Costa Crociere Foundation sets aside €600,000 for social and marine environmental protection initiatives

The Foundation received more than 100 proposals from non-profit making organsiations, four of which were selected to develop activities to raise awareness about marine waste and training programs. They will run from two to three years.

Three of the selected social-theme projects involve non-profit associations working in the regions of Lazio and Liguria. In particular: ‘MaTeChef’, aimed at 60 young people between the ages of 16 and 25 and involves two-year training courses in the culinary sector;  ‘Today, Tomorrow, to Nino’ has been developed for 300 disadvantaged children and young people aged 6 to 20 who live in the metropolitan area of Rome. 30 particularly needy and deserving students will receive a small economic contribution to cover some costs, such as for books and transportation;  ‘Collavoriamo’ tackles the issue of NEET (Not engaged in Education, Employment or Training) involving young people in Genoa. Through training courses combined with 2-year intern/apprenticeships, the cooperative is working to support 24 young people between the ages of 16 and 24.

In the environmental sector, the Costa Crociere Foundation is working to support the activities promoted by the Rome-based CIRSPE to reduce marine waste in the central-northern Tyrrhenian Sea.  The aim of the project is to develop a strategy to reduce pollution from marine waste through the involvement of students, institutions, associations and economic operators involving 1,200 middle-school students.

The Costa Crociere Foundation is an independently-run organization, inaugurated in October 2014, whose goal is to improve the social and environmental conditions in the communities of Italy, where the cruise line was founded and is headquartered.