Refugee in the family. Synergy effects between public institution, social private and citizenship: the Milanese experience

Abstract The article describes the project “Rifugiato in famiglia” promoted by the Municipality of Milan targeted to political refugees aiming to support their integration through hosting in Italian citizens’ homes. Its main characteristic is the involvement of four key actors: local authority, Third Sector, civil society and holders of international protection. The presence of the municipality and indirectly of the Ministry of the Interior, which is the financier of the project, guarantees the institutional recognition. The experience, gained during the four years of field test, allowed to identify some main thematic areas: first of all the awareness that this experience entails for each actor involved to new spaces for action. Beneficiaries, within the home, experience a reappropriation of their autonomy; families become actors of a generative form of citizenship, promoters of a different culture; finally, the public institution, in collaboration with the Third Sector, supports a different form of Polis care.