Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Mi15 - Spaces and services for Milan 15 minutes away

Milan, May 24 2023 – Neighborhood bookshops, artisan training workshops, but also multifunctional and meeting spaces for young people, mothers, boys and girls, gyms, farms and local concierge: these are just some of the 22 social impact projects financed thanks to the "Mi15" tender - Spaces and services for Milan 15 minutes away" with over 1,35 million euros of PON Metro funds.

These are initiatives proposed and implemented by Milanese micro and small-medium enterprises, both profit and non-profit, which, thanks to the support of the Municipality, will be able to activate or strengthen services that are currently absent or insufficient in the neighborhoods. Through the Mi15 call, these experiences received a non-repayable contribution for investments between 24 thousand and 80 thousand euros, equal to 80% of the cost of the project.

The objective of the tender is to involve companies already active and rooted in the neighborhoods in the creation of a "City 15 minutes away", in which citizens can find the services and activities they need a short distance from home.

During the joint council commission on Economic Development and Labor Policies and Civil Economy for the development of the Third Sector, in addition to the results of the tender, four testimonials from winning companies were presented. Among these: the neighborhood bookshop and multifunctional space for children Scamamù, inaugurated in Dergano last March 18; the Heracles gymnasyum, which dedicates initiatives to young people aged 15 to 25, with particular attention to subjects coming from contexts of economic-social marginality, school dropout or NEET; the Welcomed – Family Doctors space, active in the Corvetto-Corvetto area, which guarantees access to quality, timely and affordable care, with particular attention to the most vulnerable groups; the leather workshop of the Aslam social cooperative, which offers training courses on craftsmanship to minors and young people between 16 and 32 years of age with low level of education, but also to women in a vulnerable situation or to unemployed adults over 40. 

The list of all funded projects can be consulted at https://economiaelavoro.comune.milano.it/progetti/mi15.

"Thanks to this tender, 22 new activities have been created or have improved and expanded their services for citizens, touching all the municipalities of Milan, excluding Zone 1 Historic Center – said the councilor for Economic Development Alessia Cappello –. Bringing or growing activities that have a positive impact in the less central areas of the city means keeping them alive, attractive and safe. This call also confirms our commitment to concretely create a city 15 minutes away, with services accessible to all and within walking distance from home".

With a view to efficiency and monitoring, and thanks to the collaboration with the Tiresia research group of the Polytechnic of Milan directed by Professor Mario Calderini, an evaluation process of the social impact that the projects will have on the neighborhoods has been activated on an experimental basis and on the citizens who live there.