The city between services: Territory as a learning environment in a neighborhood of Milan, Italy

Despite educational poverty being traditionally addressed within the social and educational domains, recent interdisciplinary research highlights the role of the territorial context in fostering social inclusion and counteracting educational poverty. This paper reflects on the city as a learning and educational context, assuming the framework of the Italian Integrated System. In 2017, the Italian Ministry of Education paved the way towards an integrated system in ECEC services, aiming at increasing equity and quality for the 0–6 population. Merging the 0–2 and the 3–5 cycles, traditionally split, would result in the so-called Poli per l’ Infanzia: systems of shared spaces, resources and services. The integration is not meant only vertically, between the cycles, but also horizontally, with services and actors inhabiting the same territory. The integration between the cycles and the surrounding territory is far from being implemented, and the contextual diversities that characterize Italy at different scales pose several challenges. This contribution disentangles the concept of ‘horizontal integration;’ it highlights the relevance of contextual features and the resources that can be mobilized locally, especially in urban areas. The work assumes a peripherical neighborhood of Milan, Italy, as a case study and adopts an ethnographic approach for the analysis.