The aim of the project Comune dei popoli is to strengthen and improve access to public services for foreign citizens as well as to qualify and enhance the provision of services through training and tool sharing. The training courses for public operators included a multidisciplinary course with sessions by professional trainers, experts in different areas related to migration issues. The modules included in-depth studies on new legislation and case law, on the social aspects of the current migration issues, on problems related to a territorial network of services and to ways to strengthen it, also through the presentation of good practices implemented in different contexts. The courses, managed according to a non-formal education model, alternated between face-to-face and workshop activities, carried out online or on-site when possible.
First training session
The first part of the training session started on 24 November 2020 and ended on 1 February 2021 and was carried out by the project partners Oxfam Italy and AccoglieRete. The topic of this first part, involving about 10 operators of the Comune dei Popoli, was “Characteristics and evolution of the Migration Phenomenon in Italy with focus on the Sicilian context” and was divided into ten modules.
The training modules focused on meetings on the phenomenon of migration in relation to the dynamics on a local level as well as on the orientation to services and the role of linguistic-cultural mediation in access to services. A special emphasis was put on stress management for operators working in services in contact with trauma victims and vulnerable people.
The direct experience of trainers, experts in the management of public desks with the ability to involve various actors in the area, highlighted the role of intercultural mediation not only as linguistic facilitation but also as cultural facilitation, which represented the strength of the entire course. The training sessions were enriched by case studies on what is happening in Sicily in terms of migratory phenomena, reception and data on unaccompanied minors. At the same time, the frontal training modules were brought back to the local and specific sociological context, creating a connection between theoretical issues, practices and specificities of the territory. A training course that also focused on the operator himself, providing methods and tools to learn how to manage stress and emotionality, so as to be prepared for the daily management of a desk.