Case Study

Apprenticeship opportunity for migrants and asylum seekers in Parco Nord Milano

Contact name

Fabio Campana

Institution name

Parco Nord Milano

Region & country

Lombardia, Italy

Summary

From 2012 to November 2016, in collaboration with the Centro di Mediazione al Lavoro del Comune di Milano, Parco Nord Milano carried out a project to provide working skills for migrants and asylum seekers. The project consisted of two main parts. During the first part, the company tutor Fabio Campana assembled and coordinated the migrants to form a working team. The second part represented an attempt to move towards integration in practical terms: the young participants joined in working teams with skilled and trained operators. The team’s activities consisted mainly in the maintenance of the Park’s territory.

@Parco Nord Milano

@Parco Nord Milano

@Parco Nord Milano

Background of the project

The Park had never engaged in job placement projects before. However, it can be a source of incentives and opportunities in order to find a job.

We recognised the need for integration of the participants into the workplace as well as the need to resolve the problems between the participants and the park’s operators that appeared because of the lack of clear communication.

Solution and actions taken

Parco Nord Milano decided to collaborate with the Centro di Mediazione al Lavoro del Comune di Milano, an institution that has the ability to connect people and businesses. The CELAV offered training and job placement opportunities through funded apprenticeships, while Parco Nord Milano offered the migrants practical means to facilitate them in the acquisition of working skills.

Between 2012 and 2016, Parco Nord Milano decided to accept various groups of migrants aged from 20 to 40; they joined the working teams to take care of the park’s maintenance with skilled operators.

Other institutions or parties involved

The main partner for this project was the Centro di Mediazione al Lavoro del Comune di Milano.

Results

After the conclusion of the project and of the collaboration with the CELAV, Parco Nord Milano decided to carry on with the effort to build connections between migrants and businesses. Since then the park requires partner cooperatives to provide apprenticeships to migrants. In addition, the Park chose to promote the migrants’ reception with the help of third parts and it launched a collaboration with the Bresso’s Red Cross, which is an important location of first aid in Regione Lombardia.

Challenges

The main challenge of this project was the integration of the participants into the workplace: the lack of clear communication was the main cause of friction between the participants and the park’s operators. These difficulties led to the conclusion of the project.

Lessons learned

The contact between people of different cultures has to be considered as an opportunity of growth and not as a limit. It is fundamental to invest in the future of individuals who are trying to reinvent themselves and provide them with training opportunities.

Contact name

Fabio Campana

Institution name

Parco Nord Milano

Website(s)

Partners

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