Federmeccanica has chosen Kilometro Rosso as the venue for its new 2.0 general meeting

A meeting. But also much more than that.

The decision by Federmeccanica to hold its annual meeting at the Kilometro Rosso in Bergamo for four consecutive years coincides, in fact, with a comprehensive overhaul of the event’s format, with the stated aim of placing the issue of employment – on a sustained basis – at the heart of the national debate.

“We want to move beyond the mere formality of a standard report,” explains Federmeccanica’s president Simone Bettini, “by launching new initiatives, with working groups that will be developed on an ongoing basis over the next 12 months.” After years of ‘itinerant’ meetings across various regions of the national manufacturing sector, Federmeccanica has now chosen Bergamo and the Kilometro Rosso science and technology park as its base for the entire four-year period. “On the one hand, Bergamo is certainly a city of work,” explains Bettini, “but we also needed an iconic location where established companies and start-ups coexist – a place well-suited to engaging with the younger generations, who are very much present and well-represented here in the science park.” Young people are, in fact, one of the initiative’s main target groups. Starting with the title (Wow, Waves of Work) to evoke the theme of discovery and innovation, using the metaphor of waves to illustrate the constant transformations of the context we are currently experiencing. The aim is the gradual development of content, proposals and guidelines that will inform the Federation’s strategic action.

These will be organised into thematic ‘strands’ focusing on the value of welfare, the centrality of the individual and organisational wellbeing, the promotion of gender equality, new technologies and artificial intelligence. “The aim,” adds Bettini, “is to create an event that celebrates work, a central aspect of our society, as highlighted in Article 1 of the Constitution. With ‘Waves of Work’, we want to raise awareness throughout civil society of the great value of work, starting with work in industry, which is still perceived in a distorted way in the collective imagination due to stereotypes that persist and remain entrenched. Throughout my term as President, our General Assembly will become a Forum on Work to facilitate a profound and ongoing dialogue with all stakeholders on this absolutely priority issue.”

The event is scheduled for 22 and 23 October, with the opening session dedicated to young people, ‘Eureka! It works!’, featuring projects presented by over 200 secondary school pupils. Meanwhile, the opening of the plenary session on the first day will feature the presentation of a study on changes in the metalworking industry.