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The Cricket/il Grillo

A - DESCRIPTION OF THE GOOD PRACTICE

A1 - Title in original language
IL GRILLO

A2 - Title in English
THE CRICKET

A3 - Location of GP (national)
Italy

A4 - Location of GP (regional)
Veneto

A5 - Economic field of activity
E Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities

A6 - Ultimate purpose of GP

  • To address environmental concerns
  • To create or conserve employment
  • To provide educational opportunities

A7 - Spatial scale
Regional (small scale)

A8a - Start date
May 1995

A8b - Anticipated end date (if applicable)
ongoing

A9 - Short description of the GP
The Social Cooperative "Il Grillo" was founded on the 8th of May of 1995 by a group of young people in Mirano, little municipality located in teh Porvince of Venice, northen Italy, who were part of a cultural association addressing environmental topics and by other members of an association which aimed at raising the awareness of the territory about mental health problems. Its fundamental objective is to interact with two different types of awareness:

  1. awareness on environmental protection;
  2. awareness on the opportunities of employment integration of young people of the territory in a condition of psychiatric problems (necessity born out from the closure of the asylums and the request to re-place the young ex-patients).

A10 - Key words relating to the GP
Environmental protection
Employment integration
Waste management and re-use
Recovery services
Importance of person

A11 - Objectives of the GP
The basic aims of the "Il Grillo" Cooperative are the following:

  • to create job-places;
  • the job-placement of psychiatric patients, who usually come from the local social services and employment centers (which select people who are basically able to work);
  • to find a solution to other needs of people affected by psychiatric problems, such as their free time or housing issue, letting them live together - the opportunity is in fact provided to access to houses and flats specifically designated for them, also in collaboration with the City of Venice;
  • to give back to the territory covered by the cooperative's activities a responsible approach to work and entrepreneurship, by taking care of the needs of the person included in the cooperative and promoting environmental awareness

A12 - Activities that have taken place
Il Grillo carries out activities in three different fields:

  1. Public services of waste management;
  2. Waste collection services for individuals;
  3. Recovery General Services (Recovery and recycling of bulky waste store, Recovery and sale of reusable cartridges)

A13 - Achievements of the GP
The cooperative puts its focus not simply on the activity related to the waste management, but provides in it an integrated approach that gives priority to the concrete re-use of the waste (this is the backbone of the cooperative's work) as it can be done from the latter. As regards the involvement of employees with psychiatric problems, Il Grillo works differently if compared to normal enterprises: it requires neither the certification of disability nor to organize training courses for the job placement. The basic methodology of work is to select services that occupy more people with disabilities. At the same time, the services offered by the Cooperative become increasingly personalized and specific for those persons who directly deal with them. More, the cooperative tries to solve the other needs of people affected by psychiatric problems. The cooperative invests seriously and systematically in the means of work and production. It's in possession of both the environmental certification and the security certification. It offers professionals and high competences for the relationships with the public sector, recognized to such an extent that some public companies required the cooperative to join a partnership.

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