In Florence, the European University Institute (EUI) and UNICEF have launched U-LEAD, a 12-week programme that brings together unaccompanied foreign minors (UAMs), young adults, Italian high school students and the academic community to promote leadership skills, empathy and civic engagement. With over 17,000 unaccompanied minors currently in Italy, the need for inclusive and sustainable approaches is more urgent than ever.
Each week, a diverse group of boys and girls participating in the project explore questions such as “Which rights matter most to us? How can we protect them? How can we contribute to the places we now call home?” The programme provides young people from different backgrounds with the space and tools to connect, design and lead initiatives that are beneficial for the local community.
“U-LEAD was developed through months of consultations with over 50 local stakeholders, reception centres, NGOs and local authorities,” said Andrew Geddes, director of the EUI’s Migration Policy Centre and co-creator of the programme. “This foundation ensures that the project is locally relevant while also geared toward European-wide solutions.”
Jointly developed by the Migration Policy Centre at the EUI and UNICEF’s Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (ECARO), and supported by the City of Florence, U-LEAD turns the city into a true civic innovation lab. The current edition builds on a successful pilot held in June 2025, which demonstrated the program’s strong potential to foster inclusion and civic participation among young people from diverse backgrounds.
“I would recommend this program because it helps you grow as a person; you can help, learn and reflect,” said a participant from the pilot project.
Designed to generate real impact, U-LEAD is scalable and replicable in other cities thanks to its proven methods and shared learnings, offering a practical model for municipal and regional partners across Europe.
