Caring for People and Territories: Brief Historical Review of the Intersectoral Social Innovation Experience of Trieste and Its Habitat Micro-Area Program

Abstract

This brief historical review presents the pioneering work of Franco Basaglia and Franco Rotelli that revolutionized community care in the 1970s in Trieste, Italy. Based on archival records of Micro-areas in Trieste at the social cooperative La Collina, this article addresses the chronology of key moments and components of that innovative community perspective. Trieste’s mental health service, considered one of the best in the world, is a reference for deinstitutionalized care in social housing within territories that contributes to healing. Trieste has demonstrated that by adopting a “social enterprise perspective,” it reaches targets of sustainable, intersectoral, local networks with responsiveness, agility, and efficiency. The program has demonstrated that it can create substantial gains in terms of inclusion, empowerment, and social economy by working from a rights-based, person-centred approach, thus contributing to social justice