The città-IN project, funded by the Polisocial Award 2023 and taking place in Off Campus San Siro, addresses critical challenges in fostering social inclusion and bridging service accessibility gaps in the diverse neighborhood of San Siro, Milan. This project operates within the framework of “Off Campus – Il Cantiere per le Periferie,” an initiative promoted by Polisocial with the aim of strengthening the presence of the Politecnico in the city of Milan and the idea of a more responsible university, attentive to social challenges, open and close to territories and communities.

San Siro is home to a significant number of families with migratory backgrounds who often face barriers in accessing public services, especially those related to education. Città-IN aims to map and highlight these obstacles by focusing on both mandatory national services, such as school enrollment, register consultations, and canteen requests, as well as optional local services like summer camps and before-and-after-school programs, managed by the municipality of Milan. The città-IN project intends to highlight these obstacles through the experimental application of Mediation Grammar, a service quality standard developed within the H2020 easyRights project focusing on three primary issues: linguistic accessibility, informational adequacy, and rights actualization of rights, leveraging user experience. By highlighting these challenges, the project seeks to improve the integration of migrant families and enhance their rights and access to essential services.

Alongside the questionnaire, città-IN employs a mix of participatory methods to bridge the gap between service providers (schools and the municipality) and users (families with migratory backgrounds). Key activities include participant observation, interviews with local actors and schools, Co-design workshops with mothers and cultural mediators, service mapping with the municipality of Milan and the cooperatives managing the services.

By identifying linguistic, informational, and systemic barriers, città-IN seeks to create a more inclusive environment where families with migratory backgrounds can navigate public services with ease. The project will culminate in a presentation of guidelines to the municipality, offering actionable recommendations on how to improve service accessibility and inclusivity.