+Solutions in Italy
Cascina Casottello
Modou Gueye
The Problem
Many neighbourhoods are facing problems of degeneration and abandonment, often leading to disadvantaged groups becoming segregated in a city. Due to this and a lack of education in multiculturalism, there are limited opportunities for the integration of migrants into local societies.
The Solution
At the start of 2016, the Sungal socio-cultural association and the Fate Artigiane cooperative won a public tender for the restructuring and upgrading of Cascina Casottello. This structure was acquired by the Municipality of Milan in 2013 with the aim of starting a territorial and architectural regeneration process. Through the process of this upgrade, the Sunugal association has managed to redevelop the area surrounding Cascina Casottello. Additionally, different people are brought together in activities organised in the building. The centre provides various services to newcomers and has become a meeting point for migrants of diverse backgrounds.
The Impact
Currently, around 2,000 people are registered at the centre. Cascina Casottello will continue to regenerate abandoned areas and transform these into neighbourhood centres, with the aim to change living conditions and fight segregation.
Cuochi a Colori
Donatella Forconi
The Problem
Many of the migrants that come to Italy have great difficulties with finding a regular job. They have little resources and lack connections for inclusion in professional networks. This often leads to a situation of isolation and disparity.
The Solution
Cuochi a Colori directly translates to cooks in color. The project connects culture and cuisine by offering employment through cooking courses, event catering and meal service. Cuochi a Colori offers ethnic cuisine by a team of immigrant cooks from all over the world. With cooks from Indonesia, Morocco, Egypt, Peru, Sri Lanka, Eritrea, Brazil, Thailand, Iran and many other countries, the project offers a great selection of cuisines and experiences. With quality service of great food and tradition, the food is served in the homes of Milanse people.
The Impact
The organisation serves as a vessel for knowledge and is committed to conveying the values of dialogue, sharing, and participation, around a table, during convivial and festive occasions. The continued vision is to engage migrants in entrepreneurial activity that brings the possibility to work using one's own cultural background and previous technical knowledge.
“Everything is easier to say in a kitchen, everything is blurred by this intention of sharing, and the appetite makes new life flow into things.”
Semìno
Samanta Musarò
The Problem
Current markets in European countries do not offer traditional ingredients for staple foods of migrants. Besides the abandoning of familiar places and people, migrants leave behind a broad range of foods and flavours that they are unlikely to find in their new country of residence.
The Solution
Semìno introduces ethical and sustainable products to the agricultural market sector. The project invites migrants to engage in farming their own foods, through the cultivation of specific products such as daikon, okra, curcuma, tatsoi and Chinese cabbage. Migrants themselves become employed to grow these foods and to share knowledge about these products with the local population.
Indovina chi viene a cena?
Antonio Damasco
The Problem
There is a lack of understanding about migration and migrants in Italy. Attitudes are based on stereotypes and clichés about migrants, rather than conversations with those moving to Italy and hoping to integrate into the local population.
The Solution
This initiative is based on the idea of the film ‘Guess who's coming to dinner?’, which challenges stereotypes and depicts interracial relationships in a positive light. The initiative subverts the idea of hospitality by inviting migrants to open up their homes to local guests to come together for a home-cooked meal. It provides Italians with the opportunity to share a meal with a migrant family. Those who are perceived as guests in the country become the hosts for those that are part of the local population. These meetings help overcome discriminatory behaviours and misunderstandings of those newly arrived in Italy.
The Impact
This initiative contributes to creating positive relations between different cultures on a local level, but with the aim of a greater impact nationally. Since 2012, 4,000 people of over 120 families have participated in the project. The project has so far been rolled out in 90 municipalities across Italy and can be easily replicated to other countries.
Mama Venture
Mamadou Lamine Ndiaye
The Problem
Many migrants who are business owners often have trouble finding funding for their companies. Additionally, banks have difficulty assessing credits and as a result, they do not offer businesses loans.
The Solution
MamaVenture focuses on investing in foreign citizens' businesses. The best ideas are funded through a crowdfunding platform or obtain funding from the founding members of the project. Through workshops, the organisation shapes innovative companies that know how to meet consumer demands. MamaVenture supports foreign citizens’ entrepreneurship through an online platform, which allows operation across Italy.
The Impact
MamaVenture has received many donations through crowdfunding to support selected businesses.
The Silent Academy
Luca Iacovone
The Problem
Many migrants that arrive in Italy are skilled in different areas, but do not easily obtain the opportunity to put their skills and talents into practice. The increased possibilities for skill and knowledge exchange frequently remain overseen and unused.
The Solution
The Silent Academy is dedicated to the exchange of skills and talents between migrants and the local community. Through workshops and training sessions, migrants engage with local citizens to collaborate on a topic of their expertise afterwards presented at public events. This process encourages migrants to become the main actors, as experts of their own strengths, knowledge and culture in exchange with the local community.
The Impact
The Silent Academy was involved in the mapping of 300 migrants' skills. Currently, about 30 Italians and migrants are involved in every artisan laboratory that takes place. Participants emerge with a wide range of talents, skills and an increased understanding of migrants’ heritages.
Bee My Job
Mara Alacqua
The Problem
There is a lack of skilled workers in some of the work sectors in Italy and a lack of directly applicable technical skills amongst many migrants. It is difficult for unskilled migrants to find a job in their new host country.
The Solution
Bee My Job is a social project that promotes professional training and job placement for asylum seekers and refugees through beekeeping and organic farming. The programme fosters social inclusion and active citizenship by spreading environmental awareness across Italy’s diverse population. Bee My Job promotes cooperation between citizens as well as the active participation of refugees in local development. Through educational meetings with schools and citizens, the project draw attention to the necessary care and respect for the natural ecosystem that we are all part of.
The Impact
In 2018, 42 individuals were trained, and a total of 141 people have been trained and employed since 2015. More people are finding a job in this field and there is an increased knowledge about people’s personal role in the environment.
The Sewing Cooperative
Lydia Witt
The Problem
There is an isolation and a lack of integration of migrants into the Italian community. This is accompanied by tourists lacking knowledge about the African continent and migration in general.
The Solution
The Sewing Cooperative provides an experience path in tailoring, which connects tourists and migrants who work with the cooperative. Facilitating the means for dialogue, tourists can learn about different stories of migrants whilst learning a few basic principles of sewing. Through the Airbnb platform the project has become scalable and adaptable to other cities.
The Impact
Six tailors from six African countries work with Lydia at the Sewing Cooperative. The Airbnb Experience was purchased by 93 people and customers are about 200 to date.
Il Grande Colibrì
Wajahat Abbas Kazmi & Pier Cesare Notaro
The Problem
People are being persecuted in their home countries due to their differences in race, gender, sexual orientation, religion and beliefs. Within migrant and other communities in the host country, they often still face similar issues of discrimination.
The Solution
Il Grande Colibrì supports refugees who have been or are being persecuted because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. The volunteer association focusses on struggles of acceptance of homosexuality by people of the Muslim faith. The organisation aims to overcome discrimination and isolation by bringing together a network of volunteers that set up cultural events and provide legal assistance.
The Impact
The organisation continues to grow and includes people from very different backgrounds, amongst whom heterosexual and LGBTQIA activists, as well as agnostics, atheists, Christians and Muslims, and people from all over the world. With their help, the organisation fights prejudice and discrimination of people a currently not yet normalised gender identity or sexual orientation.
MyGrants
Chris Richmond N’zi
The Problem
The social problem addressed is the underemployment and lack of recognition of talents and skills of migrants. Many skilled migrants are all digitally literate and 60% of them can read and write in English or French.
The Solution
Chris Richmond, a native of the Ivory Coast, came to study in Europe and later worked for the European Commission. Dealing with an influx of migration and seeing the statistics regarding young people arriving on the European coasts, Chris designed an application capable of screening the skills and talents of these individuals through games and quizzes. The MyGrants app provides a six-month training course that prepares young migrants for a professional life. Upon the completion of the course, the candidate is introduced to various companies they could work for.
The Impact
The MyGrants app provides useful training and support for individuals to enter the job market successfully. Right now, thanks to MyGrants, there are about 25 new hires per week, and since 2017, MyGrants has made 950 placements in total.
La Strategia della Lumaca
Massimiliano Giacomello & Matteo Castellani
The Problem
Housing in urban areas is often unaffordable for refugees arriving in European states. Continuous migration to cities from local populations, economic migrants and flight migrants leads to a high demand and limited availability. Real estate agents in these areas are not able to cater to the immediate needs of migrants or use the urgency to find housing to their advantage.
The Solution
La Strategia della Lumaca builds networks, tools and resources that allow refugees to achieve autonomy in accessing the housing market in their new place of living. The project provides access to sustainable solutions through the involvement of local communities and the optimisation of resources. The empowerment paths help involved migrants to deal with the economic, cultural and relational challenges of navigating the housing market.
The Impact
La Strategia della Lumanca has supported over 300 migrants to find a house through a network of 50 institutions in and around the city of Milan. Involving local administrations and developing partnerships at various levels will help the organisation to facilitate sustainability of the support network.
Ragazzi Harraga
Alessandra Sciurba & Veronica Lattuada
The Problem
Unaccompanied minors who arrive in Italy are left to their own devices by many local and national institutions and organisations. Due to the lack of support, minors are exposed to an increased risk of exploitation, abuse and criminal offence.
The Solution
Ragazzi Harraga protects unaccompanied minors who arrive to Italy by boat. The project supports existing infrastructures of institutions and private actors to coordinate the development individual paths towards social inclusion. Each boy and girl is provided with a ‘social folder’ in which individual sensitive information is collected to allow for better coordination between those in charge of child protection. The social folders are securely accessible by the different parties through a platform.
The Impact
The use of a shared folder to directly access the needs of minors has proven a highly functional tool. The project has now included 80 children, of which 20 were hired by the organisation to help address more specific needs.