On 30 April 2026, the Matemù Centre in Rome hosted the presentation of an innovative and vital tool for inclusion and professional guidance: the new Online Course on the Italian Labour Market.

This educational initiative was developed within the AMIL Project (Alliance Multi-stakeholder for Migrants Integration and Labour), and the course, initially planned as in-person only, will be fully accessible on Speha Fresia’s “Accademia” platform from June 2026.

The Goal of the Initiative

This educational proposal aims to guide third-country nationals through a structured and informed pathway towards employment.
At the heart of this distance-learning journey lies an extremely practical and visual key concept: the “Work Roadmap“. The world of employment is a complex environment, and finding a job is not a random event but a dynamic process requiring planning, awareness, and a well-defined strategy. For this reason, the AMIL course structures the entire guidance process around five fundamental questions specifically designed to help candidates build a genuine, personalised «Action Plan» for successful integration into the workforce.

Shaping the Action Plan – 5 questions to be answered

Can I Work?
Before starting an active search, it is crucial to have full awareness of one’s legal, physical, and basic preparation status. The module reminds participants that regular employment requires essential conditions: no health issues preventing activity, a residence permit that allows work, a valid identity document, a tax code, and a stable address. Furthermore, it highlights the need to have a bank account for receiving wages and, fundamentally for integration, a certified level of
Italian language proficiency of at least A2, combined with reading and writing skills.

What Kind of Work Can I Look For?
Guidance is based on identifying industries or companies potentially interested in their skills. This choice will depend on strictly personal factors, such as their hourly availability and willingness to travel, their level of education, and their complete skill set.

Who Can Help Me Find a Job?
The course advises against acting in isolation, suggesting instead to evaluate offers in the local area by studying existing opportunities. It teaches how to actively leverage one’s personal network and to rely on the support offered by various public and private structures dedicated to employment services.

While Waiting to Find a Suitable Job for Me, What Can I Do?
The AMIL project strongly emphasises the importance of continuous updating and lifelong learning. This waiting period must not be passive but must be a dedicated time to increasing one’s education level, enriching professional skills, and improving one’s citizenship status.

What Do I need to Do When I Find Work?
Since every role fits within an «organised system», the course explains the importance of thoroughly understanding national laws, tools, and the specific rules of the environment one is entering. The concluding actions of this pathway consist of informed signing of the contract, integrating into the company structure, and finally, starting to work.

Answering these five questions with honesty and clarity allows for creating a clear and constantly updateable map of one’s professional life.

The course is free and in Italian with a virtual tutor available in the following languages: Arabic, French, English, and Spanish, to facilitate accessibility for all interested parties.

Are you ready to map your route towards a new professional future?

ALDA’s Migration hub recently convened a members’ consultation meeting to contribute to the development of its Migration Flagship 2026, bringing together local authorities, civil society organisations, and migrant-led initiatives from across Europe. Since 2024, ALDA has been structuring this process through annual consultations on key migration issues with its members, combined with the mapping of their expertise through targeted surveys. On this basis, ALDA updates its flagship strategy each year to reflect members’ priorities, respond to emerging European developments, connect EU-level policies with local realities, and integrate findings from EU-funded projects.

As part of this annual consultation process, ALDA Migration Hub and Maddalena Alberti (GB member and Migration Hub Chair) invited members to contribute their insights at a particularly crucial moment for EU migration and anti-racism policies. The consultation focused on the implications of the forthcoming EU Migration and Asylum Strategy 2026–2030 and the EU Anti-Racism Strategy 2026–2030, both expected to introduce significant policy shifts.

Discussions highlighted a growing tendency towards securitisation, digitalisation, migration diplomacy, and labour-market-oriented approaches, often at the expense of rights-based and inclusion-focused frameworks. Members stressed that anti-racism efforts remain largely non-binding and insufficiently connected to migration governance, while the implementation of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum is already generating administrative uncertainty, reduced individual assessment in asylum procedures, and an increase in situations of legal limbo.

Across different national contexts, members also pointed to concrete challenges, including reduced funding for integration services, fragmentation of local coordination systems, and increasing pressure on municipalities tasked with border management. At the same time, examples of good practices—particularly in linking integration to housing, employment, and community-based initiatives—demonstrated the continued potential for inclusive local governance.

Participants emphasised that migrant people should not be treated merely as beneficiaries, but as active stakeholders in policy design and implementation.

In this regard, migrant-led networks were recognised as key actors in bridging information gaps, supporting civic participation, and countering miscommunication, particularly in sensitive areas such as return policies.

The consultation also raised important concerns regarding the expansion of digital border systems and the use of AI in migration management. Risks related to transparency issues and reduced human oversight were identified as critical areas requiring closer monitoring and advocacy.

Looking Ahead

ALDA will build on these insights to strengthen its role as a coalition platform, promoting local-based approaches, fostering multi-level cooperation, and supporting the meaningful inclusion of migrant-led organisations in governance processes.

👉 The outcome of this consultation will directly feed into ALDA’s Migration Flagship 2026 and ongoing EU advocacy work.work.

In March, at Casa di Giorgia – a center that welcomes migrant women, either alone or with children – an 8-session training cycle was held focused on labour market integration.

The activity was implemented within the framework of AMIL – Alliance Multi-stakeholders for Migrants Integration and Labour, the project that promotes sustainable integration pathways for third-country nationals through the MEIC methodology (Migrants Economic Integration Cluster).

CIES Onlus, the lead partner of the project, presents below the features and implementation methods of this pathway.

The training programme, completely free of charge, is aimed at strengthening the employability of migrant women through activities and creative workshops. To facilitate participation, the AMIL project chose to carry out the activities directly within the centre, responding to the needs of the beneficiaries.

The pathway was structured into three main areas:

• An employability workshop dedicated to exploring the essential tools for entering the labour market in Italy.
• A personal empowerment pathway, aimed at self-awareness, the recognition of strengths and areas for improvement, and the definition of strategies to achieve personal goals.
• An artistic-expressive workshop, designed to develop soft skills that are valuable in the professional sphere.

The pathway accompanied women from diverse backgrounds and countries – including China, Brazil, Pakistan, Cuba, and several African countries – in a progressive narrative journey that passed through personal roots, lived experiences in the present, and aspirations for the future.

All workshops were conducted using an interactive and non-formal approach, which made it possible to overcome language barriers and foster active and inclusive participation. The deepest value of the experience emerged in its relational dimension. A strong capacity for mutual care developed, expressed through spontaneous gestures of welcome and attention, transforming the workshops into an authentic space of human and social exchange.

Final Thoughts

The experience confirms how, in reception and integration pathways, the connection between people, empowerment, and the construction of future perspectives are central. In particular, it highlights the fundamental role of non-formal education and interaction as tools to overcome linguistic and cultural barriers. It also represented also a valuable exchange for trainers and operators of the centre, offering the opportunity to closely observe the daily dynamics of the reception context and training activities.

Over the past two weeks, we hosted a two-part webinar series of the AMIL – Alliance Multi-Stakeholder for Migrant Integration and Labour project, co-funded by the EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF).

Bringing together practitioners, policymakers, and civil society actors from across Europe, the series explored how to strengthen labour market integration for third-country nationals (TCNs) through more coordinated and inclusive approaches.

A clear message emerged throughout both sessions: labour market integration is not only an economic priority, but a cornerstone of inclusive and democratic societies.

Addressing a Complex Challenge through Multi-Stakeholder Cooperation

The first webinar featured dr. Cristiana Di Pietro (LUMSA University) introduced the MEIC methodology. She highlighted migrant integration as a complex and multidimensional challenge. Structural barriers, such as language gaps, difficulties in recognising qualifications, and fragmented systems, cannot be addressed through isolated interventions.

Instead, the MEIC approach promotes:

• Collaboration across sectors and governance levels
• Adaptable and context-specific solutions
• The activation of local networks, where integration effectively takes place

Experiences shared by AMIL partners in Greece (PwC), Cyprus (CODECA), and Italy (CIES Onlus) demonstrated the added value of multi-stakeholder clusters, bringing together public authorities, civil society, and labour market actors to coordinate actions and improve access to employment.

These experiences also highlighted a persistent challenge: while public institutions play a central role, fragmentation often limits the effectiveness of integration pathways. Strengthening cooperation is therefore essential to ensure more coherent and accessible services.

Employment as a Gateway to Inclusion

A key reflection emerging from the discussions is that employment goes beyond economic participation. It is a gateway to active citizenship, dignity, and social inclusion.

A truly inclusive labour market must therefore be:

• Participatory and collaborative
• Accessible, addressing barriers such as language and information gaps
• Human-centred, recognising migrants’ skills and long-term potential

This perspective also challenges dominant narratives, reaffirming that migrants are contributors to society, not merely beneficiaries of support systems.

From Local Practices to Systemic Solutions

The second webinar focused on practical experiences and policy insights from different European contexts.

City councilor Raisa Labaran from the Municipality of Brescia presented a local model showing how access to welfare and healthcare services directly impacts labour market integration. Barriers such as limited information, lack of linguistic mediation, and low health literacy can prevent migrants from accessing both healthcare and employment opportunities. This highlights the need for more integrated and preventive approaches.

There were also insights coming from IOM Belgium & Luxembourg which were presented by Luca Volonté, who showcased the importance of skills recognition and employer engagement. Indeed, many migrants face difficulties accessing appropriate jobs despite high qualifications, due to complex recognition procedures and limited visibility of their competences. Addressing this requires:

• More flexible and accessible recognition systems
• Better alignment between migrants’ skills and labour market needs
• Stronger collaboration with employers

The discussion also underlined the importance of tackling discrimination in the workplace, through approaches that are intersectional, rights-based, and transformative.

Expanding Opportunities and Recognising Agency

Another key takeaway was the importance of access to networks and opportunities. Migrants often face structural barriers in accessing information, professional pathways, and visibility.

Initiatives such as the ENRMSC Opportunities Hub, which was presented by its founder Adam Labaran, illustrate how technology and networks can help bridge these gaps, while also promoting migrant-led perspectives and leadership.

The message is clear: migrants should be recognised not only as beneficiaries, but as active agents of change, whose skills and contributions are essential to Europe’s social and economic future.

Key Takeaways

Across both webinars, several common priorities emerged:

• Strengthening multi-stakeholder cooperation is essential to overcome fragmented systems
• Language barriers remain a fundamental obstacle to integration
• Skills recognition systems need to be more flexible and inclusive
• Health, welfare, and employment are deeply interconnected
• Employers must be actively engaged in inclusive practices
• Migrant participation is key to designing effective and sustainable solutions

Looking Ahead

The AMIL webinar series reaffirmed that no single actor can address the challenges of labour market integration alone.

By fostering dialogue, sharing practices, and promoting collaborative approaches, the series contributed to building a more coordinated and inclusive vision for migrant integration across Europe.

Box of resources

The presentations shared during the webinars are available below for further consultation:

• MEIC (Migrants Economic Integration Cluster) Methodology (Professor Cristiana di Pietro – LUMSA University)
• Turning Methodology Into Practice: lessons learned in Greece (PwC Greece)
• Turning Methodoogy Into Practice: the AMIL Project in Italy (CIES Onlus)
• Turning Methodology Into Practice: Insights, Outcomes and the Road ahead in Cyprus (CODECA)
• Job-training model for third-country nationals in Slovenia (Samar Zughool – PhD candidate at Povod Institute)
• ENRMSC Hub Portal Presentation (Adam Labaran – ENRMSC)

The AMIL project continues to consolidate its territorial network, hosting a new training and discussion session for social workers in Rome on March 27, 2026.

What Was it About?

The initiative was part of the working group meetings aimed at strengthening the territorial network of social workers and featured the screening of the movie Californie, directed by Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman. The event combined cinematic language with social reflection, offering a shared space for exploring topics central to professionals working in inclusion contexts.

The film tells the story of Jamila, a Moroccan-origin teenager growing up in Torre Annunziata. Through a delicate and engaging perspective, the narrative portrays the complexity of everyday experiences related to inclusion and exclusion, highlighting the concrete challenges of integration. The local context—its social, cultural, and economic characteristics—emerges as a key factor shaping people’s life trajectories.

Making the event even more meaningful was the discussion with director Alessandro Cassigoli, who engaged with participants and offered reflections to critically interpret the dynamics portrayed in the film. The debate encouraged the development of project ideas grounded in an intersectional approach, integrating multiple dimensions—gender, origin, socio-economic context—that shape the experiences of those involved.

For AMIL project partners, the meeting was also an important opportunity to strengthen the territorial network through the sharing of experiences and project initiatives, particularly focused on empowering young women with migrant backgrounds. The discussion expanded opportunities for collaboration between Third Sector organizations and the Rome Capital Administration, consolidating an ongoing dialogue.

Among the initiatives presented, special attention was given to the Women’s Empowerment project, promoted by Rome Capital, which complements AMIL’s actions. This exchange laid the groundwork for further strengthening synergies between the project, its partners, and the local administration, aiming to make interventions in favour of inclusion and autonomy for women with migrant backgrounds more effective and targeted.

The March 27 meeting thus confirmed itself as a significant space for mutual learning, enhancing the network’s expertise and promoting shared project planning rooted in the real needs of the territories and people.

About AMIL

The AMIL Project – Alliance Multi-stakeholders for Migrants Integration and Labour, based on the MEIC (Migrant Economic Integration Cluster) Methodology developed under the LIME project, builds local partnerships in Italy, Greece, and Cyprus while expanding its regional and European impact.
The project promotes integrated services and inclusive policy frameworks designed to last beyond the project’s duration.

To learn more, CLICK HERE