Lombardy: the ‘Progetto Rete’ hub in Rozzano, managed by Invitalia
With the opening of the Hub in Rozzano (Milan), the ‘Rete’ project has now also arrived in Lombardy – according to a press release – aimed at young people aged between 16 and 35 who wish to improve their skills in order to enter the world of work. Promoted by the Minister for Sport and Young People, Andrea Abodi, through the Department for Youth Policies and the Universal Civil Service, the ‘Rete’ Project aims to build a bridge between young people and the business world, to support and guide young people towards employment opportunities, including self-employment, thereby reducing the mismatch between schools, universities and the labour market. Invitalia, the National Agency for Development, is the implementing body for the project.
Rete is aimed at young people who are currently attending upper secondary school or have completed their secondary education, are studying for or have obtained an ITS qualification, are attending university or have a degree, are unemployed or seeking employment, or are aspiring entrepreneurs.
Following Nuoro, Verona, Salerno, Novara, Brindisi, Palermo and Piacenza, Minister Abodi, in collaboration with Invitalia and the Municipality of Rozzano as the lead organisation, inaugurated the Hub at 35 Via Giacomo Matteotti, the eighth of 15 planned centres across the country dedicated to career guidance, training and business start-ups, which form the heart of the Rete Project.
“The opening of the Rozzano Hub – the eighth of the fifteen centres planned across as many regions of Italia under the ‘Rete’ Project, promoted by the Government and developed in collaboration with Invitalia – is enriched and enhanced by elements of urban creativity, and represents another concrete step towards building a national network capable of enabling young people to express their talent, acquire skills and turn their aspirations into opportunities. And whilst talent is found everywhere, opportunities are not yet sufficiently widespread, and we are also taking action to redress this imbalance. The figures from the first seven Hubs show us that we are on the right track: over 103,000 young people have taken part in more than 8,000 career guidance, training and skills development initiatives. This is our responsibility: to know how to turn encounters into pathways, skills into opportunities, and ideas into jobs and businesses,’ said Minister Abodi.
The Municipality of Rozzano, as well as making the Hub’s premises available, has supported the implementation of the project as part of its policies aimed at young people and the regeneration of the local area. The initiative complements existing municipal programmes aimed at skills development, career guidance and supporting young people towards employment and entrepreneurship, thereby strengthening the urban regeneration process launched in recent years.
