by Maximiliano Crocamo
Interviewees: Michele Babuder, Trieste Councilor for Public Works and Territorial Policies; Walter Lorenzon, Chairman of the Pordenone Building Fund
The fifth edition of We Love Safety FVG—a school-based occupational safety awareness initiative in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy—is drawing to a close with a series of public award ceremonies across the region in May 2026, starting in Trieste.
The programme challenges secondary school students to communicate workplace safety concepts through visual design applied to ping-pong equipment intended for permanent installation in urban public parks.
The initiative is funded by the Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia and co-financed by the region’s four Casse Edili (construction industry joint funds). It is implemented in collaboration with the four Scuole Edili of Udine, Gorizia, Trieste, and Pordenone. Project coordinator Marco Svara presented the results during the Trieste ceremony.
This year’s theme, “Ping Safety Pong: schiacciamo l’indifferenza rispetto ai temi della sicurezza” (“smashing indifference toward safety issues”), invited middle school students to decorate full-scale wooden ping-pong paddles, while secondary school students designed ping-pong table surfaces. For the first time, teachers also participated, submitting net designs aligned with the same theme.
All submissions were evaluated anonymously by an independent technical jury and then opened to a public vote via Instagram.
The fifth edition recorded a new high of 1,001 projects from 26 schools, involving 1,451 students across 63 classes. More than 20,000 votes were cast online. The total prize pool reached nearly €21,000, with over €14,000 allocated to students and six school grants of €1,000 each.
Across five editions since 2021, the initiative has engaged more than 7,000 students from 38 institutions, producing 4,145 submissions and awarding 128 participants. Winning table designs will be installed in public parks across the four provincial capitals of Friuli Venezia Giulia. Remaining award ceremonies are scheduled throughout May 2026. Further information is available at welovesafety.it.
