Research for innovation and social responsibility: here are the 7 winning projects of the Polisocial Award 2024
On January 9, 2025, the seven research projects that won the Polisocial Award 2024 call for proposals will officially begin. This initiative, funded by the “5 per mille IRPEF”, supports the development of scientific research with a high social impact at the Politecnico di Milano.
The 2024 edition, continuing the previous one, has the theme of "Proximity Innovation" and is in synergy with the Off Campus program promoted by the university. The aim of this program is to activate processes of innovation and social responsibility in the City of Milan, bringing the university beyond its campuses and into direct contact with marginal and peripheral areas of the city. The winning projects will implement action research activities in the four Off Campus spaces of Politecnico (San Siro, Nolo, Cascina Nosedo, San Vittore), in partnership with institutions, non-governmental organizations, and local entities.
Four of the seven winners are consolidation projects, developed in conjunction with research activities already underway at each Off Campus, identifying lines of work consistent with those already underway but innovative. The remaining three are activation projects, i.e., new research and design projects addressing the needs (social, material, technological, and cultural) present in the Off Campus spaces.
Two projects will be launched at Off Campus San Siro: IN BIBLIO con CHIARA, which aims to create inclusive and multisensory libraries to help break down linguistic and sociocultural barriers, making reading an experience accessible to all; and PROXIMO, which aims to support associations and institutions active in engaging young NEETs by designing effective strategies to overcome barriers to their engagement. The Off Campus Nolo will strengthen the SOSpesa experience with the SOSpesa+ project, which proposes the development of an innovative Municipal Market model, where the food supply chain and citizen engagement, through volunteering and educational initiatives, are at the heart of the services offered.
Two projects are underway at the Off Campus Cascina Nosedo: BIOLOOP FACTORY, a continuation of the BIOLOOP experience, aims to apply tools to valorize local waste and surplus, producing internally and involving people in situations of social vulnerability with training workshops. ECHOES-Nosedo will be a participatory field laboratory for understanding and caring for the agricultural landscape, with particular attention to the ancient practice of water meadows. Finally, at the Off Campus San Vittore, existing experiences will be consolidated through the ART-Link projects, to make the art space already activated with the ReverseLab pilot a place of continuous use, involving those already working in the prison, and METHEXIS 2.0, which aims to explore the potential of STEM education and the study of physics to generate empowerment and foster a network of relationships between staff and inmates.
More than forty collaborations with institutions, NGOs, private companies, and other universities will advance the Polisocial Award projects: a concrete example of local collaboration to generate a broad social impact through our university's research activities.