WHO WE ARE
Orizzonti - Italian Social Cooperative
Mission
Orizzonti Società Cooperativa Sociale was founded in Padova, Italy, in 2003 by a group of intercultural mediators, linguistic facilitators and psychologists. Over more than twenty years of activity, the organisation has grown into a multidisciplinary centre for social inclusion, intercultural mediation and psychosocial support, operating across the Veneto region.
Our mission is to promote the general interest of the community through the management of educational, social and cultural services aimed primarily – though not exclusively – at meeting the integration needs of adults, families, children and young people of Italian and foreign nationality, as well as disadvantaged individuals.
22
Years of Activity
150+
Staff & Collaborators
3500+
People reached/ Year
169
Active Projects (2024)
Active Projects
The numbers reflect the full scope of Orizzonti’s operations in 2024: 169 active projects across all programme areas, annually reaching over 3,500 beneficiaries — including families, minors, students, refugees and asylums seekers. This direct, consistent access to the target groups that most EU projects aim to reach, but often struggle to engage, is one of Orizzonti’s most distinctive assets as a European partner.
Orizzonti’s main headquarters are in Padova-Arcella and Venice-Marghera, two urban areas characterised by a high proportion of migrant families and youth. The organisation also operates in Vicenza and the broader Padova province. The team comprises more than 150 staff and collaborators – cultural mediators, linguistic facilitators, psychologists, social operators and project management professionals.
Core Activities
Reception and Asylum-Seeker Integration
Orizzonti manages CAS (Extraordinary Reception Centres) and SAI (System of Reception and Integration) projects on behalf of the Prefecture and the Municipality of Padua. Services include legal orientation, Italian language courses, psychosocial support, school integration support, access to health services, and labour and housing inclusion pathways for adult and family beneficiaries.
Intercultural Mediation
Since its foundation, Orizzonti has provided professional intercultural and linguistic mediation across key service sectors: education (schools at all levels), healthcare (hospitals, GP clinics, mental health services), justice (prison system and correctional facilities in the Veneto region), private companies, and social services. Mediators operate in more than 20 languages, ensuring communication and the protection of rights for foreign nationals..
Language Facilitation
The cooperative offers Italian language courses for migrants and asylum seekers of all ages, based on a humanistic-affective approach that places the learner’s lived experience at the centre of the pedagogical process. Courses are tailored to different competency levels, including literacy pathways for newly arrived adults.
Papalagi Transcultural Clinical Centre
Established in 2017, the Papalagi Centre is one of the few transcultural clinical services operating in northern Italy. It provides psychological and psychotherapeutic support to migrants and refugees through a transcultural approach, bridging cultural misunderstandings between healthcare providers and patients. The Centre offers individual consultations, group interventions and supervision for social and health workers in cross-cultural contexts — a distinctive added value for EU projects addressing mental health, vulnerability and psychosocial integration.
Training and Capacity Building
Orizzonti designs and delivers training programmes for professionals working in the fields of interculture, mediation and psychosocial support. Training methodologies are experiential and innovation-oriented. An accredited three-year School of Integrated Counselling (Scuola di Counseling Integrato), recognised by the national body Assocounseling, offers post-graduate professional training.
Social Inclusion and Urban Regeneration
The cooperative promotes community-based social inclusion for young people and adults with a migration background, through projects combining education, culture and territorial development. Orizzonti has led urban regeneration initiatives co-funded by the Ministry of Culture (Creative Living Lab programme), transforming public spaces into intercultural hubs open to the whole community.