Rome (Italy). On 12 and 13 October 2023, the 35th European Formation Seminar organized by the Italian Center for Salesian Women’s Works – Professional Training CIOFS/FP will be held in Marina di Pulsano, Taranto in collaboration with FORMA, the National Association of Professional Training Bodies and with the Ministry of work and social policies, on the theme: “Not one less. Professional training: a right for everyone”, with the presence of around 200 participants.
The Seminar was preceded by an important launch event on 21 September, in the splendid setting of the Queen’s Hall in the Chamber of Deputies of Rome, Palazzo Montecitorio, on the occasion of the twenty years of the law establishing Professional Education and Training of regional competence and fifteen years from their incorporation into the legal system. Speakers included the Vice President of the Chamber, Giorgio Mulè; the Minister of Labor and Social Policies, Marina Elvira Calderone; and the Minister of Education and Merit, Giuseppe Valditara, and several other speakers, who brought the voice of experience and of the Regions of Italy in a passionate and concrete dialogue. The value of the event was also given by the recent approval in the last Council of Ministers, of a Bill (DDL) which contains important elements for the effective equal dignity of students of Vocational Education and Training of regional competence with those of state schools. (video)
Sister Manuela Robazza, Daughter of Mary Help of Christians, National President of CIOFS/FP, said in her final talk, “Today is an important day; we have turned the spotlight on Professional Training. (…) Today we have given prominence and luster to ‘Learning by doing’ which has distant roots in the history of our Saints whom we represent here and whom we would like to bring to life. We did it in an important place of great symbolic, historical, and political significance, which gives added value to the professional training experience. (…) ‘It takes a village to educate a child’, says an African proverb loved by Pope Francis. Here we are, the village of professional training. I was about to say, ‘Only they are missing, the meaning of our life, the young people’, but it is not true that they are missing. They are there, and they are ‘very present’, in our thoughts, in our words, in our dreams, sometimes they also take away sleep. On their behalf, I would like a big thank you to each of you for everything you do to restore dignity and hope.
The Europe Seminar is neither a point of arrival nor a starting point, but it is an important stage in the journey of this village that is us. (…) It is prepared with a lot of study and passion by the Scientific Technical Committee. It is celebrated and passed on to the territories to then resume the journey, but it is important to feel part of the consortium”.
The 35th European Training Seminar aims to address the topic of skills starting from the point of view of the rights to professional training. Particular reference is given to active participation and personal development, necessary investments, inclusion, training and professional orientation, the recognition and usability of training outcomes for the purposes of employability, the facilitation of learning, new professional skills.
In the growing complexity of the social space, we therefore intend to emphasize individual and collective responsibility for a “new protagonism” of professionalizing instruction. From a holistic perspective of “being competent”, it promotes and animates a participatory discussion, to arrive at action proposals that respond to the need for constant attention and an investment of absolute priority to strengthen and value VET (Professional Education and Training) for a well- fulfilled life and for the common good of the community.
Over the course of the two days, reports on topics linked to skills, rights, equal opportunities, scenarios linked to Artificial Intelligence and learning, the certification of skills, are followed by experiences and projects of relaunch and requalification, paths and initiatives, to then conclude on 13 October with a round table. (leaflet)
“Every change needs an educational journey that involves everyone. For this reason, it is necessary to build an “education village” where in diversity, we share the commitment to generate a network of human and open relationships” (Pope Francis, Message for the launch of the Educational Pact).
