The Associazione Comunità “Il Gabbiano” is a voluntary association created in 1983 to promote the social, professional and real estate inclusion of vulnerable people (ex-offenders, people with addiction problems, immigrants, people with terminal illnesses , people at risk of poverty) and to strengthen community participation in social, professional and real estate inclusion processes.
Since its creation, Gabbiano has managed residential structures and coordinated territorial projects aimed at improving the lives of people with one or more vulnerabilities: drug and alcohol addiction (4 therapeutic/pedagogical communities), offenders and ex-offenders, with particular emphasis on women, transgender and transsexual people, children and young offenders, immigrants, particularly refugees and asylum seekers asylum, people with terminal illnesses.
Currently, Gabbiano manages more than 200 places in social housing, therapeutic communities and shelters in the Lombardy region.
Gabbiano’s residential structures and intervention models have evolved over the years to move towards a model placing at its heart the active participation of those hosted in the decision-making process that concerns them. Currently, 30 social workers/educators/psychologists work in Gabbiano’s residential structures.
Gabbiano is also active in the implementation of restorative justice practices in several territories of the Lombardy region (Lecco, Como, Cremona, Sondrio, Lodi) by organizing restorative justice interventions in the community (neighborhoods, schools, etc.). This commitment resulted in the process of building the “restorative city” in Lecco and Como.
Furthermore, Gabbiano is involved in several projects aimed at setting up territorial restorative justice services and general information, support and empowerment services for victims of crime.
Gabbiano is also a member of the European Forum for Restorative Justice and plays an active role in the Forum’s Restorative Cities Working Group which he currently leads.
In addition, last year Gabbiano launched a training program on restorative justice aimed at its staff in residential structures and involved in social inclusion and labor market projects in the Lombardy region.
Gabbiano staff and volunteers have interdisciplinary skills and long experience in the implementation and coordination of European projects, in particular funded by the ESIF.
As part of the Harmony project, the “Il Gabbiano” association participates in determining the conceptual framework of the project, in particular by providing insight into the application of restorative justice in the context of living together in collective housing and produces an analysis , in the form of a report, of best practices using restorative justice practices to manage conflicts at the neighborhood level, particularly in vulnerable neighborhoods and in social housing.
This stage will prefigure the stage of developing the tools which will be deployed in different collective housing contexts during the field experiment.
Furthermore, the “Il Gabbiano” association mobilizes and leads the local network of residents and field practitioners in its territory involved in the active search for lasting solutions promoting good living in collective housing.
The association will actively participate in field testing of conflict prevention and resolution tools developed as part of the Harmony project, as well as in their evaluation and dissemination.
