PROXIMO project : Innovative models for the support of young people in the NEET status

In 2023, young people aged between 15 and 29 who fall into the NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) category - those who are neither employed nor in education or training - represent 16.1 percent of the population in this age group (ISTAT, 2023). NEETs are young people who, in addition to not studying or working, are at risk of social exclusion and face many difficulties in their transition to adulthood.

As shown in the recent policy paper by CGIL and Actionaid, while the incidence and number of young NEETs in Italy has decreased between 2014 and 2023 (-2.9 percent), on the other hand, the measures adopted have mainly favored those who are in an advantaged position and more easily involved, for example because they are already supported by social services or have a supportive relational or family network. The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy's "National Operational Program Youth Employment Initiative" (Pon Iog) also did not sufficiently reach the most disadvantaged and marginalized young people in the 2014-2020 period, so strategies to engage NEET youth have been included among the strategically important actions for the 2021-2027 program.

In fact, one of the main difficulties regarding this phenomenon is the ability to identify models and strategies that can engage those young people who are trapped in a gray area where they are not reached by services and support networks and are at risk of remaining in NEET status.

The project PROXIMO - Proximity and Innovation for Outreach Models, launched on January 9, 2025 and lasting 18 months, aims to strengthen the capacity for engagement and development of relational proximity as a key requirement for the provision of integrated territorial services to support young people in condition or at risk of becoming NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training).
The project involves the study and exchange of innovative practices with national and international realities active on the issue of proximity model to be tested within the Municipality of Milan 7 with the involvement of Off-Campus San Siro.

The project, funded by the Polisocial Award 2024, operationally involves three departments of the Politecnico: the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering led by Professor Masella, the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies led by Professor Costa, and the Department of Design coordinated by Professor Sangiorgi.
The researchers currently involved in the project are Isabel Farina for DIG and Tommaso Frangioni for DASTU.

Project partners include: Rete Ricetta Qubì Selinunte, Equa Cooperativa, Comunità Progetto, Scomodo, Hub dei Talenti (Unimi), Comune di Milano, ASST – Santi Paolo e Carlo, ASST – Fatebenefratelli Sasso, Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute (Unimi), APSS Trento, Comunità Nuova.