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| Social Work and Administration |
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| [ In the picture: Ermete Ferraro with Ms. Margaret Rush, the Secretary of the "M. Borrelli Naples Fund", a British registered Charity, devoted to helping the social-educational work of the FOCS with deprived children and families].
Founded in 1950 by Mario Borrelli to help street-children ("scugnizzi"), giving them a home and an education, the "Casa dello Scugnizzo" (House of Urchins) became, in the 1970s, an innovative Community Centre. It served, and still serves, non 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 FOCS (Casa dello Scugnizzo Foundation) is a registered nonprofit social organization. Its social, educational and recreational services are promoted and managed by the FOCS itself or are projects funded by the City of Naples, Departiment of Social Welfare.
Appointed in 1997, Ermete Ferraro has been for 8 years the President and CEO of the FOCS Onlus and he has been also the Social Coordinator of the FOCS 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.
[In the photo: E.F. with Mario Borrelli, the founder of the Casa dello Scugnizzo] |
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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 'civilian service' was the occasion to work with the peace and anti-war movement, and he gave 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 'Naples' Greens'.
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 Società), 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 really new approach to politics.
In 1987 Ferraro was elected Borough Councilman and then , in 1990, Province Councilman for the Naples "Greens". He was also the first "Green" President of a Naples' Borough Council.
His political experience finished in 1995. but it continued in another way with his engagement in the Neapolitan Environmental and Eco-pacifist Movement .
He serves as the Coordinator for Naples of VAS (Verdi Ambiente e Società), a National Environment Protection Association, and he's engaged especially in its eco-pacifist actions and in its Biodiversity Protection Education programs.
More recently, he ran as a Green candidate for councilman of one of the new ten "Municipalities" (Borough Councils) of the City of Naples. |
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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 with children groups and, later, as a group and community certified social work.
Since 1984-85 he taught Language Arts, History and Geography at two Middle Schools, in Casoria (NA) and in a deprived discrits of the City of Naples.
In the present school he is also acting as a social-educational worker with 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 as a Councilman of the Province of Naples. In 1991 he was also appointed as the first 'green' President of the Vomero Borough Council.
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 Società), an Italian Environmental Association, where he is a resource-person for eco-pacifism, language ecology and biodiversity education.
In 1989 Ermete married Anna De Pasquale - a religion teacher - and now they have three children (Laura-16>, Irene-14> and Chiara <7).
ADDRESS: 112, v. Cilea - I 80127 Napoli (Italy) - Ph.: (+39) 081 5799539; Mobile: (+39) 349 3414190;
email: ermeteferraro@alice.it |
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| Ermete Ferraro - as a language education teacher and as 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. is the teacher in an innovative "Course of Neapolitan Language", organized by his school, and is also the autor of a booklet about Neapolitan vocabulary and grammar.
Will be soon 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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| Informations and references about Ermete (Ermes) Ferraro's activities are available on the main web-search engines, like: GOOGLE.IT, CLUSTY.COM, IT.YAHOO.COM, MSN.COM, etc. |
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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 also 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 Biodiversità" 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 the preserve the very important heritage of Neapolitan language and culture. |
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| In the photos: "SCUGNIZZI", the last book by Ermete Ferraro (published by "IntraMoenia" of Naples) and the cover of "Social Work & Administration" (Blackwell Publ., Oxford) that published the above mentioned article by E.F. about Italian social policies and the role of nonprofit organization. |
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| Ermete Ferraro (C.S.W., M.A.) from the 1980s taught "humanities" (language arts and social sciences) at Middle Schools in Casoria (NA) and in 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-social worker with "problem-children" and with immigrant pupils.
Ermete was also the author of a booklet on "Nonviolent Language Education" and, at present, he's concerned in language-ecology.
Recently, he was one of the 'animators' in a 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. |
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