We will introduce you to the Enactus UniMi project 

 Which seeks to integrate ex convicts through the green job market. 

The Italian prison system is based on the concept

of penitentiary treatment aiming at re-education, having as ultimate aim the reintegration of detainees into the society.

However, Overcrowding of
the Italian penitentiary system represents a chronic characteristic, with a prison population rate of 120.2%.
Court of Human Rights has already sentenced the country For exceeding jails legal capacity and violating human rights – PART OF THE PROBLEM DERIVES from a lack of opportunities of job activities outside the prison, which ultimately lead to the phenomenon of recidivism.
The Covid-19 pandemic effects as global crisis is impacting convicts conditions within and outside the prisons. Health and
social conditions of convicts have worsened
Several protests and riots exploded in
27 Italian prisons, during which 12 prisoners died in
Modena. Further, the social and economic effects of the crisis, like the national unemployment rate which could reach 11.2% in
2020, may create obstacles for ex-convicts to find a job
and avoid recidivism.

Regeneration is thus a project born from the need to reintegrate a group that is very often marginalized by many societies in the world: the former prisoners.
With this aim, we have recognized in training and job integration, opportunities for growth and self-realization for teenagers and young adults, thus lowering the rate of recidivism and ensuring greater safety for the community as a whole.

We also have a complementary mission which incorporates our focus on the green job market.

We have identified as the beneficiaries of our project former convicts and convicts that are able to leave the jail facilities thanks to the norm of Article 21st of the Penitentiary Law, of which some are our colleagues that attend UNIMI courses.

Value proposition: marketplace, economic benefits on hiring convicts and rooftop gardens 

In Milan they do exist some entities that work in the re integration of ex convicts field.

Even if Art.15 penitentiary system affirms the importance for these people having a job during detention and transition period, only 3,9% work for external entities
regeneration’s value proposition is to be a bridge between job demand and supply, promoting on one hand the ex convicts employment – through the Legge smuraglia which grants taxes reduction to business and cooperatives hiring ex-convicts – and on the other hand environmental sustainable jobs, starting from the vegetable gardering.

But why did we choose the green job market? We see the green job market as big opportunity to implement transversal and interdependent collective goals. We want to have a positive impact on in the fight to reduce repeat offenders through the provision of job opportunities in the “green” field, that nowadays is expanding and developing.
This is also why we chose the name “regeneration” as a way to bring together the social and environmental sides of our idea. We also believe that:

1. Integrating convicts into working in the agricultural field will further allow them a worthy and non-alienating profession.

They will be able to work in the field of agriculture and, possibly, start their own business 


The project furthermore tackles the problems of climate change and greenhouse emissions 


It aims at supporting local production and consumption with products coming from the vegetable gardens. 


In designing our project, we have also followed some of the SDGs, by providing access to land and resources to the poor, quality education through sustainable practices and decent work. We also have a certain regard for more collective SDGs, such as having sustainable cities and establishing partnerships for development.

But how can Regeneration be entrepreneurial?
We think of Regeneration as a hub for innovation and collective value creation. For this purpose, it must be flexible, in order to intercept business opportunities and to better collaborate with partners (considering both pro-active and reactive partnership opportunities).
We first will give it a legal personality, in order to be able to establish effective partnerships, to intercept and dispose of resources, and, most importantly, to hire ex-convicts.
Also, we will at first provide training for our employees, in order to make them able to adapt to different opportunities, and to enable them to come up with innovative and effective ideas for future projects, to diversify the action field of Regeneration.
Finally, in order to be flexible, we intend to collaborate with both the public and the private sector and, therefore, to receive both public and private funding.

We started our project establishing partnerships: First of all, we contacted prof. Simonetta, who provided us with information about convict students studying at the University of Milan under article 21 (many of them studying agrarian sciences). Now We are in contact and working on building a partership with Associazione Girasole and we will also contact Consorzio Viale dei Mille.
Besides we have already established a partnership with Orti di via Padova. The latter organization will provide training in the agricultural field for convicts under article 21st, and will be place for future co-funding events.

We are also working on developing the Rooftop gardens project, by establishing partnerships with companies like Cirfood, or entities like Camera di Commercio and Comune di Milano.

 Some Economic benefits of the rooftop gardens, include:

30% saved electricity power – increasing property value 


Protection from sun lights and UV rays 


Absorbs 89% rainwater 


How will we do it? Enabling progress
The next chapter will start with the following phases:

During the first stage regeneration will operate as a voluntary association, starting to provide training and internship at orti di via Padova to 5 art.21 convicts. We will also start working at the rooftop gardens project, mapping the flat

rooftops and establishing partnerships with private/public entities 


Besides, we will do marketing with public events at Orti di Via Padova and at the University of Milan, and with social media and website of the project in order to increase the visibility of Regeneration for future collaborations.

Approaching the second stage, Regeneration will become a social entrepreneurship able to find job to 10 more ex- convicts. We will also start expanding by
contacting farmhouses. 


Finally, the final phase will see a further expansion, with more 20 ex-convicts involved and more farmhouses and rooftops gardens projects. We also aim
at expanding outside Milan and collaborating with jobs supply of other fields, such as Revolution arti in Volterra 


Our main expenditure will be employee’s salaries. Therefore, in order to guarantee an income flow stability to the workers, we intend to diversify our income sources (e.g. rooftop gardens installation, maintenance, sale of vegetable products, restaurant activities, work in urban farmhouses in Milan, collaboration with other associations).
We also intend to apply to both public and private call for applications to receive funds for projects that will be in our field of action.

Our scalability starts from the modest scope of reintegrating 9 former convicts, but through the work of Regeneration, a
whole community will start to enjoy the benefits of our
activities. We aim at extending this to several projects in Milan, that can be then replicated in other parts of Italy. Finally, we intend to extend our activity also to other
fields and collaborations, thus increasing our impact.