4. In which ways is the initiative creative and innovative?
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The Automobile Club d’Italia, a non profit public body, represents the general interests of Italian motorists for a responsible and effectively eco-friendly mobility.
The program has been implemented accordingly to ACI main strategic lines, that is, improving an effective culture of safety and encouraging a real integration and convergence of all the stakeholders that share the same values: first of all, ethic mobility and equal dignity for all.
The ACI project springs from an innovative strategy, meant to redesign mobility - both at local and national level - on the idea that our quality of life and the accessibility of territory and services are intimately related.
With its network of 106 local clubs, ACI has now been working for many years on the issues of road safety, with special regard to supporting vulnerable categories – immigrants, the disabled, the youth, women, children, the elderly – and with a view to a social inclusion.
The network of local Automobile Clubs throughout the country has also been fundamental for the success of the program and has confirmed its subsidiarity role once more.
In the management of this project, the national and local stakeholders (Municipal Police, Road Police, Carabinieri Force, Municipalities, Regions, Provinces, Prefetture, Local Police Headquarters etc.), as well as foreign Embassies, Consulates and national communities of foreigners, have been very important and all indispensable allies.
Here below is the road map of the program:
• Involvement of institutional stakeholders (that is, Ministries that give their support) by means of ad-hoc promotional events and stakeholders’ cooperation in terms of monitoring the relevant social targets; involvement of Embassies and Consulates governing the different foreign communities living in Italy (August 2012-December 2013).
• Launch of a communication campaign opened by a press conference with the participation of the ACI’s President and Secretary General, as well as of the Ministries giving their patronage and many Embassies involved. The event has achieved a large press and TV coverage both at the local and national level (August – December 2013).
• Involvement of the Provincial Automobile Clubs - public, not for profit bodies, affiliated to the Automobile Club d’Italia – in order to ensure a capillary distribution of the program all over the Italian territory avoiding any geographical exclusions (August 2012 – December 2013).
• Transfers of participants from the place of residence to Rome through the Provincial Automobile Clubs network (106). Assistance to participants meant to solve possible problems linked to courses attendance (August 2012 – December 2013).
• Use of the ACI-Sara Vallelunga Safe Driving Centre (in Rome) boasting cutting edge technology and last generation didactic tools.
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5. Who implemented the initiative and what is the size of the population affected by this initiative?
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The initiative - originated from an idea of the ACI Secretary General based on the studies performed by the relevant ACI Departments - is in line with the ACI institutional missions. It received the patronage of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of International Cooperation and Integration, the Ministry of Regional Affairs, Tourism and Sport. Its realization involved Embassies and Consulates, the ACI network of 106 local Automobile Clubs, Police officers, local authorities (Municipal Police, Road Police, Carabinieri Force, Municipalities, Regions, Provinces, Prefetture, local Police Headquarters etc.), ACI-Sara Vallelunga and the relevant ACI offices (Press, Intl. Relations, Quality Control).
The ACI project combines the issues of road safety, intended as a life-style, and social cohesion among different nationalities. Furthermore, the project has been implemented through the support of many institutional authorities together with the local Automobile Clubs’ network, thus creating real community-based innovation schemes and enabling better quality of life for residents.
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6. How was the strategy implemented and what resources were mobilized?
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The primary mission of the Automobile Club d’Italia is to invest its human and financial resources in order to promote safe mobility. To date, ACI has certified over 60,000 safety trainers and taken countless legislative actions – towards making compulsory road education programs for school children; adopting a penalty point system; introducing accompanied driving for learner drivers; creating a network of driving schools named “Ready2Go”where driving techniques and road safety rules are taught by means of high-technology education modules. The ACI official insurance company – Sara Assicurazioni – shared the costs of the initiative as an intelligent and dutiful investment towards road safety. Law enforcement being not enough to reduce the high costs resulting from road fatalities and injuries, the initiative uses a preventive approach having high social value. A whole series of stakeholders, including public health services, can benefit financially from the reduction of road crashes, which, in the medium-long run, will improve national economy and help the social integration of foreign residents. 1000 safe-driving courses per year for three years (2012-2014), held at the ACI-Sara Safe-Driving Centre of Vallelunga, are made available at no cost for foreign residents driving in Italy. After taking the course, participants commit themselves to play the role of “Ambassadors of Road Safety” within their families and national communities, raising awareness of the Highway Code and stressing the importance of abiding by the rules. The costs involved amount to approx. 500,000 EUR/year (330,000 EUR teaching costs and 170,000 EUR organisational costs). Each course has 2 teachers (police officers) and 6 technical experts for theory and practice demos.
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7. Who were the stakeholders involved in the design of the initiative and in its implementation?
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2400 foreign drivers certified as “Ambassadors of Road Safety” over the years 2012-2013;
Strong involvement of international stakeholders (over 100 Embassies and Consulates of foreign countries including Argentina, Egypt, Philippines, France, Morocco, Ukraine, Peru, Romania, Poland, Pakistan, Nigeria, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Slovenia, Ecuador, Moldova etc.) enhancing the ACI vision for road safety as well as its commitment to the values of social integration;
Patronage of the initiative from top government bodies (Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Integration, Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism);
Cooperation with top state authorities (Ministry of the Interior, 100 Police officers) as well as with local authorities (Municipal Police, Road Police, Carabinieri Force, Municipalities, Regions, Provinces, Prefetture, local Police Headquarters etc.), towards planning safe mobility and accessible services as strictly related aspects of our quality of life;
Strong involvement of the 106 Provincial Automobile Clubs– no-profit public bodies federated to the Automobile Club d’Italia – to ensure dissemination of the initiative throughout the Italian territory.
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8. What were the most successful outputs and why was the initiative effective?
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ACI launched a promotion campaign of the project in order to draw the media and public attention with 700 pages of press review from 29th August 2012 to 15th December 2013 including: 250 articles on newspapers, weekly magazines and specialized press; 270 Internet articles; 110 press agency takes; 80 TV and Radio transcriptions; 90 TV and Radio broadcasts; more than 3,5 hours broadcasts devoted to the event; 78 TV and Radio interviews; 18 national and local press conferences with the presence of 180 Italian and local journalists and press agencies, 65 national and local TV and Radio troupes. The initiative was covered by the main national and local networks. Many clips on the “Ambassadors of Road Safety” were uploaded on YouTube, as many as pictures on the web and Facebook.
Moreover, a Customer Satisfaction survey was carried out among the participants to the safe driving courses: it has shown that 90% of them were very satisfied and 10% satisfied in terms of professionalism of teachers and level of subjects taught.
Participants have also been asked to rank the 3 main objectives of the project assigning up to 100 points totally. Among “consistency with foreign motorists’ needs”, “sustainability” intended as development of responsible mobility and “social inclusion”, this last objective has received the best score from over 50% of the participants. So the project has been perceived as an excellent chance for social integration.
The survey was used to assess ACI too: 90% of the sample group regarded the project as expression of ACI’s capability to protect social needs applying ethics and transparency principles. Participants’ opinion on the best way to approach candidates: e-mailing was the preferred method by almost all participants, followed by meetings and media coverage.
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9. What were the main obstacles encountered and how were they overcome?
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The idea to improve road safety for all road users on the Italian territory -in a framework of cooperation and integration among all the actors of mobility- did not meet with any obstacle thanks to the strength of its intrinsic social value. Further to improving driving skills and teaching safe driving techniques to prevent road accidents and reduce road deaths and injuries, the project is meant to promote mobility as a social value to be connected with good citizenship. The project was enthusiastically welcomed by the Embassies and Consulates involved (including those of Argentina, Egypt, Philippines, Morocco, Ukraine, Peru, Romania, Poland, Pakistan, Nigeria, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Slovenia, Ecuador, Moldova etc.), which strengthened our vision of road safety as a means of social inclusion. Foreign-born residents working in Italy – they represent 7% of the driving population, owning about 3 million vehicles – are a valuable asset, an asset to be protected and deserving all the investments that can lead to their full integration in the national community.
The ACI project aims at improving the quality of life of foreign motorists living in Italy by removing their mobility disadvantage.
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