Understanding and designing a business with the new Pirelli Foundation Educational courses

Ready to get going again. This coming school year, the Pirelli Foundation will be back with students and teachers, finding out about the business world. Distance training courses, each on a number of dates, will include virtual tours, live lessons, and workshops. Corporate culture and the historical and artistic heritage of the Pirelli Historical Archive will constitute an ecosystem of e-learning content for schools. The interdisciplinary courses will focus in particular on the relationship between art and industrial production, on the history of Pirelli’s inventions and innovations, on the evolution of the company’s visual communication and on the profound transformations that have changed the way we move about, from the invention of the wheel through to sustainable mobility.

The students will be able to use the Pirelli Foundation website, multimedia materials, podcasts and videos to examine the preparatory sketches for famous Pirelli advertising campaigns, and they will follow the stories of the inventors, whose commitment and creativity helped revolutionise the way we live. They will learn about the most important strategies adopted by companies to achieve sustainability and safety, and they will be taken on a journey through time to discover the history and present-day reality of the major multinational industry that is Pirelli.

Many of the educational courses planned for this new school year will be divided into various different stages: presentation of the main topic, review of the materials and analysis instruments, assignment of a practical workshop objective, and a final discussion with the students concerning the outcome of their projects.

Full details of the training courses, which are tailored for each school type and grade, will be given to teachers in September during two meetings which will be held on the Microsoft Teams platform.

To stay informed about the project, please go to the Pirelli Foundation Educational page or subscribe to the Pirelli Foundation mailing list.

The investigation of an industrial area’s transformation narrated through film

Industry is culture. An established truth that, nonetheless, always needs further confirmations and verifications, because the “factory” or the “offices” might still be erroneously equated to drudgery and a lack of prospects. Yet, rediscovering the many ways in which industrial production is also cultural production, through means and circumstances inherently different in each case, is a good thing. Hence, reading “Il caso Pirelli-Bicocca. La fabbrica (dismessa) tra realtà e immagine” (“The Pirelli-Bicocca Case. The (dismantled) factory between reality and image”), written by Ornella Castiglione and published only a few weeks ago, is useful to understand how much factory and culture go hand in hand. Even when, indeed, the factory gets dismantled.

Castiglione approaches factory and culture as a unified pair and from a particular viewpoint: cinema. And the story of the factory in flux is accordingly unravelled through stock footage. The article is based on the analysis of the factory becoming something else than a manufacturing space. It’s about the Bicocca district in Milan, the protagonist of a full-fledged urban transformation. In fact, at the beginning of the 1980s the whole Pirelli complex started being dismantled: the abandoned space led to the district’s redevelopment from an industrial production site to a cultural and culturally innovative space. One of the most significant narrators who told the story of this industrial transformation was Silvio Soldini, with the documentary “La fabbrica sospesa” (The suspended factory) (1985). Moreover, just like Milan, other northern industrial cities became the backdrop of interesting social and iconographic investigations, as shown in Ettore Scola’s “Trevico-Torino” (Trevico-Turin) (1973).

Ornella Castiglione examines the story and draws from it an underlying commentary based on the factory’s capability not only to generate culture when fulfilling its manufacturing function but also when, dismantled, it becomes the foundation for the creation of diverse spaces for cultural expression.

Il caso Pirelli-Bicocca. La fabbrica (dismessa) tra realtà e immagine(“The Pirelli-Bicocca Case. The (dismantled) factory between reality and image”)

Ornella Castiglione

L’avventura, 1/2020. January-June

A recently published book gives a different and more engaging vision of factories and offices

Communicate well, clearly and reliably. An important piece of advice for everyone. For businesses, too. Within businesses, too. But it requires care. And we could perhaps begin by adopting the same strategies used in marketing (which, now more than ever, demand clarity).

It’s from this cluster of ideas that the book edited by Patrizia Musso and Maria Luisa Bionda took shape. “Brand renaissance. Nuove tecniche per rivoluzionare la comunicazione organizzativa” (Brand renaissance. New techniques to revolutionise organisational communication) takes its cue from the proposition that, particularly in our current times, external and internal communications are interconnected. “Uniqueness”, “experience”, “emotional factor” are now terms that constantly echo and re-echo in the world of branding and make more significant the relationship with consumers. The authors wonder if it wouldn’t be best to employ the same concepts and instruments when liaising with current and potential employees and collaborators, too.

Hence their proposition: an all-round approach to branding can be useful to face our daily challenges in all clarity. The book tackles and examines concepts such as Employer Branding, to recruit new talents, and Internal Branding to share values and mission statements within a company. Moreover, Musso and Bionda don’t restrict themselves to just theory but also delve into the Italian state of affairs, providing an analysis of the current situation as well as a wealth of case studies and practical tips. The volume, therefore, is also a collection of several contributions from the business and academic worlds. The considerations and experiences provided also illustrate how, in recent years, the younger generations contributed to the acceleration of this metamorphosis, as they lead brands to make pivotal turns both towards employing digital communication tools with greater awareness and conceiving corporate offices as relational platforms rather than mere work places. The examples of Enel, Boston Consulting Group, Eolo, Fastweb NEXXT, L’Oréal – amongst others – parade through the pages, and the final pages additionally include an “update” that takes into account the impact of Covid-19.

In just over 200 pages, then, a new perspective on the world of work is outlined, a perspective which not everyone, perhaps, agrees with but that nonetheless opens up new horizons within production and culture. A vision that – for the two editors – means placing the individual back at the centre, consistently, and through a transgenerational approach.

Brand renaissance. Nuove tecniche per rivoluzionare la comunicazione organizzativa (Brand renaissance. New techniques to revolutionise organisational communication)

Patrizia Musso, Maria Luisa Bionda (edited by)

Francio Angeli, 2020

“Europe asks this of us”. For years, this has been the mantra chanted by a long line of politicians, whatever the party, before the general public and large sectors of the ruling class resistant to change and reform. An appeal to “external constraints”, useful to overcome those Italian vices such as welfarism and an easy public expenditure geared towards a vaguely defined customer base and powerful corporations. But, in the long term, a mantra that has greatly eaten away at many Italian citizens’ sense of responsibility while setting up “the enemy”: Brussels, “the European bureaucrats”, the “foolish Maastricht rules”, the selfishness of front-line most “rigorous” countries. This “fabrication of the enemy” has fuelled populist and sovereignist propaganda, stirred up fears and grievances, exaggerated the real social unease and poisoned political debate. It would have been better and more responsible, instead, to explain that public accounts in good standing, a reduced public debt, public expenditure based on production rather than governmental funds, a less skewed welfarism concerning pension benefits, and serious reforms for a more competitive economy, are above all in Italy’s interest.

These are the thoughts that come to mind on the wake of those long days spent arguing over the negotiations about the EU Recovery fund. And, beyond the outcomes of the European Council, they pose an essential question about Italy: how to build not a new chapter based on a “wait-and-see approach” (as Giuseppe De Rita fittingly said), but an ambitious and responsible process that will change the actors and attitudes of Italy’s economic and social growth?

Let’s forget, for the moment, the political reasons of those countries incorrectly terming themselves “frugal” – The Netherlands first and foremost – and considering the EU a market at best, from which to draw the most benefits while fulfilling the least number of obligations (in exact opposition to the political spirit of Europe’s “founding fathers”, Netherlands included). Let’s take into account the political twists of those rigorous nations who, while chastising the Mediterranean countries, attempt to coax their own populist and sovereignist factions. And, just to complete the picture, let’s positively acknowledge the two essential political facts emerged from this troubled series of EU Council meetings: first of all, the decision, agreed upon, to strengthen the EU budget and find in the EU market itself part of the resources required to finance the Recovery Fund (hence, the start of a common economic policy that will strengthen the common currency); and, second strategic fact, the responsible decision by Angela Merkel, as part of the six-month German EU presidency, to revive the EU’s ideals and political strength, showing, with forward-looking awareness, that what is needed is not “a German Europe, but a European Germany” (in accordance with Thomas Mann’s highly rational teachings). The axis Merkel-Macron is part of this strategy. The proximity to Italy and Spain (the countries worse hit by Covid-19) reinforces it. A torn Europe? At most, and in spite of everything, a Europe looking for better cohesion.

Now it’s up to Italy, regardless of how belligerently Prime Minister Conte managed the negotiations, to demonstrate that it can be a serious and credible protagonist in the EU revival. How? First of all, by putting forward a well-structured programme of reforms and investments to be financed by the Recovery Fund, in line with the strategic guidelines for the transition to a green economy and a digital economy, keeping an eye on the quality of development and any indication of opportunities from Next Generation EU pertaining to education, lifelong learning, research, innovation, using artificial intelligence as “augmented human intelligence”, etc.

Everyone knows that Italy is still far behind in defining these projects. Therefore, the next few months should be employed sensibly in order to give Brussels not just some generic proposals but well-structured programmes with clearly articulated goals and that integrate proper instruments for the reporting of performance and investment impact. A similar reasoning should be applied to the European Stability Mechanism (MES), which could be used to strengthen the health and healthcare sector (abandoning those ideological vetoes that the grillini, fans of Beppe Grillo, love so much).

But there’s more to be done. Finally getting a move on in restarting the overall productivity of the country, which has been stagnant for twenty years. And rapidly shifting from being a “subsidised Republic” to an Italian State that values its companies, skilled work, widespread prosperity, competition. The choices Italy made until now, including those pertinent to basic income and the “quota 100” retirement scheme (something that the northern countries, hostile to Italy, don’t have), certainly do not play in favour of Italy’s credibility as a reforming nation, ready to shelve those bad welfarist habits. Far from it. Hence, the task set to Italy is clear: execute the “paradigm shift” from subsidies to entrepreneurship, from a growing unproductive public expenditure to innovation and productivity. Not because “Europe asks this of us”, but, above all, because it’s beneficial to the people and Italy’s best economic and civic growth.

The Ferrari F40, an authentic legend in the history of the Prancing Horse and of motor racing, was unveiled in Maranello on 21 July 1987. Named to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the marque, the F40 was a distillation of innovative technologies such as the aeronautical-derived tank, the Plexiglas windows and the use of fibreglass, and Kevlar – a synthetic fibre with an exceptional mechanical resistance to traction – for the chassis and bodywork. And, especially, it sported the revolutionary Pirelli P Zero tyres, which were innovation in its purest form: they were originally created for the Lancia Delta S4 for rallying but then immediately adopted in a road version for the Ferrari Berlinetta, which was capable of developing close to 500 horsepower. The ultra-high-performance Pirelli, with its asymmetrical tread pattern and its futuristic internal structures, is a tyre that can support speeds well in excess of 300 km/h and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 4 seconds.

Although it was a road car in all respects, the sporting aspirations of the F40 were immediately clear and indeed only a very small number were made, many of which were considered to be at the prototype level. F40 LM versions were then built, to compete in the American IMSA championship and at Le Mans, and Competizione/GTE models were designed for touring-car championships in general. The Ferrari F40 appeared on roads and tracks throughout the world in all manner of models and colours. But only one version was destined to remain forever in the annals of automobile history: the flaming red supercar mounted on 17-inch Pirelli P Zero tyres that was unveiled on 21 July 1987 in the presence of the founder, Enzo Ferrari.

A legend of power, design, and speed.

La bellezza in vacanza con noi – “Beauty on holiday with us” – is the title of the live activities put on by the Pirelli Foundation for the fourth edition of Milano Museocity, a city-wide event scheduled from 31 July to 2 August. On the afternoon of Friday 31 July, participants will be able to go on a live virtual tour of the Pirelli Foundation to examine the relationship between Pirelli and female art, and children will be able to take part in an online creative workshop.

Stories of female creativity

At 6 p.m., our guests will be accompanied on a unique tour through the rooms of the Pirelli Foundation and of its Pirelli Historical Archive, to retrace a story of beauty and innovation entirely in the feminine. Women drivers, at the wheels of powerful cars, riding bicycles or elegantly ready for a swim in the sea or in a swimming pool, wearing their Pirelli bathing caps. A rich selection of original sketches, big-name photographs, and commercials starring women from the 1920s to the present day. The elegant silhouette of Jeanne Michot Grignani and the modern style of Lora Lamm, who portrays a fashionable and independent woman. The colourful designs for abstract advertising posters by the painter Sonia Delaunay and the psychedelic graphic elaborations of the Long P by Christiane Beylier. And then the “Un viaggio ma…” campaign for the Pirelli Cinturato as described by Camilla Cederna, and America seen through the eyes and words of Fernanda Pivano. And, lastly, the incredible feats of the sprinter Marie-José Pérec and a young Marilyn Monroe on Tobay Beach wearing a comfortable and revolutionary swimsuit made of Pirelli Lastex yarn.

Artwork for travels

At 3 p.m., children aged 6 to 8 will be guided on an interactive journey that will let them discover the treasures of the Pirelli Historical Archive, with its car racing photographs, posters and mosaics by great artists, animated cartoons and great international sports champions, and they will be able to create a work of art for their own travels, to put in their suitcase and take with them on holiday.

Booking required. Please write to visite@fondazionepirelli.org indicating the activity you have chosen and the names and surnames of the participants.

Detailed information on how to take part will be provided in the booking confirmation e-mail.

Registration closes on 28 July

We look forward to welcoming you!

Cinema & History 2019/2020 – History and Objects: Consumption, Genres, Products

Webinar, Monday 7 September 2020, 3-6 p.m.

After the temporary closure, the training and refresher course for Cinema & History teachers organised by the Pirelli Foundation, Fondazione ISEC, and the Fondazione Cineteca Italiana, is starting up again for primary and secondary school teachers.

After the first two introductory lessons that were held in February by university professors Marco Meriggi and Raimonda Riccini, an online seminar will be held on Monday 7 September 2020, during which the course topics will be examined in detail. Speakers at the meeting will be Imma Forino of the Politecnico di Milano University, Emanuela Scarpellini of the University of Milan, and Antonio Calabrò, director of the Pirelli Foundation. Together, they will investigate issues concerning THE HOME, and in particular those of the kitchen environment, of CLOTHING, including the complex evolution of Italian fashion, and finally of being ON THE MOVE, from the years of the economic boom through to the current drive towards sustainable mobility. After each of the three speeches, the Fondazione Cineteca Italiana will present a film devoted to each one.

3 p.m.

INTRODUCTION

Followed by:

THE HOME: A KITCHEN FOR EVERYONE?

A conversation with Imma Forino – Politecnico di Milano University

Screening: High-Rise, a film by Ben Wheatley, put on by the Fondazione Cineteca Italiana

4 p.m.

CLOTHING: A PROCESS OF HISTORY AND CULTURE

A conversation with Emanuela Scarpellini – University of Milan

Screening of the film The Dressmaker by J. Moorhouse, put on by the Fondazione Cineteca Italiana

5 p.m.

ON THE MOVE: FROM MASS MOTORISATION TO SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY

A conversation with Antonio Calabrò – Pirelli Foundation

Screening of Tucker: The Man and His Dream by Francis Ford Coppola, put on by the Fondazione Cineteca Italiana

How to join in and register

Registration for the event is free but required. Please write to didattica@fondazioneisec.it by Monday 7 September 2020

The meeting will be held live on the Microsoft Teams platform (we recommend you connect a few minutes early for technical connection tests if required).

Full information on how to take part will be given in the booking confirmation e-mail.

All registered teachers will be provided with teaching materials related to the course.

The event is also open to teachers who did not attend the introductory part of the course.

To download the complete programme, please click here

Back in the seventeenth century, aristocrats and intellectuals on the Grand Tour of Italy used to travel in carriages with iron-bound wheels, with gigantic trunks following along behind, their silk parasols protecting them from the sun. When rubber entered the world of travel and holidays, it really was a symbol of modernity. The first latex bathing caps of the 1920s and, even earlier, at the beginning of the century, rubber rings for swimming, tell the story not just of fashion, but of an entire world and a rapidly changing society. However, it was when life returned to normal in the post-war years that rubber found its moment of glory on holiday. The Italians were no longer tied to the fields as peasants, and jobs in industry allowed for a few weeks’ vacation, or rather, annual paid holidays. Cars were at last within everyone’s reach, and the Italians drove off, fast and safe on their Pirelli Cinturato tyres, along the brand-new motorways that took them and a whole world of rubber products to the sea.

The red and blue air mattress for flopping down by the water was made of rubberised fabric, and Nautilus, the orange dinghy that could be inflated on the beach, was also made of rubber. After decades of woollen costumes that took ages to dry out, swimsuits for summer holidays were now made of Lastex, an innovative, practical, latex-fibre yarn: a fabric so modern that it won over the actress Marilyn Monroe, an exceptional endorser for Pirelli. Another endorser was Ingrid Bergman, portrayed for Pirelli magazine with the new rubber diving mask off the coast of Stromboli by Lamberti Sorrentino, while shooting the film Stromboli by Roberto Rossellini. This was the same Pirelli mask that Ian Fleming had Major Dexter Smythe wear when diving, in his novel Octopussy, in the saga dedicated to the legendary secret agent 007, James Bond. Going out to sea called for tough, lightweight boats and outboard motor boats like the Levriero, the Daino, and the Giaguaro – the greyhound, the deer, and the jaguar – made with innovative materials by Pirelli’s Monza company.

And, of course, mountains too were holidays destinations in both summer and winter. The impassioned engineer Carlo Barassi had his eye on high-altitude sport as far back as 1950, when he invented a ski rack in rubberised cord fabric that could withstand the cold and snow. But then Barassi was an expert in winter tyres, used for driving in the mountains in complete safety through the snow and ice: it was he who patented the famous BS3, which was unveiled at the Turin Motor Show in 1959. And it rubber appeared again in the colourful windcheaters, and in the soles of the iconic G3 boots by Superga, a Pirelli subsidiary at the time. In the mountains, the same mattress as the one used on the beach was perfect for a good night’s sleep in a tent, naturally in a rubberised sleeping bag. For excursions to the mountains or sea, a colourful catalogue of Pirelli products accompanied the Italians on their holidays around the world, and into the modern world.

A book provides an organised summary of the theme of family businesses, with a focus on innovation and internationalisation

Family and business  pairing that is often inseparable ot to mention successful, under certain conditions, which need to be investigated and understood, above all within the context of a complex period beset with a host of challenges, like those that characterise the recent past and present.

It is therefore interesting to read “Le imprese familiari. Governance, internazionalizzazione e innovazione” (Family businesses. Governance, internationalisation and innovation) edited by Giorgia M. D’Allura and Rosario Faraci. Indeed, the work offers a deeper look into the specific features of family businesses, and the growth trajectories of such organisations, in terms of internationalisation and innovation. The specific objective of the book, then, is to understand the role that entrepreneurial families play and have played in the management of their companies, paying particular attention to management and planning structures. This role changes from company to company, and tends to be characterised by a specific focus on the destiny of the business, which is of course inextricably linked to that of the family.

The book presents the topics in a clear manner, and begins by defining the key elements of the subject in question, before moving on to address the various aspects of management, and the potential relationships that exist between the organisation of production, internationalisation and innovation. The main case study presented concerns an agri-food company (Cantine Nicosia in Sicily), but the book is also enriched by an appendix which contains the works presented at the IFERA Research Development Workshop, the theme of which was Family, Firms and Institutional Context: Analyzing the role of the context in the development of the family unit for Family Business Research. In this section of the book, therefore, readers can find a collection of essays that address the experience of other companies, as well as examining certain aspects of the family-business union.

The editors of the book write: “Today (…), scholars view family businesses as a ‘signifier for many meanings'”. A happy synthesis of two entities – the business and the family – which in Italy often combine to create a number of very unique and often winning characteristics; a business culture that draws inspiration for present and future innovation from the past.

Le imprese familiari. Governance, internazionalizzazione e innovazione (Family businesses. Governance, internationalisation and innovation)

Giorgia M. D’Allura Rosario Faraci

Franco Angeli, 2018

Next Generation EU is the name of the Recovery Fund that the EU is preparing to roll out in order to help the countries most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic -and by the ensuing recession – to emerge from the crisis. The very name of the fund reinforces the message of looking towards the future, in order to provide young Europeans with more and better opportunities for growth. Names are never chosen at random: they identify a condition and point in a certain direction; they refer to history and the future. And right now, with a wisdom that was not wholly expected and far-sighted ambition, Europe has declared that in order to emerge from the most serious economic and social crisis since the devastating economic and financial collapse of 1929, we need to radically change our way of life and focus on the new generations, in order to organise the economy, school and work. The concrete areas into which we must channel our efforts are also clearly indicated: the green economy and the digital economy. Environmental and social sustainability and innovation, quality of life and professional activities and knowledge. In order to achieve this, the EU intends to pursue an extensive public investment programme, as well as stimulating private investments.

As such, this is the horizon on which national governments must set their sights when making decisions – beginning with Italy. The goal is to focus on “investing in human capital“, as per the title of a volume edited by Assolombarda in collaboration with Confindustria Canavese on “the future of training“, or in other words, the theme of giving “greater strategic importance to the competitiveness of companies and the development of the country in the long term”: the people and the “education and training processes” that serve to qualify this human capital, without which there will be neither economic growth nor a good social balance. So, “the future of training is dually linked to the future of work”: “Entrepreneurs, the ruling class, teachers, public decision-makers, students and workers are all called upon to design and act within a new framework that provides a response to the future that lies ahead, and that we are already ,” maintains Pietro Guindani, Chairman of Vodafone Italy and Vice-President of Assolombarda, delegated to deal with “universities, innovation and human capital”.

It is a theme that is starting to find its way into public discourse. In the “Corriere della Sera” on Sunday 17 May, Ferruccio de Bortoli spoke emphatically of the central position that a major investment in schools must take, in light of the fact that they represent a pivotal place for the improvement of the civil conscience and the establishment of a new ruling class, combining public and private resources. A number of other authoritative voices have joined him over time. In view of the reopening of schools in September, the issue is gaining increasing attention from the general public, but as yet, without any clear, effective or satisfactory indications from the government. We need serious, responsible, forward-thinking decisions to be made.

It is a challenge to which companies are particularly sensitive. The challenge to engage in “good” politics. This concerns not only the government and the various political forces, but also key social figures, people from the world of culture, and any citizen who cares about the development of the country.

The current state of education, from school to university, and to the processes that connect education and work is unfortunately far from good. Let’s look at a few numbers in order to gain a better understanding.

We have the lowest number in Europe when it comes to young graduates who have found work three years after completing their studies: Italy’s percentage stands at just 58.7%, compared to 93.1% in Malta, 92.7% in Germany, 75.7% in France and 73% in Spain (data from Eurostat 2020). The Covid crisis has further reduced employment levels. And if we take a closer look at the general statistics, we can observe that the rate in southern Italy is much lower than the average in the country as a whole: a marginality within a marginality. And in an era that is dominated by the “economy of knowledge”, we are poorly equipped to stand face to face with the European and international competition.

Our share of graduates was already well below the EU average, at just 28% of young people between 30 and 34 years old, compared to 40.3% in Europe long with a school drop-out rate of 14.5%, the fourth lowest in Europe. Wasted intelligence, abandoned skills, plans for growth shattered nd a social ladder which is naturally blocked off: without study, a better job or income does not exist.

The gap is widening at the precise moment at which the Covid-19 crisis has also served to highlight the effects of increasing “digital inequality”. Agcom (the Italian Telecommunications Authority) has found that, in the face of a country-wide network coverage that potentially allows 88.9% of households to access internet services at speeds of at least 30 Mbps, only 37.2% have a connection that actually allows this (“IlSole24Ore”, 8 July). And once again, things are worse in the south: a Censis study on the stress to which the Coronavirus has subjected Italy shows that in the southern regions, more than 40% of families do not have PCs or tablets, while in the centre-north of the country, this is between 25 and 35%. And so we are looking at a serious digital divide, which also affects training and education (many children and adolescents have been unable to access “distance learning”, and as such, have effectively lost an entire school year), and will have significant effects on opportunities for work and the future.

The DESI (Digital Economy and Society Index) by the EU Commission confirms that Italy is 25th in the ranking of the 28 EU countries. Poor digital skills, low productivity, lousy competitiveness a sluggish economy.

On the basis of these considerations, the European funds will be used in order to establish and roll out programmes with a focus on the green and digital economy, where school and training will play a central role. Investments in educational infrastructure, both tangible and intangible. An extensive programme of digitalisation, with the European 5G network. A focused, long-running emphasis on improving the quality of teaching, including the selection process, with prizes awarded to the best teachers nd a close connection between training and eduction and work. Here, too, the European Recovery Fund returns to the fore: the fiscal stimuli for Industry4.0, the cornerstone of the digital economy driven by the expansion of “Artificial Intelligence“, must be extended, from investments in systems and technologies to investments in training, in order to shape individuals who are capable of designing and managing production and services within a data driver economy.

And indeed, it is the very rapid development of technology that leads us to pose a fundamental question, regarding the need to keep up with skills that are at constant risk of being worn out and overtaken. As such, the school and university system must teach our young people to “learn how to learn”, or rather, to acquire critical knowledge that enable people to update or radically change the skills that they have acquired, to gain new ones, and finally, to prepare themselves to work on those in the future.

“New technologies may well be useless if there is no-one with the skills necessary to use them. And at the same time, it is essential that there are people who have the ability to create new technologies. These two aspects are very closely related to one another, and when considered together, they constitute the essence of economic growth,” states Patrizia Paglia, President of Confindustria Canavese, mindful of Adriano Olivetti’s lessons on the essential nature of school and training in general.

There is a second line of decisions, on which investment must be focused: continuing education, as part of a constant process that continues throughout life. To work in a better way and to benefit from the opportunity to change jobs, acquiring new skills. As such, as Guindani summarises in the Assolombarda book, we must “move towards a greater focus on digital skills and STEM disciplines” (the acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics); we must invest in re-skilling and up-skilling, offering more new vocational training for workers who are already operating within the market. We must also: “promote vocational guidance activities, fully engaging companies as partners in the world of training, in order to create degree courses that can genuinely meet the needs of young people in terms of employability.” And “give a renewed sense of dignity and social visibility to the technical and professional training sector: technical training cannot and should not be viewed as a secondary choice compared to higher education.” The fifth point: we must “recognise companies as training partners for schools, in order to shape the professional figures of the future, above all by placing more emphasis on alternating with apprenticeships.”

But there is also a more general aspect that must play a central role in our reflections, and in the investment programmes focused on schools. Knowledge and wisdom are indispensable in order to enable us to work and grow more – and better. But above all, they serve to provide us, as citizens, with the intellectual and cultural tools we need to make decisions on the general issues that, with a nod to science, occupy and condition our lives. If democracy is conscious participation, knowledge is one of its cornerstones.