Marginalizzazione sociale
Social inclusion is the process of improving the conditions under which individuals and groups take part in society by enhancing the skills, opportunities, and dignity of people who are disadvantaged because of their social condition and/or their own identity.
The UNIVERS@LL group is engaged in designing and implementing activities in contexts of marginalization and cultural or social hardship, to facilitate access to scientific culture even in contexts where it is sometimes neglected, for various reasons.
Storytelling is very effective in facilitating integration, dialogue and sharing of experiences, and emotional involvement.
On the other hand, as several OECD reports show, language barriers often explain some of the difficulties of first- and second-generation migrants and people from different social backgrounds in school.
UNIVERS@LL is engaged in the study and design of informal education activities, hands-on and/or aesthetic, creative and constructionist experiences, such as hands-on workshops, always with some attention to welcoming and valuing different language skills as well as different experiences, histories, cultures and knowledge.
Regarding activities in detention contexts, we also use portable planetarium shows, with the main goal of using the sky as a possible metaphor for freedom to provide stimulation, opportunities and dignity to detained people.
The main activities carried out in this context are listed below.
Collaboration with Save the Children
The Touch Sky and Cosmic Pages projects, coordinated and developed by MAB (Museums Archives Libraries), led to the creation of a virtual exhibition entitled “Look up! Browse the sky with a finger.” Starting from the content developed for the exhibition, six educational workshops were carried out in collaboration with Save the Children Italy, with the aim of reaching that part of the population that is in conditions of greater social fragility.
These activities took place in 7 Punti Luce (Points of Light) spaces with high educational density, which arise in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods and suburbs of Italian cities, to offer free training and educational opportunities for the age group between 6 and 17 years. The initiative was attended by more than 300 children, girls and boys.
Activities in prisons
The group has collaborated with penitentiary institutions in several cities.
Notable activities include the Apriti, cielo! project carried out at the Juvenile Penal Institute of Quartucciu (Cagliari) and initiatives held at the Istituto Penale per Minori di Milano (Juvenile Penal Institute in Milan).
In 2019, an INAF and IAU (International Astronomical Union) delegation organized a visit to the Rebibbia Prison, during which some of the activities part of the IAU's “Inspiring Stars” exhibition were narrated and demonstrated.
Finally, a planetarium visit involving a group of inmates from the men's section (of different ages and in different detention regimes) was conducted at the Prato Prison in 2023.
