The municipality of Edolo (Brescia), thanks to the NRRP call, has been awarded 1.5 million euros that will be invested in the construction of new accommodation for students of UniMont, the local campus of the University of Milan. The student residence must be built by 2026 and will host approximately 80 students. Co-financing by partnership bodies is essential. Every year about 250 Italian and international students study at the UniMont campus, the University of Milan centre of excellence dedicated exclusively to the development of mountain territories.
Edolo (Brescia), and Milan, 23rd October 2024 – New accommodation for students who want to study the development and protection of the mountain environment: the municipality of Edolo is investing in the excellence of the Mountain University – UniMont, – the Edolo campus of the University of Milan and is the only public institution in Italy which has participated in the NRRP call of the Ministry of University and Research dedicated to social housing, obtaining funding for 1.5 million euro that it has decided to use for the construction of a student residence that will host about eighty students of the University of Milan Edolo campus.
As foreseen by the tender, the student residence must be completed and tested by spring 2026. The preliminary project estimated a total final cost of 6 million euros: this makes co-financing by all the bodies and institutions of the partnership, including the Province of Brescia, the Chamber of Commerce of Brescia and the Lombardy Region, essential.
“The funding obtained in response to the NRRP call for social housing, which the mayor of Edolo has decided to allocate to our UniMont campus for the construction of a new student residence, is an opportunity to renovate our Edolo headquarters, a precious opportunity offered by the Ministry of University and Research. The result we have obtained demonstrates that, only thanks to close collaboration between institutions at all levels, from local to national, can we implement wide-ranging projects, which allow us to be even closer to our students while investing in the potential of the territory. UniMont is a center of excellence of national and European importance: this new opportunity marks the beginning of a path for its further enhancement, for the benefit of our students and the development of mountain areas“, comments Marina Brambilla, Rector of the University of Milan.
“First of all, I would like to thank the Government and in particular Minister Bernini for the attention shown to the issue of university housing, a true national emergency caused by the general increase in rental fees. The Edolo Campus represents an extraordinary opportunity for consolidation and growth for UniMont. Now it is imperative to proceed quickly with the realization of the project in partnership with the University of Milan, which has always believed in the potential of Edolo,” continues Luca Masneri, mayor of Edolo.
“Excellence at every level, entrepreneurship and creativity: this is what we have been doing with UniMont in Edolo for 28 years, and these are the key words that I want to underline in this case too.The extraordinary result that the Municipality of Edolo has managed to obtain by allying itself with a great centre of excellence such as the University of Milan is undeniable: thanks to the pioneering spirit of Mayor Luca Masneri, we can now aspire, all together, to a truly important project, which will allow around 80 of our students to fully enjoy the university experience, being able to have accommodation close to the university without having to continuously travel,” concludes Anna Giorgi, professor of Environmental and Applied Botany at UniMont and Co-Ordinator of the three-year degree course “Development and protection of the mountain environment” and of the international Master’s Degree “Valorization and sustainable development of mountain areas”.
The University of Milan is the only Italian university to have established a center of excellence recognized by the MIUR dedicated exclusively to the development of mountain areas. UniMont, located in Edolo, in Valle Camonica in the heart of the central Alps, in addition to being a research centre active at local, regional, national and European levels, is home to two specific degree courses for the development and enhancement of mountain territories: the three-year Bachelor’s degree course in Development and Protection of the Mountain Environment and the two-year Master’s degree course, Valorization and Sustainable Development of Mountain Areas, which is entirely in English, in addition to the first level specializing master in Project Management for Mountain areas, and numerous professional development, specialization and advanced courses. A rich training offer, specific to the needs and priorities of mountain territories, innovative in content and delivery methods, capable of attracting over 250 students a year from all over Italy and abroad.