The intercultural mediator is a social worker who facilitates communication with the aim of removing cultural and language barriers, enhancing the value of a person’s own culture, promoting the host culture, achieving social and economic integration, and ensuring the exercise of rights and observance of the duties of citizenship.

The intercultural mediator on the one hand facilitates the expression of the needs of foreign clients while helping to channel the features, resources and connections of service providers on the other, suggesting services and working with the agencies/staff of the private and public services.

He or she has a good knowledge of Italian and/or German, a good knowledge of the mother tongue or the language chosen to achieve the mediation goals, a good knowledge of the cultural norms of the immigration group of reference and of the situational environment of the activities. He or she has appropriate communication, relational and conflict management skills.

Every citizen may request information from the SAVERA cooperative regarding the various types of visas, the various types of residence permits, renewal of residence permits, EU residence permits for long-term residents, Italian citizenship and family reunification.

The advisory service is available to all citizens and provides:

• assistance and guidance for all citizens in respect of every aspect regarding the residency of foreign nationals in Italy;
• a point of reference to citizens, whether foreign or otherwise, to offer in the first instance information on Italian immigration law and citizens’ rights and guidance on access to the services available in Italy;
• assistance to foreign nationals in the processing of administrative matters, in particular regarding the renewal of residence permits;
• a place for listening to citizens and guidance when they have suffered discrimination or actions prejudicial to their dignity or rights.

The service is accessible during the public opening hours and by appointment outside these hours.

For public and private sector bodies

The acquisition of intercultural skills in various fields (educational, social, health, cultural, training, organisational) is desirable so as to promote appropriate access by foreign clients to various services and a proper understanding of their needs. The SAVERA cooperative offers specific training on socio-cultural aspects for operators of public and private bodies.

For intercultural mediators

The SAVERA cooperative runs short training courses that aim to provide basic skills to accompany and facilitate the process of inclusion of foreign nationals in the host society.

The courses are aimed at foreign nationals who possess regular residency status or nationals who speak one or more of the languages of the new minorities that have resulted from immigration.

School is a cross-section of society that reproduces its mechanisms, dynamics and contradictions, sometimes in a rather more extreme way than elsewhere.

There are three major areas of educational work that today face the direct challenge of providing appropriate theoretical and methodological responses: the teaching of integration, of intercultural issues and of anti-racism.

The SAVERA cooperative proposes certain projects in laboratory form with the aim of raising students’ awareness of intercultural matters, of diversity, of preventing prejudice, of facilitating the integration of foreign pupils, and of valuing the knowledge and skills of foreign nationals.

The SAVERA cooperative also offers secondary school classes (first and second grades) teaching laboratories for anti-racist education that address discrimination with the aim of:

• educating students towards a non-racist culture;
• stimulating reflection on the topic of equality/diversity;
• aiding students to empathise with the exclusion and hardship facing those who, for whatever reason, are different.