SALUS SPACE: the construction phase begins!
The Municipality of Bologna launched two calls for tenders in December 2018. The first call aimed to select tenders to restore the building called "former hyperbaric chamber" that would become the Think Tank venue, with two offices, a conference and meeting room, a co-working area for start-up enterprises, community spaces for events and initiatives organised by the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, alongside a "memory corner" illustrating the history of Villa Salus. The second call for tenders was focused on the construction of the residential building and the regeneration of the whole area - the premises will provide temporary housing solutions and tourist accommodation, with a social mix and collaborative approach. Both calls have been closed, subcontractors are going to be identified within the month of March and works will start in the coming spring. Meanwhile, the final project of the temporary multifunctional buildings will be approved. These structures will host the project activities until the last building will be completed and will allow the start of the management phase within the duration of the project, with the involvement of the beneficiaries and the citizens. This experimental phase will be very important to test the sustainability and social impact of the action.
Year 2019 will be mostly spent preparing the experimentation phase. In the next coming months the community building process will start, a big number of meetings with stakeholders, citizens, urban authorities will be held to create a solid collaborative platform. The "charter of values" will define the common objectives and values to guide the social and economic development of the implementation phase and the training activities will start later on, to prepare the professional teams. The first actions by the project partners will be the definition of clear criteria for the selection of the workers and inhabitants, avoiding any "ghetto effect" and enhancing a multicultural environment and the creation of a diverse and collaborative community.
To prepare this complex work, the Think Tank will offer a continuous context for research and reflection, alongside the project activities with keynote lectures and practical workshops. A conference and temporary exhibition of the project will be held within the national event called "Three days of Welfare", between the 28th of February and the 2nd of March in Bologna.
Integration of migrants and refugees
