CLIMB - Bocconi migration legal clinic

CLIMB (Clinica Legale Immigrazione Bocconi) is a legal clinic operating in the field of migration law, funded by Blest, supervised by Professor Eleanor Spaventa and Professor Paola Mariani, supervised by Dott. Marco Gerbaudo e da Ludovica Oliva

The legal clinic combines practical legal education with pro bono legal aid, adopting an interdisciplinary and learning-by-doing methodology. Students engage in a wide range of legal activities, covering areas from direct legal advice to strategic litigation, research, advocacy, and street law initiatives.

CLIMB constitutes an innovative model of legal clinic for its design, working methods, and evolution. CLIMB was created in March 2022 under the name UASI (Ukraine – Support and Information) to provide legal assistance and information to Ukrainian refugees arriving in Milan following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In 2025, the legal clinic was rebranded CLIMB (Clinica Legale Immigrazione Bocconi) to reflect the broadening of its activities beyond the Ukrainian community. Its target audience now includes migrant communities living in Milan and across Italy, as well as civil society organisations involved in their reception and integration. The clinic’s field of activity covers all major areas of migration law, with particular attention to international protection. To provide effective legal support to migrant communities and civil society organisations, CLIMB has developed a set of parallel activities aimed at maximising its impact.

First, the Blest website hosts a dedicated section featuring 17 infoguides that provide accessible, practical, and clear legal information for people arriving in Italy from outside the European Union. Originally developed for the Ukrainian community—and therefore also translated into Ukrainian and Russian—the guides contain information relevant to all migrants, ranging from general migration-related topics (procedures to follow upon arrival in Italy, applications for international protection, different types of residence permits, and citizenship) to more specific and local information (how to find accommodation in Milan, access education and healthcare, and search for employment).

Secondly, CLIMB collaborates with INTERSOS within the framework of the Community Outreach Volunteers project, supported by UNHCR. The project promotes the active participation of migrant communities in Italy’s major cities (Milan, Turin, Naples, and Rome). As part of this initiative, CLIMB delivers monthly online information sessions on legal issues related to entry and residence in Italy.

Thirdly, CLIMB collaborates with the San Siro Legal Clinic, providing individual legal assistance to people with a migratory background living in the San Siro neighbourhood of Milan. The clinic offers socio-legal support to individuals facing issues related to their migratory status, ranging from applications for international protection and preparation for interviews before the Commissione Territoriale to residence permit renewals and citizenship applications.

Lastly, CLIMB regularly collaborates with a law firm specialised in migration law, supporting its activities through the preparation of legal opinions in strategic litigation cases and the drafting of legal documents relating to humanitarian visa applications and international protection claims.

Over its four years of activity, CLIMB has become a key actor not only within Bocconi University’s educational offering, but also within the network of civil society organisations that support people with migratory backgrounds in Milan and across Italy. In doing so, CLIMB gives concrete substance to the University’s third mission and helps bridge the gap between the study and practice of law.

If you want to contact CLIMB you can write an email to climb@unibocconi.it or contact us on LinkedIn.