Problem addressed

Vulnerable groups and people who are facing peculiar barriers in accessing the labour market requires dedicated programmes and services to guarantee their effective integration in the labour market.  For instance,  these categories face specific linguistic, educational, socioeconomic, geographical and ‘emotional’ barriers preventing them from become ‘active’ citizens and ultimately find a job. Further, in our local context, the existing job placement centers and VET programmes, fails to address the specific needs and issues experienced by the following categories:

• Persons with disability (physical, mental and sensory), former residents of psychiatric institutions, people in psychiatric treatment, drug addicts, alcoholics,  sentenced persons admitted to alternative measures to detention;
• Long term-unemployed people  - including people who successfully completed any training course but has not obtained yet his/her/their regular paid employment
• People with low education - including those who do not have a secondary school or vocational school diploma.
• People with low education level and migratory background 
• Inactive adults and/or adults who are furthest away from the labour market 
• People who need to improve their language and vocational training or work experience in order to increase their prospects for employment stable. 

These categories in fact, share a general lack of trust in the system, low-self esteem, low education level, social isolation, poor networking possibilities/chances. On the other hand, the existing job placement services and training opportunities are usually poorly known by the categories and not affordable for  them; they offer vocation training and/or upskilling courses whose schedule is not compatible with the needs of the most vulnerable, while the labour market do not offer jobs compatible with their skills. 

In this context, the historical centre of the city of Genova as well as its neighbourhood areas are characterised by social insecurity; poor cleanliness; social imbalances and polarisation; logistical difficulties in establishing production activities, including those of a craft nature; wide presence of degraded and not yet recovered areas, strong presence of vulnerable categories employed in illegal activities.

The Startappe Model, therefore, was conceived to address the needs of the both most vulnerable categories and the community living in the urban areas of Genova: create and experiment a job placement system shaped on the singular and specific profiles; develop training and centers to educate vulnerable categories to the world of work (soft skills, craftsmanship ; training on the job); create new job opportunities by answering to the needs of the community (units to patrol the roads for communities’ safety, clean-up crew for public spaces such as gardens, parks for children, roads, public toilettes, public services, factories for the reuse of objects.

Innovative solution

Startappe is a multifaceted model that encompassess several activities and services designed to answer to the specific needs of the vulnerable groups including:

1- Job Placement Services. 

The Job Centers are located in strategic areas in the city where vulnerable people tend to gravitate. Therefore, the Centers serve two purpuses: (a) to engage the most vulnerable ones who usually do not know the employability services located in the territory (b) to contribute to regenerate the area. The services are customised to the needs and entry-level of the individuals in terms of number of meetings and lessons, training modules and number of matching proposed. 

2- Centers for the Employability  

This service offers  vocational training in product areas that responds to the market and economic context of Genoa:. - tailoring (potentially with an original development on furnishing accessories rather than clothing). - ceramics. - carpentry  - catering (focused on traditional cuisine, with spaces also usable for Line 7 of workshops open to the public/ tourists). - other workshops on specific practical and professional skills, identified in relation to the needs of the Historic Centre (e.g. maintenance, cleaning, dog-sitting, etc.).

3- Caring Hubs

Startappe provides people in long-term unemployment and/or vulnerable categories with training and skills development to join a ‘public maintenance team’. The main role of the team is to respond to specific needs as identified by the community and/or public authorities - such as removals, small repairs, painting and restoration, heavy deliveries, gardening, guardianship of parks, public space maintenance. The ‘Caring HUbs’ work as hub for these maintenance teams while offering concrete services for citizens, residents and tourists – particularly for people in needs- such as touristic services and support for disabled tourists. Following this model, we successfully established ‘Community House’, spaces distributed in the territory were riders and whoever in needs can access to wi-fi, beverage and drinks, bicycle repair services, information on job opportunities and training courses information designed according to their initial skills. The Caring Hubs demonstrated also their pivotal role in engaging and identifying vulnerable categories who usually do not access job procurement offices or other services because of lack of trust and disillusionment on the job placement mechanism. 

Key results and benefits

In 2023 only the SM supported more than 3,447 people. 

Job Placement Services:

• 3190 new contacts - profiling 
• 3,087 orientation interviews
•  542  scouting actions for which companies have submitted job offers;
• 3,482 CVs sent to the network of companies in the territory 
• Average of 66 matching per week
• 1290 people enrolled in our courses, of these 918 (about 71%) completed the courses

Centers for Employability 

• 6 workshop activated: CREATIVE TAILORING, LEATHER GOODS, JOINERY, KITCHEN, BIKE RIDING, PHOTO/DIGITAL, DIGITAL COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE SKILLS 
• 22 beneficiaries attended the training. 

Caring Hubs

• 980 people have directly benefited from one of the services provided in the Caring Hubs
• 7 teams were created
•  8 team leaders 
• 26 trainees among vulnerable people included in the teams 

Potential for mainstreaming

We believe that this model has significant potential for mainstream adoption in any EU country. The model build on 'traditional services' for employability enriched with social innovation and local needs. All the employability services already in place in other countries, can, therefore shift their operation and incorporate the model. The Caring Hubs can implement different activities for the social good according to the local needs while keeping the same structure.

The model it is highly versatile, capable of being adopted in small-medium and big cities  and to be, therefore, replicated and scaled-up.