Borgo Ragazzi Don Bosco shifts to Renewable Energy

(ANS - Rome) - It was not just the cutting of a ribbon, but the beginning of a new vision for the Salesian works in the Central Italy Circumscription (ICC): as of Monday 1 December 2025, in fact, Borgo Ragazzi Don Bosco, the symbolic work of the Salesians in Rome, will host a new Renewable and Solidarity Energy Community (CERS), created through a large photovoltaic system consisting of two units and developed in collaboration with Banco dell'Energia and Edison. The project, called “Sustainable Energy for Youth”, was inaugurated in the presence of the Mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, and the heads of all three entities involved - Banco dell'Energia, Edison and the Salesian community. ‘This is an important milestone for the neighbourhood, but above all the first step of a path that we dream of activating in various realities in Central Italy,’ commented the Salesians of ICC.

The intervention activated at the Borgo Ragazzi work represents a concrete example of how Don Bosco's mission can meet the challenges of environmental and social sustainability of our times.

A model for the Province: the first step on a common path

The most relevant aspect is not only in the panels installed, but in what they represent for the future of the presence in the territory. The Borgo Ragazzi Don Bosco experience is in fact a pilot experience: the first of a series of paths that the Province dreams of activating in various houses in central Italy.

The aim is to transform Salesian houses not only into places of educational hospitality, but also into hubs of shared sustainability, where the production of clean energy becomes a tool to free up resources to be reinvested in education and support for the most vulnerable.

The project in detail

The project, worth a total of more than EUR 300,000, involved the installation of two separate photovoltaic systems for a considerable total power:

105 kWp installed on the Borgo's facilities (day care centre, church and theatre); 105 kWp installed above the Vocational Training Centre (VTC).

The new CERS will bring together the Borgo, the VTC, schools and social bodies in the area, opening up to citizens who wish to experiment with new forms of cooperation.

A cultural and educational investment

As Fr Emanuele De Maria, Rector of Borgo Ragazzi Don Bosco, emphasised: 'For us, this project is much more than a new state-of-the-art facility: it is a cultural investment in the area. Thanks to the newly established CERS, we strengthen our commitment as promoters of environmental sustainability and as supporters of social initiatives benefiting the most vulnerable young people'.

The initiative responds to a twofold need: to reduce the energy costs of the facilities - freeing up resources for educational activities - and to combat energy poverty, an increasingly urgent issue for the families attending Salesian works.

A network of solidarity

The project is the result of a virtuous collaboration between the Salesian world, institutions and the private sector. The inauguration was attended by Roberto Tasca (President of the Banco dell'Energia Foundation) and Massimo Quaglini (Managing Director of Edison Energia), who emphasised how energy can become a fundamental element of social inclusion.

For the Mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, present at the event, this is ‘an exemplary project’ that demonstrates how ‘environmental and social objectives can walk together’, enabling regeneration projects to be launched for the Centocelle and Quarticciolo neighbourhoods, on which the work stands.

Looking to the future, the ICC Province welcomes this novelty as a seed sown in fertile ground, ready to work so that other houses may soon follow the example of Borgo Ragazzi, combining Salesian charism and integral ecology.

Angelo Mereghetti, SDB