Schlein is going on a camping trip with the students. The centre-right is out in force, courting the votes of young university students

Elly Schlein is attending a summer camp. The secretary of the PD is in Paestum today at Revolution Camp, the annual summer camp organised by the University Students’ Union and the Secondary School Students’ Network, to take part in a debate with AVS leader Nicola Fratoianni and Mariolina Castellone, Vice-President of the Senate and a member of the M5S. Italia Viva was not invited. The theme of the meeting is schools and universities, with the secretaries of the two student unions acting as moderators. The aim of the event and of the entire camp (from 27 July to 7 August), the organisers explain, is to compile all the demands of the student and academic communities into a single document, to be presented to the centre-left ahead of the upcoming general election. 

The venue chosen for the occasion is Camping La Giara, a 30,000-square-metre campsite situated just a few metres from the archaeological site of Paestum, near the sea. To stay there, you need to pay a fee of 14 euros per night; the programme is packed with events and live music. Before Schlein and Fratoianni take the floor, the programme includes a debate on the ‘southern question’ and another on mental health; however, panels on employment and one entitled ‘Let’s resist the war’ have also been organised for the coming days, complete with the presentation of an ‘Anti-fascist Manifesto’. Among the guests are a great many representatives from the CGIL trade union. Later, in a debate on the economy and welfare, Luca Biasi – an activist with the No Kings movement, a Rome city councillor with AVS and a passionate No TAV campaigner – will also take the floor. The audience, very young, follows the debates whilst taking notes. But the atmosphere is that of a campsite and, as can be seen in photos from events that have already taken place, many choose to go shirtless. On the guests’ tables are a few water bottles and a reusable hard-plastic cup printed with the words: “Reuse, Recycle, Revolution”. Right next to them, however, there is a profusion of plastic water bottles. Entire tables are having their photos taken with clenched fists raised to the sky; people are eating anti-fascist pasta and drinking Gaza Cola. 

It is the young, student-oriented public who see the broader political spectrum as a valid interlocutor to whom they can put forward their demands. After all, Schlein’s very presence confirms just how much the Democrats are focusing on that electorate. “The PD is the leading party among young people; it is clear that they represent a significant section of our constituency,” sources close to the secretary tell us. “We’re considering lots of proposals for them to include in the manifesto. We’ve fought for voting rights for students living away from home, but then there’s also the issue of the minimum wage, a reduction in working hours without a pay cut, free local public transport for students, and equal parental leave. Many of the initiatives introduced during Schlein’s time as secretary are aimed at young people.” And during previous leaderships? “No comment.”

On the other hand, it is precisely in recent years that the Young Democrats have rediscovered the lifeblood they needed. After years of inactivity and internal power struggles (which we recount here), it was not until 2025 that the PD’s youth wing managed to establish a new structure and find a leader, Virginia Libero, who has been touring Italy for weeks with the ‘Benvenut3 nel Paese reale’ initiative. Social media activity is the beating heart of the youth wing, which fills feeds with initiatives and satirical posts (the left’s response to the social media taunts of the young Meloni supporters at Atreju), and attracts more followers than any other youth wing. The PD has not confirmed whether any young Democrats will be on the list for 2027, although the Coordinator of the National Secretariat, Marta Bonafoni, has been chosen as a talent scout to find ten young people to stand as candidates in the next elections. There’s still some time to go before the general election, the manifesto has yet to be drafted, and a new electoral law could shift the balance of the candidate lists to be presented to voters. But there’s still time for a seaside camp to focus on the youth.