Mini Case Studies

Case I Associazione Botteghe del Mondo (Ravinala is a member of the network) works in cooperation with Non Governmental Organizations, cooperatives and associations, provides courses designed for schools Donata Assobotteghe- Secretary says: we wanted to include a deep reflection on that in our company, followed by a practice, in every field related with migrants. For the welcome of migrants in our association we do not make differences with Italian workers. Our work leads us to relate on equal terms with other cultures at all time. In addition we like to mix up our staff and welcome interns, students and people in the civil service from other nations for continuous period of 3-6 months to learn about fair trade and conduct research. We have hosted people from Iceland, one person from Denmark, two from France, Greece, Ecuador, and one from Democratic Republic of Congo.

Case II Eleni (Collaborator- Greece) says : The migrants and mobile workers are warmly welcomed in the Italian Association of World Shops. They are perceived as potential equal partners. Their voice is heard with respect and interest and they can contribute in the decision-making process, when possible. Since the very beginning I felt at home. The training and developmental needs are being addressed very well by the Italian Association of World Shops. They are happy to design a flexible and interactive training programme tailored to the needs of trainees, provide all the necessary information needed and collaborate also with third parties to enrich training activities. The Italian Association of World Shops could develop a standard language course programme for mobile workers and migrants. Training programmes in certain cases could be better structured and organized because sometimes trainees might have difficulties in taking a great initiative in proposing and specifying the content of their training programme.

Case III OLIVIA (Madagascar Employee-RAVINALA Fair trade cooperative) says “I work as a shop assistant in a fair trade cooperative, so we cooperate directly with people living in underdeveloped country. In this kind of association, person from other continent, other culture, other way of living is perceived as a richness, as opportunity to discover the world for everyone. Besides marketing training sides offered by the association, this job offers us (shop-assistants) very large opportunity to face and to confront with many people, a very large opportunity to understand societies, trade world and many problems all over the world. We use a peer to peer approach when we deal with other cultures. We are a very lucky to work in a such welcoming environment for migrants. I'm married with an Italian, I don't have problem to integrate into Italian society. My training needs (language and cultural aspects) have been perfectly understood by the cooperative. We work in a very familiar an open minded environment. Moreover, fair trade association has already shared many activities with other social companies.”

According to our analysis the situation in Italy about social inclusion and working and leaving conditions for immigrant is quite worrying. There are no specific policies or training programmes for them. The only sector who seems to be more sensible and willing to “embrace” them is the one related with fair trade market. While other economically advanced countries are increasingly emphasising the need to attract skilled non-national workers, in Italy the demand for migrant workers has so far concentrated heavily on unskilled jobs. Conclusions