Una giornata diversa conoscendo, osservando e toccando con mano alcune delle attività di European Research Institute. E’ quella che hanno potuto e, soprattutto, voluto vivere una ventina di dipendenti di Intesa Sanpaolo che a metà luglio hanno trascorso un’intera giornata con noi, scoprendo nel dettaglio le nostre attività in campo sociale, con i richiedenti protezione internazionale, e in campo ambientale, scoprendo i dettagli spedizione di agosto 2016 nel Passaggio a Nord Ovest – cui E.R.I. ha partecipato tramite Franco Borgogno – e mettendosi alla prova con le nostre attività nel campo della sensibilizzazione e la ricerca sui rifiuti di plastica…

Era estate, anche se le temperature erano diverse decine di gradi sotto lo zero, quando Franco Borgogno si è unito – in rappresentanza di E.Ri.I. – alla spedizione scientifica organizzata dal 5 Gyres Institute di San Francisco, nel Mar Glaciale Artico: partenza da Kangerlussuaq (Groenlandia), arrivo a Cambridge Bay (Canada). Quindici giorni passati a documentare il lavoro di ricerca, raccolta e analisi volto a studiare la presenza di microplastiche nelle acque degli oceani. É da circa quindici anni che (more…)

L’otto e nove maggio lo European Research Institute Onlus ha promosso e realizzato il workshop “Le Cliniche Legali e l’accesso alla giustizia – Il caso del Libano”, nell’ambito del progetto europeo  Support to Legal Aid in Lebanon. Gli incontri si sono svolti presso la Sala Multimediale della Regione Piemonte, in corso Regina Margherita 174 a Torino e sono stati aperti da Monica Cerutti, assessore regionale alle Politiche Giovanili, Diritto allo Studio Universitario, Cooperazione Decentrata Internazionale, Pari Opportunità, Diritti Civilie Immigrazione. Garantire l’accesso alla giustizia: questo il macro-tema che ha dato (more…)

The Pakistan football team was born in 2015 from the request of three young men to the European Research Institute: “Here we are, Pakistani who love football more than cricket. Can you help us?” It was the eve of the Balon Mundial and thanks to the commitment of the association (and of the young men) a whole team was made in a couple of days, and an extraordinarily quick and effective fundraising activity allowed to buy the team uniforms. Steady, ready, go…to the competition “for foreigners” more prestigious of Turin.

The results on the field were certainly not positive, but it was a baptism of fire; now the group has reformed, by expanding the social mix that existed since the beginning, since it was a friendly dispute against refugees of other nationalities or against the psychics disabled for which the social services of the City of Turin were in charge. Part of the “new” team are the Pakistani, but also university students, non educated young men and refugees.

The association has signed a partnership with the amateur sports association Unicorno style, thanks to which they can use the football field “Regaldi” once a week to work out. But above all, the agonistic activity started again: the Pakistan team was enrolled by European Research Institute to the 12th tournament Con gli altri, where it will play against Senegal, Morocco and other teams. The first results were finally comforting, but the goal is in the medium term: “Win tomorrow”, meaning taking part in the next edition of Balon Mundial, with the declared purpose of… score at least one goal!

Six entities working in the social field started cooperating to build a little good thing. “Good” in every way: environmental, social, urban and, of course, literal, this one regarding the flavour.
OrtiAlti Association has installed greenhouses and plantations on the roofs of Fonderie Ozanam, an ancient factory where the cooperative Meeting Service conducts its training activities (as well as the restaurant); part of the the same complex is Casa Ozanam, the hostel where the European Research Institute hosts young Pakistan asylum seekers, beneficiaries of the project “Welcome”.

The synergy between these actors has been enriched by the intervention of the Association GAPS. Thanks to GAPS, and through ENAIP Piemonte, three internships have been financed for three guests of the hostel. Two of them will work with OrtiAlti: one – with a long experience as a farmer gained in Pakistan – will take care of the crops, while the second one (who is graduating at Politecnico di Torino) will be devoted to the organization and supervision of the work.

A ghanaian asylum seeker will work – after a proper training – with bees, managing the beehives, up to obtain the honey, a product characterized by great yield and quality.

The project, promoted by European Research Institute, has many facets: a former factory is devoted to agriculture, a piece of neighborhood reborns through an activity now far from the thoughts and eyes of those who are born and grows in the cities. It’s not by chance that the aim of the project is to ensure that the OrtiAlti will be visited soon and that playful-learning activities will be implemented.

“Un mare di plastica” at the International Film Festival of San Francisco

The “short film” 5 Gyres Arctic Expedition – made by Franco Borgogno (Eri contributor) and edited by Gianluca Vitale – on the expedition in the Northwest Passage (August 2016) was selected for the final competition at the International Film Festival in San Francisco, that took place from 9 to 12 March 2017.

The documentary was welcomed very positively by the audience, including the experts and the other film-makers who attended the Festival.

This is a great result for the European Research Institute in the field of citizen science and divulgation regarding the plastic waste in the seas of the world and the Ocean Literacy.

MINIDOC

Transferring knowledge in the agro-livestock field to disadvantaged and vulnerable groups is the aim of rACCOGLIAMO, a project which started at the beginning of March and which consists of a training course focused on the sharing of responsibilities between local residents, mostly elderly, and the beneficiaries of the project: 5 asylum seekers hosted in the accommodation center of the Municipality of Solero and 5 unemployed individuals from Solero.

The initiative, developed by Eri in collaboration with the “Amici di Solero” Association, which has deep roots in the community, and the San Perpetuo parish, includes different types of activities: poultry farming, compost production and vegetable farming according to the growing season. Thanks to the close cooperation with the “Amici di Solero” Association and the Parish, elder local farmers and members of the Association and parishioners has been involved in tutoring and mentoring activities to support the beneficiaries of the project. For the realization of the project, the Municipality of Solero has made available, free of charge, the necessary land for the vegetable farming, the poultry farming and the production of humus (the so-called worm farming).

The young people involved in the project mainly have a Central-African origin and are aged between 18 and 25 years. Other than them, a group of individuals belonging to the most vulnerable groups of the local community will take part in the project.

rACCOGLIAMO originates from the desire to offer concrete possibilities of inclusion and economic and social independence to disadvantaged people living in the Municipality of Solero: through the social and occupational integration of participants, Eri wants to promote an improved perception in the population of the foreign presence, also thanks to the acquisition of vocational skills and a proactive approach that goes far beyond the mere assistance. The active involvement of the local population is a valuable knowledge and mutual  recognition tool.

The activities included in the project aim to contribute to the livelihood of the people involved, as well as the selling of the resulting products locally, in the markets which are held regularly in the area. The professional skills acquired by the beneficiaries will be spent in the eventual creation of a social micro-enterprise.

For some of the individuals involved this is the first professional experience in Italy, for others it is an effective way to enter the job market, feeling a real part of the local social fabric again. The project proposal has been made, according to a networking logic, consistently with the actions already developed by Eri the territory.