Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Milan, February 5 2020 – Transforming the schools of the most complex neighborhoods of Milan into points of reference for innovation and inclusion. The “P.a.r.i.” project comes to life, promoted by the Somaschi Foundation in collaboration with the Municipality of Milan and eight other partners, which intends to carry out excellent activities in schools located in contexts marked by social fragility. 
The project, selected by "Con i Bambini" as part of the Fund to combat child educational poverty, involves three comprehensive schools: Tommaso Grossi, Arcadia and Perasso. 
Workshops, cooperative learning activities and regeneration of school spaces are planned. The initiative is aimed at 1.200 children and also includes activities for teachers and families, with the aim of offering opportunities for redemption in contexts at risk of marginalization. 

“With this project – explains the Development Manager of the Somaschi Foundation, Valerio Pedroni – we want to give renewed attractiveness to these schools and give impetus and confidence to the new generations”.

In the coming months, twenty laboratories related to the use of multimedia tools, theatre, music, narration, problem solving and computational thinking will be activated in the three schools, which will see the participation of specialized operators, but also of teachers adequately trained to these activities.
Subsequently, in collaboration with Architects Without Borders, we will proceed with the creation of three FabLabs, spaces where students can learn in the field and put into practice the knowledge acquired during the training activities. The construction of the FabLabs is also an integral part of the training activities: they will be designed and implemented in a participatory manner with the concrete collaboration of the pupils, teachers and their families.
The three schools involved are located in areas of Milan where there are also Roma camps. One of the central objectives of the project is therefore to combat school dropout and promote inclusion.

In addition to the Somaschi Foundation, Architects Without Borders, the three schools involved and the Municipality of Milan, six other partners are involved in the project: Atlantis Company, Centro Ambrosiano di Solidarietà Onlus, Comunità di Sant'Egidio Milano Onlus, Fondazione Casa della Carità A. Abriani Onlus, Project A. Social Cooperative Society, Zero5 – Coop. Soc. Laboratory of metropolitan utopias. Codici Ricerche is entrusted with evaluating the outcomes of the activities.