Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CUBETTO (New CUBic shElter concepT TO foster living responses)
Reporting period: 2016-05-01 to 2016-09-30
Impact on European Society - According to international and regional laws, EU states have a responsibility to respect and ensure the human rights of everyone on their territory, and must provide adequate reception conditions in line with standards fixed in Europe in the above-mentioned Recast Reception Conditions Directive 2013/33/EU, but countries have differing interpretations of minimum standards and conditions. UNHCR continuously monitors the standard of living and quality of services of reception facilities, considering factors such as the time period asylum-seekers spend in detention, general living conditions in the various facilities (basic hygiene, quality and diversity of meals, availability of sports and recreational opportunities, and access to designated areas for praying), the qualifications of staff and interpreters in these places, the quality of education provided to school-aged children, and the quality of medical care. The effects of migration have important social consequences in Europe and in origin countries, and should be managed with an holistic approach comprising economic (work and resources management), social (education, health and culture issues) and political effects (inclusion and contrast to discrimination) on both side of the migration patterns (source/destination and migrant/caregivers).
Our overall objective - With arrivals of asylum seekers to the European Union occurring on a huge scale, Member States face overwhelming technical and political challenges. The resources and institutional capacity of some Member States have been stressed, leaving people homeless or in overcrowded and otherwise precarious shelter and livelihood conditions. The crisis situation that exploded in 2015 highlights the central importance of well-functioning reception systems for asylum seekers in EU. In this context, our project is clearly conceived and designed to reach the overall objectives that underlie the operations of a successful reception system, as emerged by the large amount of documents and reports carried out by the public and private entities in charge of migrants reception, and by national and international authorities involved in the monitoring and guarantee of asylum seekers rights. Hence, our CUBETTO technical solution set in the broader context of the reception centre models, aiming to provide the material basis for the creation of a dwelling structure able to guarantee decent living conditions and a stimulus to the retake of beneficiaries. Starting from our technical model, we have established a partnership with a Cooperative Company that in the context of northern Italy is accredited to migrants reception management, in order to realize a pilot reception model whose objective is not only the installation of a reception infrastructure respecting the highest reception standards, but also adaptable to be transformed from a second-level reception facility into a social housing system structure.
Efficient Management of Resources - As reception is the most expensive component of any asylum system, the significant financial, infrastructure and human resource needs of reception organisations are often scrutinised by policymakers and publics alike. For this reason, the reception managers of our pilot model will be trained to secure and use, in the most efficient possible way, all the resources required to meet legal standards and provide for human needs. To this aim, the project consortium will define the methodology and set the organized system to monitor and continuously improve the management of the assets and expertise of the pilot application, proposing to develop the skills of reception professionals.
Flexibility - As the volatility of migrant ad asylum-seekers flows to and within the EU makes it impossible to prepare for all scenarios, our model aims at responding the need to expand the possible uses of a reception infrastructure, for which investment requires to be paid back considering a longer lifetime of the structure. For this reason, our reception model is conceived and designed to be adaptable for future possible use of social housing structure, comprising in this approach not only the technical implementation, but also the management system; indeed the living modules will be customized to be small homes instead simple shelters, and beneficiaries will be assisted and involved in the direct improvement and maintenance of the centre. In this way, our objective is to create a good practice for migrants retake and integration, based on a flexible approach that will consent to replicate our model.
Quality Standards adhered to across the European Union - Being designed by a team of experienced architects and managed by a recognized entity, our model will be implemented in line with demanding European and national legal standards that protect the rights of asylum seekers. The opportunity to build a novel affordable reception system will consent to meet expressively all the required standards, tackling hardship faced by individuals, and trying to contribute to the harmonization of international standards
As first deployment, in Italy we have already start building a partnership with a Cooperative SME, which from 2011 deals with the reception of migrants in Lombardy, one of the Italian regions which hosts a large number of migrants who try to cross the Italian border headed towards northern Europe. The goal of this strategic partnership is to start a reception model in which the technical solution of our CUBETTO system is the operational support to the organization of functional activities, aimed to emancipation and personal recovery, which will be fundamental both in the process of integration and above all in the prospect of an eventual return to their home countries. For this purpose, the results of our Technical Feasibility Study, integrated into a wider and innovative project for migrants reception, will ensure not only a living space that meets the European standards, but also a spur to employability through the creation of training programs for construction and maintenance of the structures created.