since 1972, he committed himself to
Nonviolence as a global alternative not only to the
'military-industrial system', but also to our
economical and social model of development.
So, his 'national service' was the occasion to work
with peace and anti-war movements, gaving his
contribution, from 1974 to 1984, to the LOC (the
Italian Conscientious Objectors League), as the
Regional Coordinator for Campania and, in 1977, as a
member of the National Secretariat.
Going deep into 'peace research' and 'peace
education' gave him the opportunity to conjugate
peace action with his educational and social tasks
as a teacher and a social worker.
Ermete's commitment in peace movements continued in
the '80s , with his co-operation with IPRI (the 'Italian
Peace Research Institute' of Naples), and other
Institutions devoted to peace education (like the
CEP, at the 'Federico II' University of Naples; the
'Green University', the 'Peace School' and, more
recently, with the 'Archives for Peace, Desarmament
and Human Rights' , promoted by Regional Government
of Campania and by 'Federico II' University of
Naples.
From 1987 to the 1995, his eco-pacifist engagement
led Ermete Ferraro to play a role in the Italian
Green Movement, and he was one of the founders of
the Neapolitan Greens Movement.
In 1987 he was elected in the Vomero Borough Council
of the City of Naples and, in 1990, in the Province
of Naples Council; so, from 1987 to 1995, he
continued his action for peace and ecology in a new,
more political, way.
At present, he's still carrying on his eco-pacifist
action with VAS (Verdi Ambiente e Societā), an
Italian environmental association, giving his
contribution to the anti-war and anti-globalization
movement, to build a more peaceful and fair world.
At present, Ermete is writing a handbook about his
hypothesis of a Nonviolent Language Education
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Ecology and the Environment |
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Ermete Ferraro's "ecological"
experience begun 22 years ago. He was a peace and an
anti-nuclear activist when he founded - with other
Neapolitan environmentalists - the first Naples'
"Green List", with the aim to promote a
completely new
approach to politics.
In 1987 Ferraro was elected as the first Green Borough Councilman and, in 1990,
he was elected as a Province Councilman for Naples'
Greens. He was also the first "Green" President of a Naples'
Borough Council.
His political experience finished in 1995, but
Ermete
continued his engagement into the Neapolitan Environmental and Eco-pacifist Movement .
He still serves as the Coordinator for Naples and
National Councilman of VAS (Verdi Ambiente e
Societā), an Italian Environment Protection
Association, and he's engaged especially in its
eco-pacifist actions and in Biodiversity
Protection Educational programs.
As a
Christian, Ermete is also interested in "eco-theology"
and he wrote two essays on religious issues connected
to environment protection in a franciscan
perspective, intimately connected with Justice and
Peace. As a member of the Regional Co-ordination
Committee of his environmental asssociation (VAS)
, Ermete is recently engaged to organise and manage
a new educational project, named "UniversiVās di
Napoli". This "green university", partially
funded by the Regional Government of Campania, from
September till December 2008, will offer an occasion
to learn more about peace, environment and
biodiversity, in an holistic perspective and with the
aid of a qualified team of university teachers and
experts. |
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 Ermete (Ermes) Ferraro
was born in
Naples (Italy) in 1952.
He received (1974) a "Dott. in Lettere"degree (a M.A. in
Italian Language and Literature) from the "Federico II"
University of Naples and (1980) a "Diploma di Servizio
Sociale" (Dip.S.W.) from the "ANDIM School of Social
Work"of Naples.
As one of the early neapolitan conscientious objectors,
he carried on his 'national service' - from 1975 to 1977
- at the Community Centre of the "Casa dello Scugnizzo".
In this famous Neapolitan nonprofit institution, founded
in1950 by Mario Borrelli, Ermete devoted himself to
serving disadvantaged children, their families and other
deprived and marginalized people.
Ermete served (1977-1984) as a social-cultural animator
for children groups and, later, as a group and
community certified social work.
Since the s.y. 1984-85 he has been teaching Language Arts, History and
Geography in Middle Schools, first in Casoria (NA) and
then in Vicaria , a deprived district of the City of Naples.
In this school he's also been acting as a
social-educational worker for problem-children and
immigrant pupils.
Ermete - a long time ecologist and peace activist - was
one of the founders of the Neapolitan Greens. From 1987
to 1995 he was elected as a 'Green' Councilman of the
Vomero Borough Council of the City of Naples and then as a
Councilman of the Province of Naples. In 1991 he was
also appointed as the first 'green' President of one of
the Naples Borough Councils.
Since 1997, Ermete was also appointed as the President
and CEO of the FOCS (The "Casa dello Scugnizzo"
Foundation), the same Neapolitan Nonprofit Organization
where he served for 10 years as a social-educational
worker. The FOCS is dedicated to helping better futures
for children and other disadvantaged and marginal people
(the elderly, women, immigrants...).
Since 1999, he served as the Coordinator of the Naples'
Branch of VAS (Verdi Ambiente e Societā), an Italian
Environmental Association, where he is a member of the
National Council, a fellow of VAS-Campania Regional
Coordination Board and a resource-person
for eco-pacifism, language ecology and biodiversity
education. Ermete is also a 'pastoral
operator' of the 'S. Maria della Libera' Parish in Naples,
where he serves as a social-educational voluntary
counsellor for children.
In 1989 Ermete married Anna De Pasquale - a religion
teacher - and they have three daughters (Laura-18>,
Irene-16> and Chiara <9).
ADDRESS:
112, v. Cilea - 80127 Napoli (Italy) - ph.: (+39) 081
5799539; Mob. ph: (+39) 349 3414190.
Mailto: ermeteferraro@alice.it
-
ermes02@splinder.com -
ermeteferraro@yahoo.com
You can
also visit
Ermete's 'blog' and comment his posts. |
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Ermete Ferraro -
as a language education teacher and an environmentalist
- is also interested in the "language ecology".
With the aim to defend not only biodiversity but also
the cultural diversity, E.F. committed himself to
protect and revalue Neapolitan language, menaced by the
globalization , that increasingly eliminates
socio-cultural diversities and community traditions.
E.F. taught an innovative class of "Neapolitan Language",
organized by his school, and is also the autor of a
booklet about Neapolitan vocabulary and grammar. The
online review "Filosofia Ambientale"recently published
an E.F. contribution about "language ecology" as a new
and important page of an ecologist and pacifist
alternative project. |
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Education
and Teaching
Since
the 1980s .Ermete Ferraro (C.S.W.,
M.A.) taught "humanities" (language arts and
social sciences) in the Middle School, first in Casoria
(NA) and then in S. Lorenzo-Vicaria, an historic but deprived district of the the City of Naples.
He begun in the 1970s as social-cultural animator for
children groups at the Community Centre of the "Casa dello
Scugnizzo" (Naples) and then continued his educational work
as a teacher and teachers' trainer, especially in peace and
environmental education programs.
Ferraro has also social-educational tasks as a school-counselor
for "problem-children" and immigrant pupils.
Ermete was also the author of a booklet on "Nonviolent
Language Education" and, at present, he's concerned in
language-ecology.
He was one of the 'animators' in a Regional Seminar for
Teachers, about "peace education and school curricula". He
was also the "resource-person" of one of the lessons of a
Training Course for "Peacekeepers". Both courses were
organized by the Department of Education of the Regional
Government of Campania. Recently, Ermete is concerned - as a
teacher and as the Coordinator - in an educational project
named "UniversiVās di Napoli". In this green university
- with a holistic approach to environmental education -
Ermete is a resource-person for eco-pacifism and
eco-linguistics.
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 ERMETE FERRARO was the author of a booklet about
"Nonviolent
Language Education",
published in 1983 (Turin:Satyagraha).
As a peace researcher, he also wrote two essays
about the "Quattro Giornate di Napoli", the
famous 'four days' insurrection in 1943 of
Neapolitan people against Nazi repression. In
this two papers (published in 1985 by "Azione
Nonviolenta", Verona, and in 1993 by "FuoriTHEMA"
of Bologna) Ferraro explained the "Quattro
giornate" as an hystorical case of "Nonviolent,
Popular and Civilian Defence".
As a peace-activist, E.F. was the author of some
articles and papers on the risks of the
militarization of the Neapolitan area (e.g.: "La
Provincia di...Natoli?", Naples 1992). In the
same year, the "Provincia di Napoli" review
published also another Ferraro's article about
the proposal of a "Nonviolent and Ecological
model of Social Work".
The last contribution of E.F. as peace activist
is a recent article ("Quale pacifismo? / What
Kind of Pacifism?), published in 2004 in "Verde
Ambiente" (Roma: EVA ed.).
His long time experience as a group and
community social work inspired an article in
English, published in 2003 in "Social Policy and
Administration" (Oxford: Blackwell Publ.) and
titled:
"From Pavement to
Piazza: Grassroots Social Work to Counteract the
Globalization of Marginality").
To the social-educational experience in the
Materdei Community Centre and to the hystory of
the "Casa dello Scugnizzo", founded in 1950 by
Mario Borrelli, is dedicated a book recently
written by Ermete Ferraro and Luciano Scateni ("Scugnizzi/Urchins"),
published in 2004 by "Intra Moenia" of Naples.
As an environmentalist, E.F. published some
papers, the last of them is a booklet about "Biodiversity
Education",
published by VAS (Naples, 2004) to learn how we
can protect the natural and cultural diversity.
Another important contribution titled
"Laude della
Biodiversitā"
was recently
published by VAS (June 2005). It is a documented
essay about the Franciscan message and the
Christian "environmental ethics" as very
important references to safeguard biological and
cultural diversity.
Ermete, who since 1984 taught Language Arts, is
also interested in "language
ecology".
So, he recently wrote a little "Neapolitan
Grammar", as a contribution to preserve the very
important heritage of Neapolitan language and
culture. He published other articles and essays
on those fields (nonviolence and peace education,
language ecology, eco-pacifism, education,
eco-theology...) and he was also the press and
media speaker for the Organizations in wich he
acted.
> For further and more recent informations,
please visit the page
"Bio-biblio-sitografia"
on this site. |
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Ermete's
family (Irene, Anna, Chiara and Laura)
Chiara
Laura and Ermete, in London (Aug.'08)
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ABOUT ERMETE
