Consorzio O.P.E.N. - Offenders Pathways to Employment National Network
Vicolo Pozzo 23
37129 VErona, Italy
Website: www.openconsorzio.org
Consorzio OPEN is an association of 7 Italian organisations working on a regional or national level.
- CEFAL in Emilia Romagna
- Techne in Emilia Romagna
- Instituto Don Calabria in Veneto, Emilia Romagna and Sicily
- Cooperativa sociale A&I (Accoglienza e Integrazione) in Lombardy
- Casa di Carità in Piemont and Italy
- Scuola Centrale di Formazione in Italy
- Opera Villaggio del Fanciullo in Friuli Venezia Giulia
Consorzio OPEN has about 3200 actively involved contributors (employees, volunteers, etc.) working with about 34 000 beneficiaries per year. The consortium has 132 offices in 11 regions of Italy: Liguria, Piemont, Lombardy, Veneto, Friuli, Venecia, Giuli, Emilia Romagna, Marche, Puglia, Basilicata, Sicilia, Sardegna.
Historically, Consorzio OPEN goes back to a project funded by the ESF in 2007. The cooperation of organisations promoting vocational training and labor inclusion of young people and adults in situations of social, economic and cultural disadvantage developed into the desire to set up a continuing partnership based on shared goals.
Thus, in 2010, Consorzio OPEN was formed as a national network to combat social exclusion of people with disadvantage through activities and social rehabilitation services and training aimed at redefining a new life project. Beneficiaries are refugees, ex-convicts, ex drug-addicts, disabled, long-term unemployed, school drop-outs and many more. In recent years, working with refugees has become a more important focus.
Consorzio OPEN’s priority is to develop new systems and strategies to promote social inclusion and employment of people who have a serious social disadvantage and live in the margins.
To this end, OPEN promotes participation of people in training and employment support by promoting initiatives of comparison and debate, such as
- inter-professional training for organizational well-being personnel
- dialogue between institutions (companies, social economy, citizenship)
- Involving local administration, national and European bodies to stimulate change in the policies and practices of public institutions.
