Futurum – South Tyrols education fair
The "Futurum" combines an education fair, job fair and the WorldSkill Italy in one place. It offers three days of events on the topics of education, studies, recognition of study and professional titles, careers and job applications. During the fair, there are various information sessions where the different branches of further education offered by the various organisations are highlighted and explained. In addition, there are workshops such as "How do I write an application?" or "How do I find the right job?".
Background
The "Futurum" was organised for the 8th time in 2020. One problem was the pandemic in 2020, therefore the fiera was held online.
Goal
The goal is to give a broad overview of the different opportunity’s pupils have after they finished schools. “Futurum” tries to cover all the different offers for all of South Tyrol, so that the pupils get a good orientation. Moreover, the “Futurum” tries to help the pupils to get ready for their next step with the different workshops offered. Moreover, different companies can introduce themselves to the pupils.
Description of the type of measure
This measure is for pupils and high school graduates who are looking for an apprenticeship, a course of study or a dual course of study – different levels of education.
Organization and coordination team organize the time frame and acquire different actors. Moreover, a communication strategy which reaches all the pupils around South Tyrol was undertaken.
Three days of events normally at the Exhibition Centre of Bolzano however due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 it was held online.
Implementation
Actors: who was involved in the development of the event?
The fair is organised by the Province of Bolzano in cooperation with the Institute for Economic Research and "World Skills Italy" which is organized by the lvh.
Cooperation partners: different schools (Gymnasien, technical colleges, vocational schools and universities) which give the visitors insights in their offerings. Moreover, other organisations like JobInfo and MINT are needed because they give the workshops
What was needed to realize and test your event?
- Financial resources: the fair is free for visitors and the booth fee for companies is also very low, the financial resources come almost exclusively from the province.
- Human resources: organization team, communication team, construction team, fair team
- Spatial resources: fairground Bolzano
- The biggest costs are the architect for the planning of the booths and the rent for the fair
Evaluation
What is unique about the fair is that it combines Italian, German and Ladin educational pillars and really shows all educational opportunities throughout South Tyrol.
There are also some district fairs that some voices think are better, however the advantage of Futurum is that organizations from abroad, such as universities from Austria and Germany, also come and they certainly only come to one fair.
When Futurum 2020 was held in digital form, the value became clear, because many have criticized the lack of a trade fair.
Lessons learned: What have we learned from the implementation and evaluation processes? What do we have to consider implementing such kinds of programmes in our region/institutions? What are the next steps?
In order for the "Futurum" to have a desired value, the students must prepare themselves, for this purpose information brochures are sent to the schools, so that these prepare the young people in advance for the visit to the fair. Often the fair is said to be a "pass through" for the students without any real added value, this sometimes seems to be the case when the students are not sufficiently prepared.
The size and length of Futurum is considered appropriate, of course it needs a lot of organization.
Contact details: www.futurum.it
Training, study and career guidance South Tyrol
Tel. 0471 413350, berufsberatung.bozen@provinz.bz.it