Co-housing between students and the elderly, project kicks off for an intergenerational solidarity pact

Promoting dialogue between generations, encouraging the social inclusion of the elderly and at the same time offering concrete solutions to cope with the increase in the demand for affordable housing by students away from home. This is the goal of the experimental Co-housing and Mentoring project "Attiva - Mente" together promoted by the State University of Milan and the Lombardy Region, presented this morning in the Board Room of the Milanese University.

An experimental project that proposes a new form of domiciliary housing: a solidarity-based cohabitation based on a pact of trust between elderly and young people. In fact, while on the one hand the student will be reimbursed for rental costs, thanks to the resources provided by the Lombardy Region, which has allocated 400,000 euros to the State University of Milan, on the other hand he will have to provide some voluntary services, such as accompanying the senior landlord to medical appointments, helping him in the use of digital platforms, but also sharing moments of socialisation and entertainment, such as going to the theatre or cinema together, thus providing a concrete response to the loneliness of many elderly people. In the first phase of the project, the Statale will disseminate the project to the student community, to identify interested students and understand their needs and attitudes. In parallel, city institutions and third sector organisations will be involved in order to identify available over-65s. This will be followed by the matching of 'supply and demand'.
The event was attended by the rector Marina Brambilla, Elena Lucchini, councillor for Family, Social Solidarity, Disability and Equal Opportunities of the Lombardy Region and Giacomo Pangrazzi, president of the Student Conference.

"As Università Statale, we are very proud to be able to start this journey with the Region of Lombardy, which activates an intergenerational pact of mutual support between our students and the elderly, thanks also to the involvement of associations and institutions of the Third Sector, in a context that is therefore enriching for young people and a concrete and experimental measure that meets the right to study. "Attiva-mente" insieme is in line with the inclusion policies of the Statale, which has always been attentive to sustainability, also understood as social equity," comments Marina Brambilla.

"The Lombardy Region believes in and invests in policies to support active ageing, and for this reason in June it signed a protocol with Lombardy's universities that finances innovative projects aimed at fostering intergenerational exchange between students and the elderly. I therefore express great satisfaction with the quality and value of the experimental project of the Università Statale di Milano, which is based on a virtuous alliance between the elderly population and young students and also networks Third Sector actors. After the launching of the initiatives promoted by the University of Pavia and Bergamo, today we are also putting on the ground the third path that in the Lombard capital will be able to enhance the human and skills heritage of the over-65s and guarantee a living space in the city for university students. A reciprocity that will make the entire community grow,' comments Elena Lucchini.
"We welcome project initiatives, also in collaboration with the local area and local realities, aimed at devising and promoting creative solutions to the increasingly serious problem of housing, which needs to be tackled in a structural manner due to its strategic importance in the attractiveness of our area and the role that the University represents as a pivot of growth for our community, not only cultural but also social and economic. This project requires special care in selecting both the students and the over-65s involved, in order to ensure a positive and enriching experience for both parties,' Giacomo Pangrazzi concludes.