Law No. 285/1997 and related documentation

The documentation is an activity provided for by Law No. 285/1997 to support the information, monitoring, dissemination and exchange of experiences that are carried out in the territories through the funds allocated by the law. In order to support the projects and the use of the resources made available by the Fund established under the above mentioned law, over the first years of application of the law, two handbooks were produced: Rights and Opportunities for Childhood and Adolescence – Guidelines for the designing of measures provided for by Law No. 285/1997 (2018) and Il calamaio e l'arcobaleno (The inkwell and the rainbow – Guidelines for the designing and creation of the Local Plan under Law No. 285/1997 (2000).

From the very beginning, the documentation activity has concerned the application of the law and the related collection of  projects through a system of databases that have been developed over the years. Currently, the system deals not only with the collection of the projects carried out by the cities receiving a reserved share of the fund, but also with their reporting.

Documenting the projects carried out under Law No. 285/1997 has also meant carrying out in-depth thematic studies on the significant experiences produced by the cities in order to promote knowledge and exchange of these practices. The analysis of good local practices concerned experiences identified as particularly significant in the planning of policies for children. The field of investigation is represented by all projects financed by the law exclusively or as co-financing in addition to other resources allocated at regional and/or local level. The study methodology adopted by the National Centre envisages that the evaluation criteria for the projects to be considered as good practices are jointly elaborated with the local reference persons. The activity of collecting and valuing good practices is based on thematic surveys carried out starting from the projects included in the databases established under Law No. 285/1997.