Abstract
This paper considers the processes of labour integration of asylum seekers and refugees (ASR) in two Italian mountain regions. Specific attention is placed on the role of social and economic actors as enabling and hindering factors that intervened in the labour integration as well as in the creation of new job positions for ASR. The paper presents two case studies of reception projects, both located in mountain regions in the northeast of Italy. The two cases share the marginal location of reception centres and the key role played by third sector actors in managing the integration trajectories.
Redistribution policies targeting mountain regions have been often criticised as means of spatial segregation. As such they have been considered as exclusively aiming to bring potential sources of social conflict outside urban centres and therefore bound to fail. This paper challenges this view by arguing that the arrival and settling in of ASR can be regarded as an opportunity for the valorisation of local resources and innovation capacity (Perlik, Membretti, 2018) while also leading to successful labour integration of ASR.
In Cadore (BL) and in Lavarone (TN), ASR have managed to successfully enter the local labour market, although through significantly different channels. By taking a closer look at the two cases, the paper aims to single out and compare the economic, social and territorial factors that played a crucial role. As a preliminary attempt at drawing comparisons among different cases of reception projects in mountain regions, it finally aims to provide an initial reflection to integrate migration governance into territorial strategies and in the governance of mountain areas, for the mutual benefit of ASR and mountain communities.