Occupation of the Campus Luigi Einaudi (October 2026)
Date of the event:
From the evening of Monday 26 October 2026 students have been occupying the Campus Luigi Einaudi, the University of Turin site on lungo Dora Savona that hosts, among others, the Law and Political Science departments. After an assembly and a march inside the campus, the occupiers entered a building of the Law faculty and closed the gate on lungo Dora Savona.[1] La Stampa counted around two hundred occupiers on the first evening[10]; according to La Voce e il Tempo more than 500 people took part in the occupation, after an assembly with over 300 students.[3] As of 4 November the occupation continues with no announced end date.[7]
Who is occupying
Sources attribute the initiative to different groups. TorinoOggi traces it to the Collettivo Autorganizzato Universitario (CAU, Self-organised University Collective), which announced it on social media[2]; Quotidiano Piemontese cites the Cua together with Ksa and Cambiare Rotta[1]; according to La Voce e il Tempo the decision-making body is the Assemblea CPS (Culture, politica e società, Culture, Politics and Society Assembly), which Cambiare Rotta, Studenti Indipendenti and the CUA also belong to.[3]
The demands
The occupiers are protesting against rearmament and the cost of living. They are calling for funds earmarked for military spending, including Nato commitments and the EU's ReArm Europe plan, to go instead to education, research and healthcare; more funding for the university; a freeze on rents and evictions and limits on turning homes into short-term rentals; and public management of the beds in student residences built with PNRR funds.[3] They are also challenging the framework agreement between the University of Turin and Confindustria (the employers' association) on dual-use civil and military technologies, and are calling for agreements with the defence sector to be ended.[1][3][9]
According to ANSA the platform divides its demands by addressee: it asks the Government to withdraw from the Nato commitment to spend 5% of GDP on defence and from the ReArm Europe plan, to cut fuel excise duties, and to freeze rents and evictions; it asks the Ministry of University for public management of PNRR student residences and for the beds promised but not yet built; it asks Edisu (the regional student welfare agency) and the Region for liveability standards in affiliated residences and a fund for graduation grants; and it asks the University to stop collaborations with defence companies and to take a stand against cuts to the Fondo di finanziamento ordinario (the ordinary state funding for universities).[12]
The first days and the 30 October strike
On Tuesday 27 October classes in the building were suspended[11]; for 6pm that same day the occupiers had called a new assembly to decide how to proceed.[1][2] According to La Voce e il Tempo in-person classes at the campus were suspended until further notice[3]; Unione Monregalese reported the suspension as lasting until 31 October.[4] The organisers had named the national general strike of Friday 30 October as the first event of the mobilisation.[1][3]
The occupation came after weeks of marches in the city against the cost of living, including the one on 24 October, and after the occupations of Turin's secondary schools against the decreto scuola (schools decree).
November developments
From Monday 2 November all classes at the lungo Dora site are held remotely; exams, graduation sessions, meetings and events have been moved to other sites.[7] Since the night of 1 November Patrizia De Grazia, a Law student and national treasurer of the Radicali Italiani (Italian Radicals), has been on hunger strike to demand the campus's reopening, which sources describe as occupied by around 200 people.[5]
The president of the Piedmont Region Alberto Cirio proposed hosting the students in the Region's building; on 3 November rector Cristina Prandi replied that the proposal would be considered[6], and on 4 November the university accepted it, for in-person classes at the Region's conference centre "if necessary", pending a site visit still to be arranged.[7][8] The university reiterated that its priority remains the campus's return to the full use of the university community.[7][8]
Related articles: Cambiare Rotta, Cirio's proposal on the occupation of the Einaudi Campus, Cua, Hunger strike for the Einaudi Campus, Luigi Einaudi, Patrizia De Grazia, Radicali Italiani
Sources
- A Torino gli studenti occupano il Campus Einaudi: lezioni bloccate e mobilitazione contro guerra e caro vita — Quotidiano Piemontese, 26 October 2026
- Proteste studenti, Campus Einaudi occupato: “Contro il governo e il caro vita” — TorinoOggi, 26 October 2026
- Campus Einaudi occupato a Torino: gli studenti chiedono lo stop al riarmo — La Voce e il Tempo, 27 October 2026
- Campus Einaudi occupato, lezioni sospese fino al 31 ottobre: cosa succede adesso — Unione Monregalese, 27 October 2026
- Patrizia De Grazia (Radicali Italiani): “sciopero della fame fino alla riapertura del Campus Einaudi” — Quotidiano Piemontese, 2 November 2026
- La rettrice dell’Università di Torino sulla proposta del presidente Cirio: «Ringrazio per la vicinanza, valuteremo» — Quotidiano Piemontese, 3 November 2026
- Campus Einaudi occupato, UniTo accoglie la proposta di Cirio: lezioni in presenza nelle aule del grattacielo della Regione — Quotidiano Piemontese, 4 November 2026
- Campus occupato, Unito accoglie la proposta della Regione per le lezioni in presenza — TorinoOggi, 4 November 2026
- Il Campus Einaudi occupato — Il Torinese, 26 October 2026
- In duecento occupano il campus Einaudi a Torino: cena su tavoli improvvisati e musica nel cortile — La Stampa, 26 October 2026
- I collettivi occupano il Campus Einaudi: “Fermiamo tutto”. Martedì lezioni sospese — La Stampa, 27 October 2026
- Universitari dal Campus occupato a Torino, 'ecco la nostra piattaforma' — ANSA Piemonte, 27 October 2026